I am posting this in general for comment even though the thought was triggered by a Qobuz email. And to clarify, even though I linked to a post that talks about files, I am only wondering what people think of the use of the logos and do they care?
So I got an email a little while ago pitching the Qobuz integration and offering a free trial. Of course, very prominent in the email was the Hi-Res Audio logo.
So…the fact is from what I understand it is that that logo is only for hardware, not for music files, but no one seems to care and uses them interchangeably. I see this from site to site and from manufacturer to manufacturer.
I honestly don’t care myself, I know what they mean, but, other than Mark Waldrep pointing this out it seems to fall on deaf ears. What does everyone think about this?
Here is a blog post Mark posted not long ago on this exact subject.
I got as far as the first table listing process and then evaluation and saw the first flaw in his argument. The process is that of producing what might be considered high res. music. The two are intertwined. Where I think he comes unstuck is in the fact that you have to consider software in the same grouping as hardware. As a consequence Qobuz can sport the High Res Audio logo as part of the mechanism for music playback. Not as an indication of the quality of the files it carries. The reality is that I have never played a note through the Qobuz apps. (I lie, I attempted to stream to my car when they were having their DOS troubles). Everything has been streamed via Roon so all we see is the files, not their software which is the bit that might qualify for the High Res logo the author seems to think can only apply to physical hardware. In short, if you put Qobuz on to a PC or Mac, you can transform it into a High Res Audio capable device and that is what justifies their use of the logo.
Henry,
Thanks for the note back and I see now that I have confused things here. I was only really asking about whether anyone even cares about the use of the logos one way or another, I didn’t care about the actual post and the argument one way or another, those arguments get made ad nauseam all the time and there are always those that will pick one side or another.
The same question can be posed about the stairstep representations made between digital and analog files and the incorrect use of those logos as well. When I see the Hi-Res logo, honestly, I just know what it refers to and don’t think equipment or files.
Larry, nobody cares. A few bristle at the site of an MQA logo but that is understandable given the controversy with which some view the process. But the reality is that for the vast majority these logos don’t determine wether a person buys, or indeed refuses to buy a product.
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