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MQA•Foolish New Algorithm? Vote!

Vote please. Simply yes or no. Let’s get a handle on our collective thinking.
The discussions are getting nauseating. Intelligent(?) People are claiming that they can remove part of the music (digits), encode the result for transport over the net, then decode (reassemble) the digits remaining after transportation (reduced bits-only the unnecessary ones removed) to provide “Better” sound than the original recording.
If you feel this is truly about “better sound” - vote Yes.
If you feel this is just another effort by those involved to make money by helping the music industry milk it’s collection of music - vote no.
Lets know what we ‘goners’ think.
P.S. imho The “bandwidth” problem this is supposed to ‘help’ with will soon be nonexistent. Then this “process” will be a ‘solution’ to a non existing problem. I think it is truly a tempest in a teacup which a desperate industry would like to milk for all its worth, and forget once they can find a new way to dress the Emporer. Just my .02

ptss

Showing 2 responses by arvincastro

arvincastro's avatar
arvincastro
121 posts
 
I vote "Yes" for MQA:  on Tidal, I find that most of the MQA versions of albums/titles sound better than the non-MQA versions to my ears.  And, Yes again, that I view MQA as a way to get better sound from streaming, but not as a end-all format that replaces lossless files & SACD's that I have/will purchase/download.  

In my view, there are simply no downsides to MQA as a streaming format.  It is part of my Tidal subscription and a built-in MQA-capable DAC is a feature on my (recently acquired) Bluesound Vault 2.  Put together with Tidal, this has greatly increased my enjoyment in listening.  And, AFAIK, none of the doomsday scenarios have come to pass yet.  It is still very much your option on whether or not to MQA.  I suspect, if it ever does appear that the powers that be try to "force" it...it will be met with great indifference in terms of purchasers.

I get that MQA is not lossless.  I get that it can be scientifically proven to be inferior bit-for-bit and measurement-wise to FLAC, DSD, DXD, etc.  And, I completely understand from a recording pro's POV that MQA is not what they/the artist intended.  But, I am not an engineer or scientist.  I am a consumer of content, the end-user...I am the customer.  And what I hear from MQA, for the most part...I like.

As others have said, cannot we just get back to enjoying the music, no matter how we do it?  I really do hope so...

Arvin
arvincastro's avatar
arvincastro
121 posts
 
@jon1 -

Uh, ok. First off, you don’t know me...so, please don’t assume any “lack of integrity” in my being simply because I like the Masters section in my Tidal subscription.

Second, you assume that I have given in to some monopoly, but how? Again, because I use Tidal? Because I like the way a song sounds?

You do do not know me, sir & you certainly have no right to tell me that my choices in how I listen to music have some implications that reach further than this particular hobby or activity.

The choices are there for all of us...I could care less about yours. Hope you enjoy your music as much as I’m enjoying mine...

Arvin
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