MQA in TAS

[JCOConnell]

Have you guys read the rave reviews MQA got in this months TAS? They basically say its so good it makes all previous digital formats, including high rez, obsolete. Thoughts?

[Albert Porter]

Have you guys read the rave reviews MQA got in this months TAS? They basically say its so good it makes all previous digital formats, including high rez, obsolete. Thoughts?

That’s the first time I’ve read where a digital format (or DAC) makes everything else obsolete :-).

[mkuller]

Remember HDCD and the hype back in the late 1990s? Whatever happened to it?

[Rust]

Mike - Microsoft got involved with HDCD which killed it. Much like the Zune portable player which Microsoft acquired, technically advanced and completely mismanaged into the dirt. Microsoft is death to most things it acquires, they would market Kentucky Fried Chicken as warm dead bird.

[1morerecord2clean]

Have you guys read the rave reviews MQA got in this months TAS? They basically say its so good it makes all previous digital formats, including high rez, obsolete. Thoughts?

A friend and I heard a 1/2 hour demo at Newport last year. We weren't impressed. Now it was an all Meridian system including speakers. Not our cup of tea in hardware but I'm keeping an open mind until I get to listen with a much different system.

[JCOConnell]

I'm not rushing to sell my LP collection quite yet either....

[1morerecord2clean]

I'm not rushing to sell my LP collection quite yet either....

Sell my LPs?????? It's gonna be a mighty special day for that to happen!!!!

[lasercd]

Sell my LPs?????? It's gonna be a mighty special day for that to happen!!!!

I hope your kids like Ry Cooder. 😀

[1morerecord2clean]

I hope your kids like Ry Cooder. 😀

OMG! Do I have kids?

[lasercd]

You need to come visit. Good changes since the last time you were here.

[1morerecord2clean]

5/23-6/1. You finally got rid of that crumby TT?😜

[lasercd]

Catalano would kill me. Let's hook up.

[1morerecord2clean]

I'll let you know when dates are closer.

[MylesBAstor]

A friend and I heard a 1/2 hour demo at Newport last year. We weren't impressed. Now it was an all Meridian system including speakers. Not our cup of tea in hardware but I'm keeping an open mind until I get to listen with a much different system.

I heard the same thing when Meridian did the demo at Axpona (?) last year. The Dave Brubeck MQA transfer was positively dreadful. Nothing like the tape or LP. The cymbals would peel paint off the walls.

Nor did Meridian do anything for themselves either at Axpona this year with a tabletop MQA demo over headphones. As we discussed earlier, I think Meridian has only done one demo (?) where the original non-MQA, original digital file were present for comparison. It sure seems like they are trying to ram MQA down people's throats.

[1morerecord2clean]

I heard the same thing when Meridian did the demo at Axpona (?) last year. The Dave Brubeck MQA transfer was positively dreadful. Nothing like the tape or LP. The cymbals would peel paint off the walls.

Nor did Meridian do anything for themselves either at Axpona this year with a tabletop MQA demo over headphones. As we discussed earlier, I think Meridian has only done one demo (?) where the original non-MQA, original digital file were present for comparison. It sure seems like they are trying to ram MQA down people's throats.

Couldn't agree more Myles. A friend of mine, reviewer actually, said MQA is just a path to squeezing more info into the same space on a file. The home user with an MQA decoding chip unzips that file and the result is like soaking a sponge and watching it expand. At the Newport demo last year they played 3 files with MQA. I sat dead center and just several feet from the speakers as you would in your apartment. One was a mono mid 50s Sinatra and it totally lacked the bloom I hear on record or even my cd for that matter. At the moment, I'm blaming the dedicated Meridian system and the room and I'm hoping for better next demo.

[MylesBAstor]

Couldn't agree more Myles. A friend of mine, reviewer actually, said MQA is just a path to squeezing more info into the same space on a file. The home user with an MQA decoding chip unzips that file and the result is like soaking a sponge and watching it expand. At the Newport demo last year they played 3 files with MQA. I sat dead center and just several feet from the speakers as you would in your apartment. One was a mono mid 50s Sinatra and it totally lacked the bloom I hear on record or even my cd for that matter. At the moment, I'm blaming the dedicated Meridian system and the room and I'm hoping for better next demo.

This is hardly convincing. If I did my research correctly, 99 pct. of the titles are from one company. Three sites selling essentially the same downloads.

[JCOConnell]

Have you guys read TAS article about MQA? Robert Harley swears MQA is the best thing he has ever heard in his lifetime....

[Andy]

I heard the same thing when Meridian did the demo at Axpona (?) last year. The Dave Brubeck MQA transfer was positively dreadful. Nothing like the tape or LP. The cymbals would peel paint off the walls.

Nor did Meridian do anything for themselves either at Axpona this year with a tabletop MQA demo over headphones. As we discussed earlier, I think Meridian has only done one demo (?) where the original non-MQA, original digital file were present for comparison. It sure seems like they are trying to ram MQA down people's throats.

Yes, it was Axpona last year w/ Brubeck demo.

In a perverse way I'm quite happy to see this thread.
I sat through the demo and my reaction was "really?" Am I nuts, or is this a case of mass hypnosis?
I honestly did not think what I heard was worth anywhere near the hype , then or since.
That said, Harley's had ( per the article) the opportunity to listen/test/ compare under different circumstances,
so I was looking forward to AXPONA this year to see what MQA had in store.
But , they weren't there.
To me, the jury is out:
First - is it really better (so, far, can't prove it by me)
Second - will the marketplace adopt it ( see quad sound; 8 track; beta: etc etc)

Time will tell.

[JCOConnell]

well if they can get the internet streamers to broadcast in MQA, then the MQA DACS will be an easy sell if there is any sound quality advantage, especially at web bit rates....