MQA and MQA ready DACs

[Dr Pan K]

Everything you need to know about MQA – the future of music streaming @ Stuff magazine

Talking to Stuff about MQA’s compression process, Meridian’s Bob Stuart said: “We don’t chop or cut; we fold. There are areas of redundancy we can put information into, so every sample carries two or three times more info than before, but it appears small because it’s efficiently packed.”

http://www.stuff.tv/features/everything ... MC6e6od.01

[Dr Pan K]

Σκέψεις και δόκιμες του Atkinson (Stereophile) επάνω στο επίμαχο θέμα του MQA

Whatever the provenance, a consistent factor in my auditioning of the decoded MQA files was a sense of ease to the sound. High frequencies were in no way dulled, but the treble was consistently sweet.

Babylon Sisters: Comparing the MQA and PCM versions of this recording, I had difficulty coming to a conclusion. While the top octaves sounded sweeter with MQA, the bass was a little less well defined than with the 24/96 original. Though the metallic sound at the left of the stage in the intro was more generically clangy with the original, overall the track sounded a little less exciting with the MQA-encoded file

http://www.stereophile.com/content/list ... 1XVGBTo.99

[Dr Pan K]

Μεταφέρω καποια περάσματα απο την τοποθέτηση του John Siau της Benchmark

MQA is NOT Lossless

MQA-Block-Diagram_grande.png (77.92 KiB) Viewed 3245 times

The MQA encoder shown in Fig. 7A accepts a 96 kHz 24-bit input. This 24-bit input is immediately reduced to 17 bits using noise shaped dither (this is a lossy dithered quantization process that adds some noise above 20 kHz).

Note that the original 24-bit signal is never recovered. MQA does not losslessly preserve the original 24-bit signal. For this reason MQA is not truly a lossless system. At best, the MQA system losslessly conveys 17-bits at 96 kHz. Unfortunately this very complicated process is less efficient than lossless FLAC compression of the 17-bit file. It is also only slightly smaller than a FLAC version of the original 24-bit signal. MQA does not make it easier to stream 96 kHz files. With a 96 kHz 18-bit input, FLAC compressed MQA requires higher data rates than FLAC compressed PCM while delivering lower quality than 18-bit losslessly compressed PCM. MQA also requires special mastering and special playback hardware. Conventional FLAC compression requires neither.

...

The primary benefit of MQA is the reduction in bit rate provided by the compression system. Again, this same or better reduction can be achieved with a conventional, non-aliasing downsampler and lossless compression. 192 kHz 24-bit material can be downsampled to 96 kHz and then compressed using FLAC lossless compression. The conventional FLAC compression yields a slightly smaller file with slightly better fidelity.

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/applic ... is-mqa-doa

[Dr Pan K]

Σήμερα παρέλαβα το τελευταίο press release από την MQA.

MQA Landscape Timeline RMAF2016-HD.jpeg (571.05 KiB) Viewed 3237 times

Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2016 confirms MQA momentum
with wide range of MQA-ready partners and licensed music

Denver, CO, 7 October 2016: RMAF, the Denver-based audio show held on 7-9 October, marks the largest-ever public showcase of MQA-ready products, supported by hundreds of MQA albums available to download.

In addition to demonstrations from MQA-enabled products already on the market, showgoers can also witness further MQA-ready unveilings, including the Bluesound launch of the world’s first MQA-ready soundbar. The PULSE SOUNDBAR joins Bluesound’s family of MQA-ready wireless Pulse speakers and Node players, enabling wireless hi-resolution music streaming to any room in the home.
New MQA partners at RMAF 2016 include MSB with the launch of its first MQA-ready product, the Select DAC. Cary Audio will launch its first MQA-ready product, the DMS-500 and Aurender will showcase its new A10 music server. Bel Canto will be introducing MQA in its ACI600 integrated amplifier over the coming months.

For those looking to incorporate MQA into their home audio system, an MQA-ready DAC offers the ideal partnership, and RMAF plays host to a number of outstanding examples. MSB will take the wraps off its MQA-ready DAC, the Select, showcasing it in a loudspeaker-fronted demo. Mytek will offer headphone demos of its Manhattan II and Brooklyn products. The final production version of Brinkmann’s Nyquist makes its US debut in Denver, while Meridian Audio will be part of a speaker-led demo with its new Ultra DAC.

The Pioneer XDP-100 and Onkyo DP-X1 models are superb examples of the ‘mobile’ potential of MQA, and both feature at this year’s RMAF. The portable digital audio players are both MQA-ready, meaning there is no need to limit hi-resolution audio to home listening.

