The MQA debate is finally over

Well, I believe the debate is finally over, but not for the reason you give.

MQA is entering administration (the UK equivalent of bankruptcy). So, whether it is better than FLAC, or not, is sort of a moot point.

But I always thought that quad DSD is pretty much superior to all other digital formats anyway.

The thing I liked about MQA was they did their best to "authenticate" that they were using the best master tape available for their files. Hopefully the MQA catalog survives.

The MQA debate??? Either one chooses to use it or not.

It's not complicated.

@kota1 how do you know that MQA uses the best master? Neil Young didn't seem to think so.

Should answer all your questions hopefully

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRjsu9-Vznc

and the follow up video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHkqWZ9jzA0

MQA says "It's better than lossless!" lol...

@kota1

MQA used the best scammers.

Exactly like debating dial up.

What I enjoy most about the SQ of MQA are the vocals. No other format has been so lifelike in vocal reproduction in my system. Check this out:

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/e0caf7d2-4adc-4873-a3f8-b3df9ca28ecb

MQA used the best scammers.

+1.

It's worthy of note that few have come forward here to champion MQA as a superior format unlike those chumps over at Stereophile, TAS and the dealer owner of Audioshark.

Hardware companies will now stop touting their dacs with MQA decoders.  Lol.

@jon2020 

There are pluses and minuses to every format. If I had my way they would have streaming in mulitchannel DSD for everything. Good luck with that. I found the deblurring effect in MQA to work for me. It gave a palpable sense of life (as in musicians in the room) in my system on many recordings (not all).

@kota1 was are the 'minuses' for a FLAC file being a lossless copy of the master?

@kray

As for minuses I can give you an example. If you listen to violins in an orchestra in FLAC they sound rich, harmonious, they ebb and swell with the tempo, its wonderful. But they sound like a group of violins, not individual violins.

When I listen to a good MQA master I hear more of the individual violins standing out from each other while playing together as a group. If you weren’t able to compare you might never notice, but once you hear the difference you notice it when it isn’t present. I find 24/96 PCM to offer "more" of everything but still doesn’t get that rich sound of each individual instrument the way I get with MQA.

@kota1 

As for minuses I can give you an example. If you listen to violins in an orchestra in FLAC they sound rich, harmonious, they ebb and swell with the tempo, its wonderful. But they sound like a group of violins, not individual violins.

When I listen to a good MQA master I hear more of the individual violins standing out from each other while playing together as a group. If you weren’t able to compare you might never notice, but once you hear the difference you notice it when it isn’t present. I find 24/96 PCM to offer "more" of everything but still doesn’t get that rich sound of each individual instrument the way I get with MQA.

You are describing my exact experiences with quad DSD vs PCM (24/96 and greater).

@kota1

+1. That’s an excellent test case (assuming the recording is up to it) whenever doing an a/b comparison. Thanks for reminding me about that. I may have to give Tidal a trial run now finally. My Cambridge Evo 150 is supposedly equipped and ready to handle MQA properly, which seems to be the key.

Here we go. I remember hardware companies refused to sign up for MQA licensing simply because they had to hardwire an increase in volume for the decode process. And that’s the difference folks are hearing. I have heard both formats through both MQA (a Meridian dac no less) and non-MQA dacs. Violins certainly sounded more like individual violins with the non-MQA format via a non-MQA dac.

You are describing my exact experiences with quad DSD vs PCM (24/96 and greater).

+1

For those of you who like DSD (as I do) Sony has both streamers and DAC’s that include their proprietary DSD remastering engine. I think it works great, really adds that DSD smoothness to whatever you are listening to. According to Sony:

DSD Remastering Engine

PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) audio is resampled into an 11.2MHz DSD (Direct Stream Digital) ultra-high-frequency 1-bit audio stream. The single-bit stream delivered to the DAC has a character far closer to that of analogue, giving you even more ways to enjoy your music.

Their new Walkman has both features (MQA and DSD Remastering):

https://www.sony.com/en-cd/electronics/walkman/nw-wm1am2/specifications

adds that DSD smoothness to whatever you are listening to. 

Not something everyone would like for every recording but personal preferences are well respected.