Awards

[Markmaguire]

Would certainly be nicer to see a wider range of products reviewed. Hegel are certainly on my radar when considering next upgrade. I always look at a range of magazines, websites and forums to get a balance.

Of course we all need to audition equipment and make up our own minds, but if we are not exposed to the products in magazines and sites like WHF then we may not be aware of them to add to our audition list.

I wonder whether it would better to have categories of ‘current best in class’ and awards for products released in the awards year too.

 

[SHaines]

Would certainly be nicer to see a wider range of products reviewed. Hegel are certainly on my radar when considering next upgrade. I always look at a range of magazines, websites and forums to get a balance.

Of course we all need to audition equipment and make up our own minds, but if we are not exposed to the products in magazines and sites like WHF then we may not be aware of them to add to our audition list.

I wonder whether it would better to have categories of ‘current best in class’ and awards for products released in the awards year too.

That's fair feedback and I'll pass that along to the team. Since we have the discussion going, if anyone else wants to add info on what they'd like to see in the awards, we'd love to hear from you.

 

[jjbomber]

That's fair feedback and I'll pass that along to the team. Since we have the discussion going, if anyone else wants to add info on what they'd like to see in the awards, we'd love to hear from you.

Said it before but there has to be in award in Andy Clough's name for something, anything.

I'd like to see a reader's award for an item that hasn't been reviewed in the magazine, such as a Arylic S10 or Hegel or whoever.

 

[shadders]

Hi,
Agree that there should be an award in Andy Clough's name.

Another idea - maybe there can be an award for the best DIY component - people can send in their DIY creations and a winner picked.

Regards,
Shadders.

 

[nopiano]

Did I miss the cartridges, cables and stands, or have they vanished?

Correction - I found them via a a Facebook post, thanks, What Hif!

 

[nopiano]

That's fair feedback and I'll pass that along to the team. Since we have the discussion going, if anyone else wants to add info on what they'd like to see in the awards, we'd love to hear from you.

Not wishing to seem contrary, but several other mags award on the basis of best this year, not least EISA, which is much bigger of course. That’s fair enough, but it’s no help to the consumer, as it doesn’t acknowledge that last years winner, or something from five years ago remains the best for £800 or whatever.
WHF is a consumer guide that depends on manufacturers sending kit to review. I recall once or twice over the decades they’ve actually bought something. I realise there’s a mutual dependency. Cynics assume that advertisers get favoured, but there’s plenty of Cambridge awarded this year, but I could not see a Richer Sounds advert last month, so that helps allay that fear.
For me, Stereophile sets the example as they do testing as well as listening. And they let manufacturers respond. WHF could include more from Australia, that has been included recently on the website, as that’s more objective and very detailed. Stereophile drop recommendEd products once they’ve not listened fir a few years, typically.

 

[jules153]

Let me get this right...

TIDAL wins the best music streaming service, fair enough. However Hi-Res is exclusively packaged using MQA.

Both the Audiolab 6000N and the Chord Mojo award winners can't decode MQA to give hi-res..... (?)

Am I missing something here?

Thanks!

 

[Al ears]

Let me get this right...

TIDAL wins the best music streaming service, fair enough. However Hi-Res is exclusively packaged using MQA.

Both the Audiolab 6000N and the Chord Mojo award winners can't decode MQA to give hi-res..... (?)

Am I missing something here?

Thanks!

I think the issue here is if you plump for Tidal as your source then you are careful in what you select as a DAC. This doesn't prevent the Audiolab or Chord being best buys though. Unfortunately as ever, you can't have everything.

 

[jules153]

Agree, and IMO it should really be WHF's job to make us aware of such pitfalls. A layman might think, "OK looking at the 2020 awards Tidal and the 6000N are the best buys for streaming - but why isn't Tidal Masters working..."

In fact do any of the Award winning streamers unpack / play MQA? (only the NAD mentions it..)

 

[Al ears]

Agree, and IMO it should really be WHF's job to make us aware of such pitfalls. A layman might think, "OK looking at the 2020 awards Tidal and the 6000N are the best buys for streaming - but why isn't Tidal Masters working..."

In fact do any of the Award winning streamers unpack / play MQA? (only the NAD mentions it..)

I would be surprised if the only way you could access Tidal was by decoding MQA
However, I see what you mean now, Tidal Masters is only available via MQA.
More a case of buyer beware in my opinion and the need to do your own homework before buying anything
I guess that many streamer manufacturers don't want to pay for the MQA facility that is unlikely to be used by the majority of purchasers.
I must admit the Audiolab is a strange one as their 8300CDQ has the MQA facility.
Perhaps it will be added to 6000N at a later date, which is even odder.

