08-Jan-2016, 20:18
MQA is _NOT_ better at compressing losslessly any audio than FLAC/ALAC and other competing formats.
The only advantages of MQA is
1) ability to play it on devices that do NOT understand FLAC/ALAC and only understand plain PCM, and
2) ability to transparently choose to play a LOSSY stream, which may compress to a smaller size and need less bandwidth than LOSSLESS FLAC/ALAC.
If you want _lossless_ 24bit/192KHz on Phantom (the maximum of it's DAC) in smallest size - choose FLAC/ALAC/etc.
Do not believe the marketing-style reviews. Most reviewers don't take time to try to undertand the technology and write up some wishful thinking without even checking.
Unless you want LOSSY compression or your equipment cannot play FLAC/ALAC, MQA is not better for you in any way.
The only advantages of MQA is
1) ability to play it on devices that do NOT understand FLAC/ALAC and only understand plain PCM, and
2) ability to transparently choose to play a LOSSY stream, which may compress to a smaller size and need less bandwidth than LOSSLESS FLAC/ALAC.
If you want _lossless_ 24bit/192KHz on Phantom (the maximum of it's DAC) in smallest size - choose FLAC/ALAC/etc.
Do not believe the marketing-style reviews. Most reviewers don't take time to try to undertand the technology and write up some wishful thinking without even checking.
Unless you want LOSSY compression or your equipment cannot play FLAC/ALAC, MQA is not better for you in any way.