MQA Founder & CTO, Bob Stuart, commented, “It’s been an extremely busy 12 months for the MQA team since last year’s show, and with the support of our partners we’ve made huge progress. As a result, we’ve seen a steady stream of MQA-ready products released in to the market, and hundreds of MQA albums are now available from music stores across the US, Japan and Europe.”

RMAF 2016 is MQA’s first public show since it recruited respected music industry executive Mike Jbara as CEO. Mike and the MQA team, including company founder and CTO Bob Stuart, continue to expand the company’s reach in the music industry, both in hardware and software partnerships. Following on from the signing of the long-term licensing deal with Warner Music Group, the MQA team is currently encoding thousands of hi-res titles in MQA, as well as working with Warner on roll-out plans.
MQA music fans can already choose from more than 250 MQA albums from renowned labels, such as ECM, RME Premium Recordings, Sono Luminus, UNAMAS and 2L. Recordings are available on music download stores across Europe, Japan and the US, including 2L, 7digital, e-onkyo music, Kripton HQM, Onkyo Music and HIGHRESAUDIO.

In further music industry recognition of MQA’s status, this year also saw the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) include MQA as an approved technology for delivering hi-res music on streaming services.

[leonidasgr]

Έχει γίνει χαοτική η κατάσταση με τα ψηφιακά ! Και πάντα σε βάρος των καταναλωτών.δεν μπορώ να ακολουθήσω τις εξελίξεις αλλάξει το κόστος ενσωμάτωσης . Πρεπει να παίζετε βρόμικο παιχνίδι με τις μεγάλες εταιρίες

[BityaBit]

To MQA είναι μια μάλλον αποτυχημένη (αν κρίνουμε απο τον βαθμό υιοθέτησης του ένα χρόνο μετά απο την επίσημα δημόσια παρουσίαση του) απόπειρα να μπεί μια τάξη σε αυτό το χάος με win-win στην θεωρία προθποθέσεις (τώρα αν πολοί audiophiles στραβομουτσουνιάζουν αυτό είναι αναμενόμενο αφου είμαστε περίεργη ράτσα)

\ Πρεπει να παίζετε βρόμικο παιχνίδι με τις μεγάλες εταιρίες

Σωωωπα!..

[BityaBit]

Πάντως θα αν διαβάσω άλλο ένα δελτίο τύπου για κάποιο lifetime achievment που παρέλαβε ο Bob Stuart.. Oκ δεν έχουν τίποτα σημαντικό να ανακοινώσουν όμως έχουν καταντήσει γραφικοί..

[Dr Pan K]

Την αναφορά απο το RMAF ή μαλλον τις σκέψεις υπογραφει ο φιλος Michael Lavorgna απο το Sterophile/ AUdiostream:

MQA causes more intellectual hemorrhaging and un-righteous indignation than any other thing in hi-fi. It is, in some circles, more suspicious than expensive cables and tiny room treatment devices and I had more than one exhibitor lean in close to ask, "What do you think about MQA?" as if they were asking me about my connections to the Illuminati.

Of course, some manufacturers who do not support MQA had lots of very not nice things to say about it. The thing is, in my experience the majority of the time these same people do not know what the heck they are talking about. Que Sera, Sera.

Here's what I can tell you about MQA from the press conference they held on the first day of RMAF 2016:

The entire Warner Music catalog has been converted to MQA (yea, the whole thing)
If everything goes according to current plans/contract negotiations, the other Big Two label's (Sony and Universal) catalogs will be converted to MQA by next Spring
Tidal, as well as other streaming services who shall remain nameless at this point, will be streaming MQA content. When? I don't know.
MQA offered A/B comparisons

My takeaway from this is MQA is a train that has left the station and has the momentum to deliver. If this bothers you, I'd suggest putting MQA on ignore. If you're interested in very very good sounding streaming, better than CD-quality in terms of sound quality even with CD-quality recordings, you should stay in the MQA loop.

http://www.audiostream.com/content/what ... p2weOxk.99

[BityaBit]

Αν γινουν αυτα που γραφει μπορουμε να μιλαμε για επανασταση (ασχετα με τις οποιες τεχνικου τυπου ενστασεις) στον τρπο και την ποιοτητα διανομης της μουσικης.. Βεβαια μεχρι τωρα απο λογια αλλο τιποτα, απο την αλλη ολλο και περισσοτεροι κατασκευαστες το ενσωματωνουν αναλαμβανοντας το οποιο κοστος μικρο η μεγαλο. Ιδωμεν...

Εσυ Παναγιωτη που τον ξερεις καλυτερα τον γραφοντα τι λες;..

[BityaBit]

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2016/ ... rmaf-2016/