John,
I suspect PS Audio will come up with something great to address MQA, as it looks like (with Universal joining the fray), that MQA has made it in the marketplace.
I also suspect that DAC chipset companies like ESS will likely imbed MQA decoding in their future offerings.
I must say, playing regular FLAC or AIFF files, comparing my DirectStream DAC with the Explorer2, the PS Audio DAC wins “hands down”.
This article is pretty old, especially in digital-audio years. It would be interesting if the experiment were repeated using, say, DXD PCM sampling rates and, even better (IMO), DSD128 or DSD256. Also, I think it’s likely that better filter designs have been developed in the last 10 years. It’s probably okay to leave out maximum-phase filters this go-round.
Dare I mention that there is a – surprisingly undiscussed – patent application by Bob Stuart and Peter Craven which describes a Non linear filter with group delay at pre-response frequency for high res audio. In short, it appears to be linear phase, except for the pre-ring (and presumably the less critical post ring) which it kicks into the future; the advantage being constant group delay (where it matters) and significant group delay for the ringing. It’s a fair bet that this is part of the MQA suite of technologies.
1 Like
yes, this is true, but like a sound after a sound (post-ringing), phase variation is also found in natural environments. if sound can be refracted or diffracted, it’s impossible to keep linear in phase. much easier for the ear to accept than pre-ringing.
True, but also defeat’s MQA’s self-stated target of no more time smear than caused by 10m of air.
Not sure how MQA works in this regard, but I’m just speaking regards minimum and linear phase filtering. My ears tell me minimum phase is much less smeared than linear, so much so that I’ll not purchase a DAC that isn’t either Non-oversampling–then use hi-quality minimum phase upsampling, like in Roon–or has some type of minimum phase filter in the oversampling. Meridian (MQA) has been pushing minimum phase for a while now, perhaps the smearing caused by 10 meters of air is what a well implemented minimum phase filter would equal too?
I also just bought an Explorer2 for the kicks of it. I’m shocked it sounds as good as it does. Playing back MQA is pretty good when compared to my DCS Debussy. What exactly sounds better to you with your DirectStream vs the Brooklyn?
Also, did you notice that you had to break-in your Explorer (i.e., did it improve after playback for a certain number of hours?
I don’t have an Explorer, just the Brooklyn and the DirectStream. My subjective impression (without any formal A/B comparisons) is that the Brooklyn is superior for Tidal MQA streaming, especially for older well mastered releases that unfold to 192/24. The DirectStream with the Bridge 2 input sounds better for everything else, including non-MQA Tidal streaming. The Tidal desktop App streaming MQA with the first unfold to the USB input on the DirectStream was a little better than the unfolded Tidal MQA to the DirectStream Bridge 2, but was clearly inferior to the Brooklyn streaming Tidal MQA.
All are subjective impressions based on about 6 weeks of listening. The differences were not striking - everything sounded very good and there is so much variation depending on the source material that it takes a long time to form an opinion.
When Tidal announced they were streaming MQA, I snagged a Meridian Explorer2 on Amazon ($199) just to see what all the buzz about MQA was. I was very pleasantly surprised! Some of the older albums do sound marginally better, and some of the newer, better recorded content (to me) sounds much better.
I too have a PS Audio DirectStream DAC…and just snagged a Mytek Brooklyn DAC. To me, playing “regular” AIFF or FLAC files thru the DirectStream wins “hands down”. But for MQA, the Explorer2 and the Brooklyn are the clear “winners”.
I’ve been fascinated by MQA since I first read about it in The Absolute Sound. I see two benefits to MQA, 1) to deliver hi-res content in a smaller file size and 2) to reduce the “blur” in the event that the files are played using an MQA-capable DAC.
I believe that PS Audio’s software update will likely be like Tidal’s ability to do #1, or the “unfolding” of the MQA files. I find that my DirectStream DAC sounds a bit “dull” when playing those “unfolded” files, compared to the MQA DACs.
If in Roon’s implementation of MQA they somehow can accomplish benefit #2 by “knowing” the DAC on the other end, that would be great! But I suspect, to get both benefits of MQA, the decoding needs to be done in the DAC hardware.
As for the “experiential” benefits of MQA, to my ears the bass has more punch and definition, the highs are more crisp and with things like cymbals, you can enjoy the “timbre” of the sticks striking the ride cymbals, mids sound somewhat “analog” and well recorded acoustic piano has striking realism…just my opinion though.
2 Likes
I hear Roon is coming out with the first unfold in the software like Audirvana. My trial will end soon with Roon, so I am thinking of not signing with them, Audirvana, if this is the case. I will stay with Roon since Roon does so much more and would not need them, Audirvana if you are a some time going to first unfold. Please advise.
PS I think I am on the right track/page.
Yes confirmed ! It is coming (Roon)
It seems to me Roon is taking ‘forever’ to come out MQA decoding…The only information I see in this blog is in ‘discussion in progress’. Meaning implementation, certification and testing is still a far away.
Not sure what secretive is going unless both Roon and MQA signed a NDA. MQA is around for more than 3 years now I think Roon should give us, the users a timetable when it is expected to roll out. People are tired of waiting…
I’m more interested in an improviement in the Internet Radio facility than MQA to be honest. I’m still enjoying listening to FLAC streams.The reports of MQA across forums has been very mixed so I’m not desperate to hear it. It’ll come when it comes.I can wait. Also, marketing wise, it’s not good business to push out all your updates asap. Bugs need to be kept to a minimum and carrots need to be spread out.
I understand there are many mixed reviews out there and I’m one of them…Though at first I’ve a negative outlook on the format, over time I’ve softened my stand through listening and more exposure to the format. As a Tidal Hi-Fi subscriber on Roon, it makes sense to start decoding as Tidal has already started streaming MQA at no additional charges.
And here’s why. The more we bug the Roon team about this kind of stuff the less they will share.
2 Likes
MQA started out being pitched as the new cake, then the new icing and In reality it seems that MQA’s real value-proposition is as a cherry on top of the particular cake and icing that you already love. Software decoding gets you 99%+ of that cherry (i.e. 24/96), without a costly spend to get it or losing the downstream benefits of room correction, DSP or filters already optimized for your digital front-end and system overall.
As has been said already, potentially the biggest benefit is to the streaming companies in reduced file size and therefore cost to stream hires audio files.
Russ
As an IT guy (software developer) I don’t understand how you suddenly can pack substantially more information into a lossless file-format. Either flac is a shitty implementation/specification, or something fishy is going on.
And there are supposed to be 2 unfolds, which means the audio information needed is 4 times more.
It’s not lossless - no one has ever claimed it was. It is lossless up to 20 kHz or so, then it only encodes actual content above (i.e., no noise or digital silence).
Also, it can encode normal Redbook content (i.e., no “folds”), 88.2 / 96 content (one “fold”), 176.4 / 192 content (two “folds”), or 352.8 / 384 content (four “folds”) - or higher, I believe, though I scarcely believe there would be any audible content at that bitrate.
Hi Magnus
This was originally discussed as far back as Dec 15
Cheers
Tom