 

[shadders]

Agree, and IMO it should really be WHF's job to make us aware of such pitfalls. A layman might think, "OK looking at the 2020 awards Tidal and the 6000N are the best buys for streaming - but why isn't Tidal Masters working..."

In fact do any of the Award winning streamers unpack / play MQA? (only the NAD mentions it..)

Hi,
In some ways What Hifi are defficient here. They have in the past listed MQA as lossless high resolution in their information articles, when in fact it is lossy - and MQA Ltd had to change their marketing else the ASA would have had something to say.

Not sure what the view is from What Hifi now, but i would not use MQA as it is a proprietary format whose sole purpose is to extract money from every person on the planet who listens to music, if it became the default format.

I would choose some other streaming service for high resolution if that is a specific requirement.

Regards,
Shadders.

 

[Al ears]

Hi,
In some ways What Hifi are defficient here. They have in the past listed MQA as lossless high resolution in their information articles, when in fact it is lossy - and MQA Ltd had to change their marketing else the ASA would have had something to say.

Not sure what the view is from What Hifi now, but i would not use MQA as it is a proprietary format whose sole purpose is to extract money from every person on the planet who listens to music, if it became the default format.

I would choose some other streaming service for high resolution if that is a specific requirement.

Regards,
Shadders.

I am with you on this one. Never used it myself and probably never will

 

[nopiano]

Am I missing something here?

No, you’ve realised MQA is pointless!

 

[Friesiansam]

I am with you on this one. Never used it myself and probably never will

I don't have the facility to listen to MQA files. I don't feel I am missing out and it was not a consideration in my choice of hardware.

 

[jules153]

As far as I understand the only was to hear hi-res, that is better than 16bit / 44.1kHz with Tidal is via some form of unfolding. Since Tidal was given the 2020 award for the best music streaming service I think it only right at least a passing mention whether the other award winning streamers and DACs can play ball with this service in terms of hi-res!

 

[shadders]

As far as I understand the only was to hear hi-res, that is better than 16bit / 44.1kHz with Tidal is via some form of unfolding.

Hi,
No, there are other high resolution streaming services such as Amazon HD.

If you have a local storage (NAS, hard disk etc) then you can purchase high resolution files and stream as you prefer - if you want to own the information. There are many places to purchase high resolution files - but beware, some offerings are upsampled 44.1kHz/16bit.

Regards,
Shadders.

 

[jules153]

Thanks for the info Shadders. However I said "with Tidal" :

As far as I understand the only was to hear hi-res, that is better than 16bit / 44.1kHz, with Tidal is via some form of unfolding.

 

[shadders]

Thanks for the info Shadders. However I said "with Tidal" :

As far as I understand the only was to hear hi-res, that is better than 16bit / 44.1kHz, with Tidal is via some form of unfolding.

Hi,
If you are subscriber to Tidal, and all they offer is MQA high resolution, then you are stuck.

If you want high resolution from anywhere else except Tidal, then you don't need MQA to hear high resolution. MQA do not own high resolution.

Regards,
Shadders.

 

[Al ears]

Hi,
If you are subscriber to Tidal, and all they offer is MQA high resolution, then you are stuck.

If you want high resolution from anywhere else except Tidal, then you don't need MQA to hear high resolution. MQA do not own high resolution.

Regards,
Shadders.

To be fair he was talking about Tidal Masters because Tidal got the Best of award.
However that award went to Tidal itself without reference to it's hires Masters subscription which is something else completely.

 

[jules153]

OK I'll simplify the question:

Could someone please tell me which of the 2020 award winning streamers and DACs are MQA compatible? cheers

 

[shadders]

If only there was some sort of software on the internet that allowed you to search and locate information, from the product manufacturers.....

 

[jules153]

If only there was a place where genuine questions and discussions regarding the WHF 2020 award products could take place without snipey answers.....

 

[shadders]

If only there was a place where genuine questions and discussions regarding the WHF 2020 award products could take place without snipey answers.....

Hi,
If you think people on here have everything memorised in their heads about the awards for DAC's and streamers etc., and about MQA which no one cares about, you are very much mistaken.

For people to provide to you your answers, they would have to search on Google. Why should someone do your work for you ?

Just search for the product in question and add MQA.

Regards,
Shadders.

 

[daytona600]

Hardware Partners - MQALabs

Hardware Partners Automotive Optimise your in-car listening experience Headsets MQA-enabled headsets and earbuds featuring MQA rendering technology to deliver unparalleled audio to music lovers DACs MQA-enabled Digital Audio Converters provide full decoding for the highest possible sound quality...

www.mqa.co.uk

 

[Al ears]

OK I'll simplify the question:

Could someone please tell me which of the 2020 award winning streamers and DACs are MQA compatible? cheers

Only the NAD out of the streamers