Well, high res goes some way to improving things at ever great digital resolution.
The analogy I like is, you have a pot of white paint and a drop of black goes in… Adding more and more white paint may help a lot, but does not remove the black paint.
Sit down then, chief.
“You wouldn’t know her she goes to a different school”.
I agree 100%. All these 16/44.1 new “Authentic” MQA albums, are a joke. I think all are probably just batch encodes and all done for content and numbers for Tidal and not about quality, just bulls**t to me. Perfect example is Genesis - A Trick of the Tail new MQA is 16/44.1 obviously just an encode of a previous CD edition, but who knows what CD sourced version they used, it’s just ending up another gimmick to me and means nothing.
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Of course, you don’t know any of this or have any inside information. So this is just a mystical guess. As such it holds zero weight or authority. I wonder if you have taken the time to have a listen in an MQA system?
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There’s a simple solution to this controversy. Tidal (which is pretty much the only source of MQA) should separate “Masters” from the “Hi-Fi” tier and charge more for the “Masters” tier.
That would let the market decide.
(As long as the CD quality “Hi-Fi” tier doesn’t serve up MQA compromised 13 bit “compatibility” files.)
As for “authentication”, labels could simply publish the FLAC “fingerprint” for the files they release on a public source. Problem solved.
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From Bob Stuart:
There are three ways we can end up with a 16-bit MQA file: 1) Encoding a 16b 44.1 (or 48) kHz master; 2) A derivative of a 24b MQA encoding; 3) A custom MQA-CD encoding.
In all three cases, the MQA files can deliver an audible dynamic range that exceeds 16b.
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Then they would be accused of money grabbing… They can’t win. MQA is not designed to price people out of high res. It’s for everyone. A USP for Tidal
Yes it is (just my guess) and yes I have. Not sure why you come at everyone so hard who may have a different opinion than you. But whatever, you be you.
MQA is not hi-res. The USP for Tidal is for rubes. Which makes more sense to charge more for rubes. All it would take is a Kardashians endorsement. A lifestyle fashion brand, and whatnot.
That kind of opinion isn’t worth arguing with. The anti-MQA mafia reminds me of QAnon, providing new conspiracy theories by the hour.
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This entire MQA argument is nonsense. If you don’t like MQA, don’t subscribe to Tidal and don’t buy an MQA DAC. If you like MQA, subscribe to Tidal and buy an MQA DAC. What’s the use in arguing with other Roon customers about the merits of MQA or lack thereof? It’s like arguing politics or religion.
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Mafia. QAnon. Lol. Project much?
QAnon, haha too much… you mean MQAnon. 
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Seems like, as said above, a play on numbers. We were initially sent in the direction that Mqa was hi-res in a smaller package. Then thrown in there somewhere was some stuff about hi-res isn’t the important part, it’s the authentication of the source. Studio Masters.
All the studio master files I’ve encountered are 24 bit flac files. All these “millions of mqa files” for the most part are 16 bit flac files. None are “MQA Studio” files. But they are MQA. So tidal is playing the game, they are adding more MQA files, we all just seem to assume though that these files are MQA Studio and they are not.
All these new 16b mqa files seem to be indicating a green light on my DAC. So going by what bob says here, Mqa authentication, they are MQA files. They are not MQA Studio files. Seems that Tidal is trying to mislead people into thinking they have millions more hi-res files to offer, but in truth, by definition they’re just offering a bunch of genuine streams.
- The MQA ‘Studio’ (blue light) gives confirmation directly from mastering engineers, producers or artists to their listeners. MQA Studio authenticates that the sound you are hearing is exactly as played in the studio when the music was completed and, by implication, that this is also the definitive version of the recording at that point in time.
- A second level, ‘MQA’ (green light) is available to indicate that although the stream is genuine, provenance may be uncertain or that it is not yet the final release…
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The Dire Straits “COMMUNIQUE” album is available in MQA when I play the tracks in my A&K SP2000 it shows HIFI and not MASTERS. But when I play Via ROON it shows all the MQA Authentication info & graphics…
Strange Indeed…
Appears all the older Dire Straits albums are available in green light mqa.
Phil Collins …but seriously same scenario… 16/44.1
Noticed a while ago that Steve Winwood Back in the High Life was available. It too is green light mqa but 24/44.1
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You really need to define hi res. If you mean digital resolution at your DAC or a high res digital stream, then sometimes it is (See 2L 352K releases) and sometimes it is not (16/44 MQA).
If you mean resolution in an audible sense, an ability to resolve the Sound of instruments as an analog listening experience, then I would say MQA facilitates a very high level of resolution.
OMG, here we go again. After the refinition of ‘lossless’ and ‘authentic’, now the term ‘hires’ is the next to be redefined to serve the mqa propganda?
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Well, you don’t listen to a digital system you listen to the movement of air. High res is one way to improve analog resolution, I mean that is the whole point of the exercise isn’t it?
MQA also designed from the ground up to improve analog resolution…