MQA & Tidal – where are we now?

[joeinid]

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/01/mqa-tidal-where-are-we-now/

 

[soundqcar]

Best explanation yet as to what's really going on and what's required from the end user. Thanks for the link Joe!

 

[joeinid]

Bob,

I am ecstatic and I am "only" getting 24/96 from MQA enabled Tidal music but they sound sooooooo much better.

 

[rbbert]

Joe, do you have any Soundkeeper recordings (made using the Metric Halo ADC)? If so, and you played them back with your Metric Halo, you could "get" the sound MQA is supposedly trying to deliver, without the MQA step.

 

[audio.bill]

Here's MQA Decoding Explained from AudioStream.

 

[joeinid]

Hi Rob,

I am sorry, I don't. That's an interesting thought. I'll have to investigate that option. I will say that the Metric Halo is a little long in the tooth and, to my ear, has been bested by some of the newer dacs that I've heard/owned. Don't get me wrong, the Metric Halo is great, but a little quirky compared to today's dacs - mainly because it's aimed at the pro market.

Joe, do you have any Soundkeeper recordings (made using the Metric Halo ADC)? If so, and you played them back with your Metric Halo, you could "get" the sound MQA is supposedly trying to deliver, without the MQA step.

 

[soundqcar]

Bob,

I am ecstatic and I am "only" getting 24/96 from MQA enabled Tidal music but they sound sooooooo much better.

That sounds good. I'm going to do my first bit of listening today in my main system.

 

[rrwmd]

I wish all technical gobbledy-goop could be translated this clearly for dummies like me!

 

[still-one]

I wish all technical gobbledy-goop could be translated this clearly for dummies like me!

Amen!!

 

[rbbert]

Hi Rob,

I am sorry, I don't. That's an interesting thought. I'll have to investigate that option. I will say that the Metric Halo is a little long in the tooth and, to my ear, has been bested by some of the newer dacs that I've heard/owned. Don't get me wrong, the Metric Halo is great, but a little quirky compared to today's dacs - mainly because it's aimed at the pro market.

That's true, but perhaps beside the point, that point being that the "best" sound, at least according to the MQA paradigm, will be obtained by using the same DAC as was used for recording (ADC), or at least one with the same timing and encoding/decoding algorithms

 

[joeinid]

Excellent. That never even crossed my mind but makes a lot of sense.

That's true, but perhaps beside the point, that point being that the "best" sound, at least according to the MQA paradigm, will be obtained by using the same DAC as was used for recording (ADC), or at least one with the same timing and encoding/decoding algorithms