Unlikely since tape recordings are analogue. I remember always feeling that I preferred the “brighter” non-Dolby sound and hiss be damned.
4 Likes
I just don’t get it. Why are people insulting each other because you or they like or dislike MQA? This is worse than any threads I have seen about politics or religion (on other forums).
2 Likes
Nothing like DRM, which stands for ‘Digital Rights Management’.
However, your reference to DolbyA/B for tape recordings is a very good analogy for that other criticism from some who dislike MQA - ‘locked in technology’.
You had to have a tape deck with Dolby technology in order to get the best out of pre-recorded Dolby encoded cassette tapes, although it was possible to play Dolby encoded tapes using a cassette deck without Dolby technology. The same applies to MQA recordings. You need an MQA enabled DAC to get the best out of MQA encoded recordings, but the recordings can still be played through a non MQA enabled DAC.
And you are absolutely correct! There was no outcry about the use of Dolby technology in cassette decks and pre-recorded cassette tapes that I can recall.
1 Like
Different areas and different people, different experiences. Lots complained about Dolby cassettes in my area at the time. Maybe not in the press. Maybe not in my friends who were listening to pop and rock. The local jazz purists though, thought it stole the life out of the mid-50s Verve recordings.
Also you’ve got to remember that the cassette is an awful format compared to the others at the time (Vinyl and Reel to Reel). Wow and flutter numbers that are really high, low tape speeds, narrow tape, etc. So it would be like complaining about how the hold music at the dentist used to sound a bit better.
Sheldon
2 Likes
Have a word with Nakamichi about that…
(you couldn’t make your own Vinyl recordings either, so cassettes had many more uses but off topic)
You could also make your own Dolby recordings as well, so a little more flexible
Human nature?
(Did you have a school yard where you come from?)
1 Like
Yes - lots of complaints about the (cassette) format itself which was always going to be limited with the exception of a few notable offerings from the likes of Nakamichi.
Not so many about the inclusion of Dolby noise reduction technology though, which is where the analogy with MQA holds good.
Yes - but this is totally irrelevant in respect of the analogy between Dolby noise reduction and MQA. I much preferred reel to reel and my (Dolby-less) Pioneer RT-909 to the various cassette decks from Technics and Denon that I owned in the past, but again this has nothing to do with the very good Dolby/MQA technology analogy.
I’m neither a fan nor an MQA hater. But if it’s really all about the music, why mention the playback format in the “What we are listening to […]” threads? The overwhelming majority of people on this forum don’t do this – probably because they think the format isn’t really relevant. To put it another way, even though I occasionally listen to music in MQA, I never listen to MQA.
15 Likes
I honestly don’t think that’s what’s happening here. As I see it, most of the time the discussion only gets heated when people feel they’re intentionally being misinterpreted by other users and their clearly/carefully worded posts are being replied to in a way that obviously doesn’t do justice to what they actually wrote and how they wrote it. This is especially frustrating if the person responding to you is a native English speaker…
11 Likes
People can and do mention formats, and there is nothing wrong with that. You are right though, we all listen to music not formats. I listen to the music I like in the best way I can get it.
Luckily as I type I am enjoying Eva Cassidy, a musician I have enjoyed for many years in CD quality, but now in MQA for the first time.
People may want to know this release is available to enjoy or avoid, so far I am enjoying it a lot.
I couldn’t agree more. What I find equally annoying is when a user just chimes in to tell the people taking part in this discussion how ridiculous or pointless or repetitive he thinks the whole discussion is. This sometimes happens right after someone got a whole bunch of likes for what a lot of other users obviously considered a very well-written and very useful post…
However, in my view, nobody gets “bullied” or “insulted” on here – and certainly not just because they like or don’t like MQA.
16 Likes
I’m just listening to Melody Gardot’s “Sunset in the Blue”. I think it sounds very nice in MQA, but even better in high res (via both my MQA capable DAC and my non-MQA DAC). I can’t say it’s a huge difference, but one I believe I can definitely hear. I’m not saying this proves anything. I’m just describing my subjective listening impressions.
4 Likes
It’s a lovely recording in any format.
Good advice. “If you like MQA, I recommend you subscribe to Tidal or purchase MQA recordings and equip your music system with a fully capable MQA DAC.”
Next, listen to Jeffrey Norman’s masterful re-mastering of the Grateful Dead’s American Beauty on Tidal in MQA, 192 and revel in how far recording and mastering have come in the past half century.
1 Like
But you realize how convenient it is to say: " MQA sounds great but haters always gonna hate"?
You immediately feel superior, you are not a hater, you do not need to understand why people object to MQA, you do even have to understand what MQA is technically and therefore you can accept all this stuff like " analog lossless" and similar nonsense.
I do not know anyone who would hate just another lossy digital audio encoding, even it its its proponents are claiming to solve all the problems that no one really considered a problem until Bob Stuart announced that he solved them all. But many consider it irrelevant at best, and potentially harmful because of a pretty dishonest Meridian marketing and business model.
3 Likes
Everybody is missing something with MQA, it’s lossy by design… 
4 Likes
I disagree as MQA is lossless in the analog domain ie, no analog perceivable information is lost.
I await the day people who believe other wise can come round mine as I play some MQA and tell me what’s missing.
Meridian DSP 5200SE system so you know. So far, all visitors i have had (pre Covid) had lovely jaw drop moments where they remarked on the clarity.
The main thing is to enjoy the music.
Ok, I forgot, you are way to serious on the matter! 