My take on MQA

wisnon said:
Are you sure its not the better AUDIOPHILE remastering on the MQA VERSIONS?
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Ding, ding, we have a winner.:P
Exactly how do you separate what "MQA" is doing, vs the remastering...which ought to sound different!!

And every piece of music in history needs remastering?? I wonder what the artists were thinking when originally released?

Ah well, as long as Bob Stuart profits from all music on earth, future equipment, etc, etc, it's all good I suppose
 
I hear talking about digital listening fatigue. Maybe with CDs, but I don't recall getting this with high res files, and DSD I can listen to all day and never get listening fatigue... maybe sitting on my butt fatigue :D....
 
jap said:
The flip side:

https://www.linn.co.uk/blog/mqa-is-bad-for-music

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/163302855-is-mqa-doa

http://schiit.com/news/news/why-we-wont-be-supporting-mqa
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All very old news by now, significantly pre-dating more widespread MQA availability via Tidal. That is not to say there aren't some very useful opinions and facts presented there, but the most valid and pertinent ones have little or nothing to do with the actual sound of MQA.
 
rbbert said:
All very old news by now, significantly pre-dating more widespread MQA availability via Tidal. That is not to say there aren't some very useful opinions and facts presented there, but the most valid and pertinent ones have little or nothing to do with the actual sound of MQA.
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The Linn opinion was posted on 2/10/2017.

Tidal has very little MQA music available, nothing I would pay to listen to.
 
The Linn post pretty much avoids the sound of MQA. Tidal has over 1000 MQA titles, with at least a few classic albums in almost any genre.

I would LOVE it if MQA faded away and disappeared, but that's not what this topic thread is about. This thread is about the sound of MQA.
 
Again, that is all streaming. I have never questioned the viability of MQA as a transport for PCM files. There are many audio enthusiasts, such as myself, who have no interest in streaming. Again, this thread is about sound quality. DSD is the benchmark in my view and MQA has that standard to meet.
 
jap said:
Thanks for the list.

Still nothing I would pay to listen to, and I have no interest in Tidal.

It's great for the record labels....they can sell their old recordings again.;)
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You mean they aren't reselling their catalog with DSD and hi-Rez? The more options we have the better off we are. In any event I'll take PCM over DSD most every time.
 
still-one said:
You mean they aren't reselling their catalog with DSD and hi-Rez? The more options we have the better off we are. In any event I'll take PCM over DSD most every time.
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Why would you take PCM over DSD?
 
If I am recalling correctly, Meridian is very anti-DSD. To each their own. In my view, to my ears, on my much lower end equipment DSD is hands down the winner. I also buy quite a bit of PCM downloads. There is a lot of what I care about available in DSD (both downloads and SACDs) but some not. PCMs can be very good and if I want something not available in a DSD format then PCM is a good alternative.
 
still-one said:
First significantly more content, second more content I care about and third the best digital I have heard has been PCM.
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LoL

With HQP and a powerful server, its ALL DSD now...or DXD (pcm) if you prefer. Format means very little anymore.
 
PCM. DSD. Lossless. Mp3. MQA. Vinyl. Tape.

Honestly, I've yet to encounter one format that conquers all. Or more specifically, I've yet to encounter results from one specific format that is consistently superior to another. Even the compression artifacts of an .mp3 can benefit certain recordings. My take on the situation may change over time, but thus far, this has been my overall experience.
 
Zero said:
PCM. DSD. Lossless. Mp3. MQA. Vinyl. Tape.

Honestly, I've yet to encounter one format that conquers all. Or more specifically, I've yet to encounter results from one specific format that is consistently superior to another. Even the compression artifacts of an .mp3 can benefit certain recordings. My take on the situation may change over time, but thus far, this has been my overall experience.
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I am forced to agree and I LOVE DSD. Mastering is most important.
 
Zero said:
PCM. DSD. Lossless. Mp3. MQA. Vinyl. Tape.

Honestly, I've yet to encounter one format that conquers all. Or more specifically, I've yet to encounter results from one specific format that is consistently superior to another. Even the compression artifacts of an .mp3 can benefit certain recordings. My take on the situation may change over time, but thus far, this has been my overall experience.
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I guess we have to define what "conquers" means in this context. With regards to ultimate sound quality, analog conquers all digital that I have heard in my home and tape conquers all analog. Unless you have single-handily left the digital Kool-Aid pitcher empty, I wouldn't be lumping digital formats in with analog and saying they are all fuzzy with regards to pecking order. If you would have left off vinyl and tape from your opening sentence, I probably would have agreed with you.
 
MEP...I didnt catch that. I would not include analog formats in such a post. Not taking sides, but the discussion here is all digital and should have remained that way.
 
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