Tidal Ups MQA Selection - Good for Audiophiles or Just a Gimmick?

[lovinthehd]

Wow no Pet Shop Boys or Bananarama....and in the same sentence as Led Zeppelin. You have some eclectic taste there!

 

[Trebdp83]

For video, I stick to discs whenever possible. Thank God Redbox made it thru Covid and easy access to BluRay's is still available. They're even test marketing 4k discs in some areas. A damn shame that video streaming down-samples all to what they do, but at this time it's probably necessary until much faster home lines become the norm.

No 4K option near me. Use it often for blu-rays.

 

[lovinthehd]

No 4K option near me. Use it often for blu-rays.

Yeah Netflix DVD service has no 4k I've run across at all....but they've thought they'd shut this down for many years now. Even at their pricing I'd still rather have the choice of a disc, even dvd, over streaming.....I've had differences in some cases.....

 

[Trebdp83]

Use to get discs from Netflix but it became so difficult to get them. I actually forgot until recently that they still did discs. T-Mobile throws out free Redbox rentals about twice a month and use those and any points from paid rentals for free ones. I hate it when having to settle for DVDs but lately I’ve been surprised by the quality of some of them.

 

[lovinthehd]

Use to get discs from Netflix but it became so difficult to get them. I actually forgot until recently that they still did discs. T-Mobile throws out free Redbox rentals about twice a month and use those and any points from paid rentals for free ones. I hate it when having to settle for DVDs but lately I’ve been surprised by the quality of some of them.

I've been a disc subscriber since almost the beginning....never really a problem except they try to hide it altogether with the separate site/managment....with blurays particularly I get a better experience via disk than streaming....and even sometimes for dvd....

 

[Paul Lane]

Wow no Pet Shop Boys or Bananarama....and in the same sentence as Led Zeppelin. You have some eclectic taste there!

I’m a sucker for good British studio production..

 

[1Old_School]

First off, I am a Tidal subscriber and I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality of many of the Master tracks and Atmos mixes. I guess my biggest question is why is MQA needed in the chain?

I have been a TIDAL subscriber since shortly after JayZ bought controlling interest. As an Army Reservist, TIDAL gave me my first ever military discount I received after mustering out in 1976; thanks JayZ and Beyoncé! So I enjoyed TIDAL for awhile - it was so much better sounding than Apple or Amazon MP3s (and I began buying music from Apple as soon as iTunes came on the scene-maybe 2003).
Suddenly there was MQA available via TIDAL. I had no way of rendering MQA music until my iPhone could do the first unfold. I listened on an OPPO BDP-103 on two different systems: Yamaha & KEF speakers; and on a hand built system by Odyssey Designs’ Klaus Bunge, including recently fully upgraded Stratos mono-blocks, pre-amp and speakers. Not every MQA cut was superior to the flac files we had been listening to for a year - but 90% of them were! So much so, that my listening partner in crime ordered a SimAudio Moon 390 Streamer/DAC so we could hear MQA in all its glory. And oh me droogies, WHAT GLORIOUS SOUNDS emerged, including the Ludwig Von.

I was not going to pony up for the Moon 390, so I continued reading and researching waiting for an Ethernet streaming device which could take an MQA stream from my router and fully hardware decode (NOT just RENDER) MQA files, using two Sabre ESS 9068 DACS. Received my set-up two weeks ago. GREATLY EXCEEDS ALL EXPECTATIONS - even those set by listening to MQA on Odyssey or Benchmark systems.

I don't need anyone to tell me what I should like or how MQA is lossy based on a poor understanding of the physics involved in psycho-acoustic enjoyment of music. I have five milk crates of vinyl records. I had a moving magnet cartridge which cost as much as a used car in 1986, and which would detect every single needle set down of a half-gram weighted tone-arm. The first CDs were poop - I sent most of mine back for a refund in 1985, but sound engineers figured out how to make them representative of a live concert.

I was in a band for 6 years. All I ask of music I listen to is that it is real - that it sounds like what I remember: the sound of brushes sliding across a snare drum or medium size cymbal or top hat; that the trumpet sounds like it is right next to me; that I can hear the reed vibration from a sax or oboe and almost tell when the reed is beginning to split because it has been shaved too thin.

MQA gives me that. When any particular cut doesn't sound right (generally to bright, brash, or sibilant) then I can substitute the FLAC file on my playlist. BUT distinguishing a cough in the audience as an actual cough rather than asking was a quarter inch phono jack just plugged in or unplugged from a mixing board, means MQA has been worth it for me.

For anyone wanting to do full MQA decode not using Bluetooth or WiFi, at a comparatively decent price, check out Gustard X-16 DAC; S.M.S.L. SD-9 Streamer. I'm using I2S streamer/DAC interconnect; DAC to amp, XLR. Quiet and exceptionally accurate. US Prices $450 and $400 respectively not counting interconnects (blue jeans cable; zeskit maya).

BTW - Bob Stuart was not the first developer of surround sound. I had a Fosgate decoder in 1984. q.v., https://www.audioholics.com/audio-technologies/surround-sound-upmixer

 

[gbaby]

You down with MQA, hell no, no way. This is snake oil.

 

[gene]

Lenbrook Corp., the parent company to NAD Electronics, PSB Loudspeakers, and Bluesound, has acquired MQA. After hanging by a thread for months, MQA has been saved, but to what end? The deal adds significant audio patents and codecs to Lenbrook’s IP portfolio. But what does Lenbrook have planned for MQA? We speculate if SCL6 technology is the driving force behind the acquisition of MQA.

Lenbrook Bought Bankrupt MQA. Now What?

Lenbrook Corp., the parent company to NAD Electronics, PSB Loudspeakers, and Bluesound, has acquired Bankrupt MQA. We speculate if SCL6 technology is the driving force behind the acquisition of MQA.

www.audioholics.com

 

[Bobby Bass]

So much consolidation in equipment and sound technology in the past few years. See the benefits to the companies but not always for consumers. Competition usually benefits the market and buyers. Interesting theory on Blusound. I use it with my Node for my primary streaming so hope they come up with something that advances sound quality and benefits current customers. The sweet spot is advances in technology that benefit both the company’s bottom line and the customer‘s experience.

 

[Big-Q]

I tried Tidal and Qobuz and went with Qobuz. Used it sparingly for a year and then dropped it. I am happy with my CD rips streaming to ROON or through my network streamer at work. I also love my CD's and records. As for MQA, I have no interest.

 

[MrBoat]

The more they move forward (?), the more I move backwards. Something about the notion of when they have to tell you what you are missing, instead of you actually missing anything, it is suspect. This is one of many areas where ignorance is indeed bliss.

I liken these so-called improvements to bureaucratic jobs that are invented for someone's flunky nephew or kid that is otherwise un-hirable and unskilled, to keep them from becoming a dependent stain on the family name, or so that they can earn enough to finally move out.

The improvements are minimal, compared to all the redundant technological bloat it adds to something that used to be so much easier, and for not much more than suggestive need. It's like this with all consumer products now, including groceries. Way too many choices and way too much to think about. Thankfully, the old ways of hi-fi are not easily obsoleted like they can do with cell phones.