MQA•Foolish New Algorithm? Vote!

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

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

That’s the best thing you said.

Why can’t we have our music as it was played, as close as possible to live, least untouched by all this processing.

No sounds in real life are compressed, birds singing, jets flying over head, cars doing burnouts, why then do we want to stuff-up our music with compression and other forms of processing. ???????

Cheers George

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

That's the argument for cigarette smoking. Forget about the future, enjoy it now. That it's guaranteed much or most of the time to be not what the artist intended leading to we know not what (that has the incredibly polite John Atkinson passionately exclaiming publically for the first time in his long career) combined with its substantial potential for killing all more advanced improvements for digital, stone cold dead, is dismissed because the transitory pleasure of the moment is all & who cares how unstable the foundation it is built on is?

 If MQA is as radically successful as it hopes to be & many (& not that much fewer disagreeing) in this thread are nonchalant about - they will have plenty to bitterly complain about.   Just not their own culpability.

MQA is NOT improving. Other formats are, that they will kill if successful. Be careful about picking the winning (in terms of Quality) side. Surrendering to monopolies so cheaply says a great deal about you & us, encourages lack of integrity in audio & everywhere else in our lives. In VERY unsubtle ways. "I just don't care & like to sell out cheaply" is an easy response just now. You'll have to live with what that means & says about you - in addition to what it does to Audio.

@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

I have not made up my mind on MQA yet (vs DSD and HiRez PCM). But any attempt to corner the market by MQA (the company) is something with which I strongly disapprove. I believe MQA is seeking, and to an extent succeeding, in convincing makers of recording equipment, studio owners, major labels and streaming purveyors to license MQA which, in turn, will then compel the end user (listener) to purchase the license in their home systems or suffer the fate of a "blurred" product. If true, I will not join the party which the record companies and MQA would like to force me to attend and will not purchase my music for the third time from a "new master equivalent" format that is not as good as vinyl and may not be much better, if at all, than DSD or HiRez PCM. I certainly have my suspicions.