SFAIK = So far as I know, meaning I haven’t seen any updated information regarding MQA decoding.
I usually find new music in Roon by following links to Artists or entering Album/Artist names mentioned by others in Forum threads. When Tidal shows me various versions of Albums, I can’t currently easily tell whether they are MQA or not.
I have occasionally visited Roon/Tidal/Masters and listened to some MQA albums. I’ve enjoyed them, but didn’t find the undecoded Albums enough of an SQ improvement to justify cross referencing with Roon/Tidal/Masters or the Tidal app in order to ensure I was picking an MQA version when listening to new music.
If Roon/Tidal was able to mark MQA albums (and eventually I expect that to happen), then I might prefer to use the MQA versions, but at the moment I’m not seeking them out.
If/when Roon enables software decoding, that may change. Hopefully MQA albums will then be identified.
I’d have to say that not making MQA albums immediately identifiable as MQA is an unusual marketing approach. Dolby didn’t hide his light under a bushel.
I am interested in how superior SQ outside of Roon might work, but I don’t have plans to buy new hardware at the moment. In relation to undecoded MQA files, yes, I’m not hearing enough of an improvement to justify the strangely difficult task of identifying them when Tidal offers me multiple versions of an Album.
Hi @andybob. If you’re interested, it’s actually quite simple in Tidal to recognize MQA titles, they have a “M” inside a small square on the bottom right of the album art. Found via the Masters tab, or by search by artist. I’ve made MQA playlists within Tidal, which Roon recognizes. I agree though, without those files being decoded by Roon, Audirvana or some other solution, the SQ benefits are negligible. Thus, for some of us, the impatience for Roon and Meridian to provide MQA decoding via Roon.
For me,I think I’m done. When I see a headline at DAR announcing Roon’s support of MQA, I’ll turn my Roon Server back on…and in the meantime, I’ll enjoy Audirvana’s MQA support of Tidal along with my hires library.
Doubtuf that the vast majority of people listening on phones, earbuds, and other inexpensive devices will notice any difference, unless the mastering is very different . They don’t hear a a difference between Mp3, CD, and hi -res as it is, so why will they notice any improvements MQA makes?
If we stick with that rational, why bother with better anything. Coffee, wine etc. Of course people will notice the quality when used over time. Music will become more satisfying and less tiring.
The debate seems valid now with all the A/B testing people are doing which is not that valid (IMHO) as I don’t think it even considers listener fatigue over time. I expect it adds to this.
Just listen to High Res and MQA over an extended time and the benefits manifest themselves.
Well, I have listened to it extensively and haven’t heard any consistent improvement in SQ . Some albums yes, some sound worse, and some don’t sound much different.
I’m an experienced listener and have a highly resolving system. If there was a consistent and noticeable improvement with MQA, it should be obvious. That there isn’t tells me something.
I’m not sure your comparison is undecode or fully decode. It makes a lot difference especially in high-end system. My comparison using Mytek Brooklyn DAC is one good example.
I get it. As soon as someone says they don’t think MQA is some incredible upgrade to audioophile level sound quality, the conclusion is that they must not have listened properly…
I listen to MQA fully decoded using a Meridian Explorer2 DAC. The DAC feeds my Kii three playback system. The Kii is probably more revealing and resolving than about 99% of the audio systems available, so you know, I don’t think my playback is an issue.
And please don’t tell me the DAC is an issue. MQA doesn’t say that the benefits can only be heard with a $2 or $3 thousand dollar DAC.
I have. What I am saying is the sole reason any labels are joining MQA is to resell. Sure people producing technological advances deserve to be compensated!
You get most of the MQA benefit from the first unfold. I am pretty sure that a multi-$k DAC using only the first unfold sounds much better than an explorer2 doing a full unfold.
If I understand the Kii website correctly, it goes through its own digital conversion and DSP manipulation. MQA time domain performance cannot be maintained this way.
In spite of working for a MQA licensee, I have absolutely no problem with people saying that think some MQA albums sound bad if they have heard it. I do need to be clear about what equipment they used to listen to it, and what level of MQA decoding was employed.
James, the issue is not how to find the MQA files that Tidal tells us about, it’s finding the MQA files that Tidal doesn’t tell us about. You can’t just search for the “M”, and the new Masters section is far from exhaustive in terms of content.
That’s why there are large user populated spreadsheets that try and bridge the gap.
This actually comes back to my real point: Apple will adopt MQA when it becomes mainstream. The labels are adopting (or rather sort of signing on cautiously) as a way to resell their vaults of music.
My opinion: MQA needs to understand that their revenue model depends more on widespread adoption than extracting every possible licensing revenue from every single step of the chain. This is where I think they are making a mistake. Allowing first unfold on Audirvana/Tidal was an important step forward in the right direction. They need to figure out how to extend this. But then they go back to stupid stuff, like why does the Tidal app not do first unfold on iOS?
Apple will adopt nothing.
They create their own formats. They have done this and will so in the future.
They tell everybody what the direction will be.
Their strength is enormous.
I just bought and downloaded a Bruce Springsteen gig from NUGS.net in MQA to raise money for the recent Hurricane disaster relief.
I’ll have a proper listen soon but it’s great Bruce is donating all the monies. Bob Ludwig remastered it and its available in many formats. So MP3 is the cheaper option.
I’m feeding the Kiis the analog output of the Explorer2, so whatever MQA has done to the signal is getting to the Kiis.
And before you tell me again how I’m not hearing what MQA is doing, believe me when I tell you that feeding an analog signal to the Kiis results in output that is not distinguishable from source.
There are even Kii owners feeding the analog signal from a hi-end turntable setup to the Kii, and reporting that they are hearing the analog sound of their TT setup. Michael Fremer said something similar when he heard TT-Kii combo at an audio show.