Nice MQA discussion

@lalitk Tried that already it didn't work and it's ok I have no issue with avoiding MQA and it doesn't happen with any other files ever.

On CA:

MQA: A Review of controversies, concerns, and cautions

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/ca/reviews/mqa-a-review-of-controversies-concerns-and-cautions-r7...

P.S.:

"Editor's Note 1: MQA ltd was sent a copy of this article several days prior to the scheduled publication date. The company requested a phone conversation, which took place earlier this week. MQA was encouraged to write a response for inclusion with the article below, but it respectfully decline to submit a formal response.

 

Editor's Note 2: The author of this article is writing under a pseudonym. While he is unknown to the readers, his identity has been verified  by Computer Audiophile. He has no vested interest in the audio business, other than being a consumer of music.

 

Editor's Note 3: The technical assertions made in this article have been thoroughly checked by independent engineers, both in and out of the audio industry. To the best of our knowledge everything technical in this article is factually correct and may be duplicated at any time by anyone with the requisite skills."

 

- Chris Connaker

CA is strong on self promotion. It pretends to be technically superior to other sites but I find the proficiency of Chris and his cohorts to be poor at best and the site has a heavy promotional orientation(sell,sell, sell). CA happens to be pretty much correct on MQA but that doesn’t make it accurate in all other aspects - so be careful - they tend to give their reviewed products high ratings (like most for profit sites) and have zero technical competence (no equivalent to Stereophile JA to test stuff).

Thanks for the link to the CA article.  Very well done and informative.

I have had MQA here in my main system for over a year.  Using Tidal only, I have done numerous comparisons between MQA and non-MQA streaming material.

Sorry, but what I hear is that almost every "Master" track sounds better than it's equivalent non-encoded MQA  track.  I've had 10-12 different people listen and give me their comments.  Most were not audiophiles, but all were music lovers.  So far, everyone who has listened, has also preferred the MQA track.

IMHO, most of the MQA nay-sayers that I have run into, have either never heard it at all or only under show type conditions.

Bottom line with me is that I hear no degradation using MQA and thoroughly enjoy the sonic "benefits"...  YMMV

@mofimadness 


I often prefer Masters versions on Tidal also.

Like SACD - the masters used on MQA tracks can be better than the heavier compressed CD equivalent alternative. This is the benefit of a better master and not related to the MQA technology itself.