MQA - Revolutionary, Evolutionary or Hyperbole?

Mike

Mike

Audioshark
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Meridian Presents MQA

In the last decade, there have been tremendous strides taken in psychoacoustics and, importantly, neuroscience (which has informed the psychoacoustics). The short of it is that the industry has been grossly mistaken about the relative importance of the frequency domain vs. the time domain. Yes, there is the anecdotal evidence that higher sample rates are better, but no-one has ever really articulated why (other than the pre- and post-ringing "naturalness" arguments).

The latest findings, grounded in science, are that, when it comes to human hearing, the time domain is up to 5x more important than the frequency domain. If you hear a twig snap in the woods, you know immediately where it is (time domain); you actually “decode” what it was afterwards (frequency domain). This is evolution at work: hearing is the most important sense for survival: it works when your eyes are shut, when you’re not looking in the relevant direction, and in the dark.

The human hearing system is sensitive to about 10 microseconds in time resolution and here’s the kicker: much/most of this resolution is destroyed in anything encoded digitally below a 192kHz sampling rate.

That’s right: 96kHz is NOT enough.

However, is the public about to download or stream 192/24 audio? No, because it’s not "convenient". How then to provide audio of the highest quality to the masses? The short of it is that Meridian has found a way of folding the time resolution information into a regular PCM file with a lower sample rate (it’s actually hidden below the noise floor). It’s a stroke of genius and means that MQA files appear to anything other than an MQA decoder as a playable PCM file. But an MQA decoder can "unfold" the file to the original sample rate, adding back the time resolution information.

Another crucial learning from neuroscience is that the brain has three times as many nerves sending signals TO the cochlea than sending information FROM the cochlea to the brain. This is a incredible fact; the brain actively switches the ear’s sensitivity (to frequency) depending on the situation (natural sounds, animal sounds, and speech). The encoding algorithm takes into account these different hearing modes (don’t ask me how!) and the "compression" applied to the master file (which can be anything from a (non-ideal) 44.1/16 master up to 8x sample rate) is not lossy in the conventional sense. There is nothing removed from the file that would allow a human being to differentiate between the MQA encoding and the master as heard in the studio. Lossy? No, that would be an extremely unfair and naive description. "Encoded for human hearing" would be more accurate.

So what is MQA? It stands for Master Quality Authenticated. Master Quality because it is able to deliver essentially what the recording artist heard in the studio. Authenticated because the audio data are signed (no, not DRM) so that an MQA decoder can verify the authenticity of the MQA file; that it is intact and as intended when it left the studio, having been signed off by the artist and producer.

MQA has broad music industry backing from execs, artists, and producers. Meridian has been working on it for the past 4-5 years and for the last three years has taken the technology on a roadshow, demonstrating it and working with recording artists and producers. MQA is very much artist endorsed. It is an enabling technology: Meridian isn’t going to be MQA-encoding the whole back catalogue of recorded music; that’s the job of the studios. The first MQA files are expected to be released early in 2015. All of the major studios are on board, plus smaller labels. MQA decoding will not be restricted to Meridian hardware and software.

Given the number of parties involved, it is frankly staggering that this has all come together. That is has is testament to Bob's vision, determination, and no small amount of hard work by him and his team.

Oh, and it sounds more real than you have ever heard. Period. Hearing Louis Armstrong through a pair of 7200SEs – as if he was in the room – was a jaw-dropping moment that I will never forget. It *is* that good.
 
So what this means, I think, is that Meridian will have the only player to decode this new format until if and when the other DAC makers chose to either follow of keep doing what they have been doing from the start andthat is supporting all the formats you know FLAC, DSD, WAV etc...

Also, will MQA really be noticeable to the listener to justify whatever the price of the player/DAC or the cost of the music in that format is going to be and what music will be available, classical, jazz classic rock or a rehash of the same old music. I guess someone will let us know, one day. To me, how will MQA stand up to good old vinyl..
 
