It fascinates me that people who eschew simple tone controls go for tech that unnecessarily complicates encoding and decoding digital data. Simpler should be better. Things like DSP or EQ (yes, even vinyl RIAA) solve specific issues. With the cost of bandwidth and storage getting cheaper all the time, additional compression (and lossy compression to boot) isn’t needed. Adding in all the proprietary and licensing nonsense or the DRM discussion and it’s just not worth the bother to me. There would have to be a unanimous outcry proclaiming better SQ rather than the muddled mixed bag we have now for me to even try it.
Why is everyone so down on MQA?
Ok. MQA is a little bit complicated to understand without doing a little research. First of all: MQA is not technically a lossy format. The way it works is very unique. The original master tape (Holy grail of SQ) is folded or compressed into a smaller format. It is later unfolded through a process I don’t claim to understand. The fully processed final version is lossless! It is the song version from the original master tape. FYI, original master tapes are usually the best sounding, they are also the truest version of any song- they are painstakingly produced along with the artist in the studio during the recording process. Ask anyone, they are the real deal. For some reason most people hate the sound quality! One caveat, the folding/unfolding process is usually carried out at one time by a dac. But some dacs only compress and do not unfold….I think Meridian should explain dac/ streamer compatibility issue. When your hardware supports the single step the sound quality is pretty amazing. They should have explained in more detail what the format is all about.