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MQA did up to now not explain what different levels of decoding is possible and their influence on sound quality . There are several threads on CA and one even collecting specific questions to Bob Stuart but MQA did not answer yet.
If you look at this site http://www.2l.no/hires/ you see that file sizes are significant larger than 16/44.1 (roughly 2/3 of 24/192). That may pose some problems when streaming hires files!
For me the most interesting aspect of MQA is its improved time behavior compared to other codings including the lack of pre/post-ringing (i wonder how Devialet is performing in that respect as I have not seen any relevant measurements). If that time domain behavior can be preserved through soft/firmware in digital sources like servers etc. MQA will be interesting. But if that requires specific hard or firmware in the DAC portion I expect to be out of luck with Devialet. Also any DSP like SAM or cross-over will make things less likely to work.
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23-Feb-2016, 22:40
(This post was last modified: 23-Feb-2016, 22:42 by Hifi_swlon.)
(23-Feb-2016, 22:14)Music or sound Wrote: . Also any DSP like SAM or cross-over will make things less likely to work.
Which is likely to make it a tricky proposition with so many DSP functions in existence, with even things like Sonos etc starting to get Room Correction. No doubt MQA will just work through all this if they want it to succeed as at the end if the day it's meant to be about reproducing the sound as accurately as possible, so it would be crazy to rule out features that aid that. Seems like it's going to take a good while to get setup.
The 'questions to Bob Stuart' thread on CA is here if anyone's interested. Not sure if the answers are going to be posted there, or when. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-gen...mqa-27412/
>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase. <<<
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Those of us who own a Bluesound device -- I've got a Node 2 -- might see a free firmware upgrade around the time of the Munich Hi-End Show (May 5-8) activating MQA decoding. Then we can see what the fuss is about by accessing some of the free 2L MQA files and playing them via Bluesound. Should be fun!
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I have not received anything from MQA yet. I sent a mail to their 'info' mail address at February 22. regarding playback of MQA material through a convolver. I guess they have not planned for MQA to survive DSP processing. Surprising really as Meridian speakers are DSP controlled. I agree with Hifi_swlon that it would be strange if it turns out DSP processing is not possible.
*
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26-Mar-2016, 16:53
(This post was last modified: 26-Mar-2016, 23:12 by Hifi_swlon.)
Apparently the huge set of questions put to Bob Stuart at CA are going to be answered (allegedly in full) within a week or so. I'm pretty sure that Room Correction was covered, along with software decoding, and a lot of technical detail that currently appears to be hidden by a lot of 'marketing speak'. It will be interesting to see how detailed and open the replies are bearing in mind the pretty hard questions being asked.
>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase. <<<
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08-Apr-2016, 16:36
(This post was last modified: 08-Apr-2016, 16:41 by Hifi_swlon.)
The answers to 'the big one' (aka the massive list of questions from CA readers) are in.
Hats off to Bob Stuart - whatever comes of the discussion about his answers* - no one can say he didnt put in the effort. Give yourself some time - it's seriously long.
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/conten...ob-stuart/
One thing of note - you will be able to do Room Correction. Q65.
Devialet also gets a specific mention in Q50 - but don't get your hopes up.
(* I've no reason to believe anything will come of it, other than the fact some people are really into this stuff, as well as being really into arguing anything to death)
>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase. <<<
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The big question is does MQA really offer anything you can't already get from a nice 24bit FLAC or is it a load of foo about correcting recording studio ADC errors, designed to part Audiophiles from cash?
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08-Apr-2016, 16:53
(This post was last modified: 08-Apr-2016, 16:55 by Hifi_swlon.)
(08-Apr-2016, 16:45)Confused Wrote: The big question is does MQA really offer anything you can't already get from a nice 24bit FLAC or is it a load of foo about correcting recording studio ADC errors, designed to part Audiophiles from cash?
I'm pretty sure that was covered in there somewhere actually! 
For streaming services, its anticipated to be free (at least from what a Tidal rep implied over at Roon)….. So it might be a bonus for some without any cost….. when does that ever happen. Might be a really good year for music after all (he says, staying positive)
Hopefully we'll actually be able to hear it soon enough. Wouldn't it be a lovely surprise if the April Devialet announcement was MQA and AIR! (OK, I let the positive vibe get away with me there)
>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase. <<<
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(08-Apr-2016, 16:53)Hifi_swlon Wrote: (08-Apr-2016, 16:45)Confused Wrote: The big question is does MQA really offer anything you can't already get from a nice 24bit FLAC or is it a load of foo about correcting recording studio ADC errors, designed to part Audiophiles from cash?
I'm pretty sure that was covered in there somewhere actually!
Maybe here?
(26-Jan-2016, 22:38)thumb5 Wrote: This article on Archimago's Musings looks like interesting reading for those with a technical bent. (Though I haven't tried to digest it yet.)
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08-Apr-2016, 23:28
(This post was last modified: 08-Apr-2016, 23:34 by Hifi_swlon.)
Q & A #82
As referenced in the article, Bob was apparently blocked from making comments there, and it's also disappeared, whether we read anything into either I'm not sure.
>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase. <<<
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