12-Jan-2016, 12:01
There are two very active topics on MQA over at the Roon forums (I'm not really sure why there specifically), and they've generated a lot of heated debate.
As far as my layman brain understands it, the main alleged benefit of MQA, on top of lower streaming bitrate and file size (versus 'normal' high-res files), is that the timing info of the original recording is delivered to/from your DAC exactly as intended in the recording/mastering studio, and that in demo's people have been 'blown away' by what this brings to music. It seems hotly debated, not least since only a handful of people have actually heard it so far, and many of them with a vested interest. That said, some without a vested interest also seem to be saying it was the best sound they'd ever heard.
Time will tell I guess - revolutionary new technology for our benefit, or another new way to re-market/re-sell music people already own. Or somewhere in between.
It appears the DACs have to be MQA 'certified' which will require firmware updates if that's possible, or a new MQA ready DAC - to get the full benefits above. Otherwise the files can still be played 'normally'. Or it can be done in software, it all seems very confused at the moment.
Seems like its really early to say one way or the other - assuming it even takes off. One things for sure, once its actually out there in force, some people will decide with their ears, others with maths and measurements, and we'll probably have an excellent new topic for people to endlessly debate/argue about for 2016 and beyond
Couple of Roon forum links:
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/tidal-t...-2016/5408
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/mqa-support-by-roon/88
As far as my layman brain understands it, the main alleged benefit of MQA, on top of lower streaming bitrate and file size (versus 'normal' high-res files), is that the timing info of the original recording is delivered to/from your DAC exactly as intended in the recording/mastering studio, and that in demo's people have been 'blown away' by what this brings to music. It seems hotly debated, not least since only a handful of people have actually heard it so far, and many of them with a vested interest. That said, some without a vested interest also seem to be saying it was the best sound they'd ever heard.
Time will tell I guess - revolutionary new technology for our benefit, or another new way to re-market/re-sell music people already own. Or somewhere in between.
It appears the DACs have to be MQA 'certified' which will require firmware updates if that's possible, or a new MQA ready DAC - to get the full benefits above. Otherwise the files can still be played 'normally'. Or it can be done in software, it all seems very confused at the moment.
Seems like its really early to say one way or the other - assuming it even takes off. One things for sure, once its actually out there in force, some people will decide with their ears, others with maths and measurements, and we'll probably have an excellent new topic for people to endlessly debate/argue about for 2016 and beyond
Couple of Roon forum links:
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/tidal-t...-2016/5408
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/mqa-support-by-roon/88
>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase. <<<