Tell me how MQA will stand up to HDCD which started to catch on before the flames died out.
 
How is a SACD so much less convenient than a CD, and according to their chart, sounds the same as a CD?

As for streaming, I guess they haven't met TIDAL.

No arguments on the R2R...[emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mike said:
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Click to expand...

Thank you. That's been my argument and now I don't feel so cynical. The so-called "advances" made in music distribution over the last 60 years have little to do with quality and all to do with mass marketing ergo downloadable music. (Give Napster credit here.)

But if you read between the lines, it isn't 4XDSD. And as disc space becomes cheaper and cheaper and download speeds approach hypersonic speed (there are still some big changes to come in this in the next year or two), is this as Mark says, nothing more than another HDCD?
 
the professor said:
Robert Harley has a short description on how it sounds here:

Robert Harley Listens to Meridian MQA | The Absolute Sound

Very interesting.
Click to expand...

Really? It reads like a marketing piece. "For the first time in history, music fans will be able to hear at home what the artist created and approved in the recording studio, and MQA confirms its exact delivery." How many times have we seen these exact words and promises before?? I have lost count.
 
I have a prediction-MQA won't catch on to the masses. It may not catch on with the fractured digital high-end community either. The unwashed masses already have 40 versions of Dolby Digital they don't understand and most have no idea digital exists outside of MP-3s and CDs. The average man on the street with shoes on his feet has never heard of SACD, DSD, DXD, or 24 bit audio at any sampling frequency.

Which record companies are going to pay money to have their recordings released in yet another digital format? Which digital geeks are going to line up to buy yet another DAC/file machine? Yep, what the world needs now is one more proprietary digital format that is going to compete against the other digital hi-rez formats just as those are starting to gain some traction in the marketplace.
 
And which hardware companies are going to license the technology? If Sony-whose ass is on line line for DSD-and their ilk don't buy in, forget it. Another curiosity. And being that most studios have just laid out the money for hi-Rez hardware, where is the cash going to come from? As a business person would say, if it isn't going to generate more revenue, I'm not interested.

And like Mark said, you can only cry wolf so many times. Everything lately is the best thing since sliced bread.
 
I just don't see the big 6 record labels moving another direction for a format that will require a hardware or some sort of software change to play this new format in any device including portables.


  1. Warner Music Group
  2. EMI
  3. Sony (known as CBS Records until January 1991 then known as Sony Music thereafter)
  4. BMG
  5. Universal Music Group
  6. PolyGram

And who in the heck made that chart up
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This was posted on a Meridian Owners site. I for one hope this catches on.

Back in October, Bob Stuart invited a few of us to HQ to talk about a new technology. Like the ferrets that we were, some Googling turned up the MQA and MQL trademark applications. Further digging revealed a patent (surprised no-one else has found this yet!) describing an encoding+decoding system. Adding other bits and pieces to the jigsaw such as the SE loudspeakers tweeter, “higher bandwidth” analogue electronics, and “DAC management” with other snippets gleaned from chats with Meridian staff at shows and events, we guessed what MQA might be. Yet we were absolutely not prepared for what we were about to hear.

Bob extended the definition of “lossless” audio to include the A2D and D2A processes. Meridian has developed “pipelines” which characterise the actual ADCs used (and additional analogue processing equipment as well). This information is encoded as metadata in the MQA file and, once decoded, can be used to *manage the DACs* (!!!), essentially providing an audibly lossless A2D2A chain.

He then went on to challenge what was meant by "HiRes" audio.

In the last decade, there have been tremendous strides taken in psychoacoustics and, importantly, neuroscience (which has informed the psychoacoustics). The short of it is that the industry has been grossly mistaken about the relative importance of the frequency domain vs. the time domain. Yes, there is the anecdotal evidence that higher sample rates are better, but no-one has ever really articulated why (other than the pre- and post-ringing "naturalness" arguments).

