MQA - Music Discussion


This thread is to discuss MQA music currently available, listening impressions, and how they were encoded.

Please keep tech. talk (except provenance) out of this discussion! :) This thread is about finding good music sources, listening impressions, and mastering. There is a lot to be said about the algorithms, hype, and politics but please use other threads for that in the Digital section perhaps. :) 

I'll start.  I know right now of only two big labels offering MQA:

2L.no (maybe only test tracks)

and

https://www.highresaudio.com/studio_master.php?fids=153&cr=MQA

as well as at least one indie label. Thanks to Peter Veth over in the DAR thread here:

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2016/08/mqa-a-non-hostile-takeover/#comment-135610

I'm particularly interested in talking about works we can find to do A/B comparisons with, as well as any tracks listeners feel are exemplars and say "This is good stuff!"  because so far I've had no luck at all.

As others know, the thing that has so far affected music the most is the mastering choices made by the engineers, as opposed to actual encoding technology, so I welcome details of that along with listening impressions.

Thank you.
erik_squires
Hi @edcyn

If you aren’t using MQA, try switching to the fast rolloff filter. :)

Best,
Erik
You got me dial-twiddling with the Brooklyn's filter settings.  Who knows if I'll stick to my latest setting, but right now APDZ -- apodizing fast roll off, linear phase -- is my current fave.  Best orchestral tone.  Widest, deepest image.  No bass bloat like there is on several other settings.  Least amount of hash.  As the chorus sings in the opening number of Handel's Acis and Galatea, I'm "hap, hap, happy."
I too use the apodizing filter along with the fast roll off in my Meridian Ultra Dac for most things.  With MQA, it makes the appropriate connections.  

I find the apodizing filter to benefit standard CD very much.
I continue to dial twiddle.  I currently find that, when streaming, any slow roll-off filter gives APDZ a serious run for its money.  And oh yeah, my turntable still outperforms the other sources more often than not.  That doesn't mean, though, that I don't happily listen to the others.