Overall, I think Tidal's MQA Masters series recordings sound great and better than CD or traditional 44.1 Tidal hi-resolution downloads. I don't have experience with MQA in any other format than Tidal's Masters.
I haven't made many direct comparisons between an actual physical CD and MQA.
I'm not hearing any increase in distortion, loss of information, noise or anything. What I am hearing is a general overall improvement. I agree with others who think there is more body to MQA and a seemingly lower noise floor. Everything sounds more defined without added harshness to me
I get the OP's point that maybe Tidal's MQA Masters sound better just because there's attention given to making them sound better, as opposed to an improvement being solely due to the MQA format.
For now, I'm just happy that a digital format sounds great. I simply cannot buy to try everything I'm exploring on vinyl. Tidal and a good DAC allow me to explore to no end. I'm living in a world with great vinyl and great digital so--to me--it's a new golden age.
I haven't made many direct comparisons between an actual physical CD and MQA.
I'm not hearing any increase in distortion, loss of information, noise or anything. What I am hearing is a general overall improvement. I agree with others who think there is more body to MQA and a seemingly lower noise floor. Everything sounds more defined without added harshness to me
I get the OP's point that maybe Tidal's MQA Masters sound better just because there's attention given to making them sound better, as opposed to an improvement being solely due to the MQA format.
For now, I'm just happy that a digital format sounds great. I simply cannot buy to try everything I'm exploring on vinyl. Tidal and a good DAC allow me to explore to no end. I'm living in a world with great vinyl and great digital so--to me--it's a new golden age.