The latest findings, grounded in science, are that, when it comes to human hearing, the time domain is up to 5x more important than the frequency domain. If you hear a twig snap in the woods, you know immediately where it is (time domain); you actually “decode” what it was afterwards (frequency domain). This is evolution at work: hearing is the most important sense for survival: it works when your eyes are shut, when you’re not looking in the relevant direction, and in the dark.

The human hearing system is sensitive to about 10 microseconds in time resolution and here’s the kicker: much/most of this resolution is destroyed in anything encoded digitally below a 192kHz sampling rate.

That’s right: 96kHz is NOT enough.

However, is the public about to download or stream 192/24 audio? No, because it’s not *convenient*. How then to provide audio of the highest quality to the masses? The short of it is that Meridian has found a way of folding the time resolution information into a regular PCM file with a lower sample rate (it’s actually hidden below the noise floor). It’s a stroke of genius and means that MQA files appear to anything other than an MQA decoder as a playable PCM file. But an MQA decoder can "unfold" the file to the original sample rate, adding back the time resolution information.

Another crucial learning from neuroscience is that the brain has three times as many nerves sending signals TO the cochlea than sending information FROM the cochlea to the brain. This is a incredible fact; the brain actively switches the ear’s sensitivity (to frequency) depending on the situation (natural sounds, animal sounds, and speech). The encoding algorithm takes into account these different hearing modes (don’t ask me how!) and the "compression" applied to the master file (which can be anything from a (non-ideal) 44.1/16 master up to 8x sample rate) is not lossy in the conventional sense. There is nothing removed from the file that would allow a human being to differentiate between the MQA encoding and the master as heard in the studio. Lossy? No, that would be an extremely unfair and naive description. "Encoded for human hearing" would be more accurate.

So what is MQA? It stands for “Master Quality Authenticated”. Master Quality because it is able to deliver essentially what the recording artist heard in the studio. Authenticated because the audio data are signed (no, not DRM) so that an MQA decoder can verify the authenticity of the MQA file; that it is intact and as intended when it left the studio, having been signed off by the artist and producer.

MQA has broad music industry backing from execs, artists, and producers. Meridian has been working on it for the past 4-5 years and for the last three years has taken the technology on a roadshow, demonstrating it and working with recording artists and producers. MQA is very much artist endorsed. It is an enabling technology: Meridian isn’t going to be MQA-encoding the whole back catalogue of recorded music; that’s the job of the studios. The first MQA files are expected to be released early in 2015. All of the major studios are on board, plus smaller labels. MQA decoding will not be restricted to Meridian hardware and software.

Given the number of parties involved, it is frankly staggering that this has all come together. That is has is testament to Bob's vision, determination, and no small amount of hard work by him and his team.

Oh, and it sounds more real than you have ever heard. Period. Hearing Louis Armstrong through a pair of 7200SEs – as if he was in the room – was a jaw-dropping moment that I will never forget. It *is* that good.
 
CPP said:
I just don't see the big 6 record labels moving another direction for a format that will require a hardware or some sort of software change to play this new format in any device including portables.


  1. Warner Music Group
  2. EMI
  3. Sony (known as CBS Records until January 1991 then known as Sony Music thereafter)
  4. BMG
  5. Universal Music Group
  6. PolyGram

And who in the heck made that chart up, Obamas job market strategist :weird:
Click to expand...

Warner has already signed on.

Keep your political bullshit out of here.
 
Myles B. Astor said:
"Today, Meridian launches Explorer2 the portable, compact and rugged USB DAC
capable of delivering best-in-class audio performance, including compatibility
with MQA ‘Master Quality Authenticated’ lossless audio files."



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Click to expand...

Just what the world needs, another compressed digital audio format that nobody is going to care about and another digital do-dad to play it back with. I bet they don't sell like hotcakes in the Smokey Mountains.
 
& to think my biggest worry is what phono stage to buy! :snicker:

As for Meridian I hope it's a winner too, although just like everything else before it that claimed it was, there will be plenty of detractors.

I'm an example of had enough, going to vinyl, sick of the digital merry go-round.
 
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