MQA in administration

[nopiano]

WAVE REALISATIONS LIMITED | Insolvency Notices | CreditMan

www.creditman.co.uk

No great loss, imho, but I’d never want this to befall anyone. Not clear if it’s basically had it, or if a technicality.

 

[manicm]

Can't find any other news about it, so will wait.

 

[manicm]

OK, so if you go to the MQA website and scroll to the bottom:

'The affairs, business and property of the Company are being managed by Philip David Reynolds and David Hudson who were appointed Joint Administrators on 3 April 2023. The Administrators act as agents of the Company and act without personal liability'

 

[record_spot]

Good. It always was a bloody scam.

 

[manicm]

Geez , emotions....

 

[record_spot]

Geez , emotions....

Bizarre comment.

 

[nopiano]

OK, so if you go to the MQA website and scroll to the bottom:

'The affairs, business and property of the Company are being managed by Philip David Reynolds and David Hudson who were appointed Joint Administrators on 3 April 2023. The Administrators act as agents of the Company and act without personal liability'

Yep, no doubt it’s in administration. I was merely pondering if it’s a simple winding up, but I suppose Tidal might buy the rights.

However, I still don’t know what advantage it truly offers over Qobuz, and WHF are an exception by prefering Tidal over others.

 

[James105]

Maybe 4 or 5 years ago I compared Tidal MQA and Qobuz I always thought Qobuz had a bright sheen compared to my ripped songs and not much else. Tidal MQA I felt had a wider, deeper sound stage with better detail so I went with that, I've always been happy with it and I'll be sorry to see it go if it folds.

 

[nopiano]

Maybe 4 or 5 years ago I compared Tidal MQA and Qobuz I always thought Qobuz had a bright sheen compared to my ripped songs and not much else. Tidal MQA I felt had a wider, deeper sound stage with better detail so I went with that, I've always been happy with it and I'll be sorry to see it go if it folds.

On my Linn, the track listings in Tidal are curated* more effectively than Qobuz. In every other way I prefer Qobuz.

Fascinating how we experience the services so differently.

*Mainly with Classical music, where some albums list, say, 2 symphonies. But Qobuz only offers movement tempi, not which symphony is which! It’s not universal but Tidal is better here.

 

[James105]

On my Linn, the track listings in Tidal are curated* more effectively than Qobuz. In every other way I prefer Qobuz.

Fascinating how we experience the services so differently.

*Mainly with Classical music, where some albums list, say, 2 symphonies. But Qobuz only offers movement tempi, not which symphony is which! It’s not universal but Tidal is better here.

So true, thankfully or we'd all be listening to the same music on the same kit on he same app and there would never be any progress.

Of course the curating of classical music is another hot topic.

 

[DistortedVision]

Never really understood the point of MQA. It's lossy audio compression for what reason? Is it save on internet bandwidth? It seems to be solving a problem which no longer exists. Most people have fast enough connections to stream lossless hi-res.

 

[manicm]

Either way I don't think it

Never really understood the point of MQA. It's lossy audio compression for what reason? Is it save on internet bandwidth? It seems to be solving a problem which no longer exists. Most people have fast enough connections to stream lossless hi-res.

Even with fast connections, for me constant streaming at true high res would be completely wasteful of bandwidth, especially since I mostly work at home, and only listen to background, ambient music while I'm working. So I don't need that resolution all the time. True high res streaming requires more bandwidth as true 1080p video. And then, just like video, does hi res streaming sound as good as playing local hires files from a Nas or.usb?

 

[npxavar]

Never really understood the point of MQA. It's lossy audio compression for what reason? Is it save on internet bandwidth? It seems to be solving a problem which no longer exists. Most people have fast enough connections to stream lossless hi-res.

MQA adds some post-processing that is supposed to improve the clarity of the recording. It's both compressed and post-processed then, which is quite an achievement!

 

[npxavar]

Good. It always was a bloody scam.

MQA is an interesting offering, but the marketing is certainly overbearing. Add to that the non-transparency about the general technical aspects. Then the various gaffes. Bad management is what ruined them.

 

[record_spot]

MQA is an interesting offering, but the marketing is certainly overbearing. Add to that the non-transparency about the general technical aspects. Then the various gaffes. Bad management is what ruined them.

Delivering a solution to a decade old solved problem didn't help matters either. And MQA versions of fifty year old albums make a mockery of the brand's claims.

 

[jamesrfisher]

"Following the recent positive reception to MQA’s latest technology (SCL6), there has been increased international interest in buying MQA Ltd. At the same time, MQA’s main financial backer is seeking an exit. In order to be in the best position to pursue market opportunities and expedite this process, the company has undergone a restructuring initiative, which includes entering into administration and is comparable to Chapter 11 in the US.
"During this process, MQA continues to trade as usual alongside its partners.

"We won't be commenting further while negotiations take place."

Sounds like it's not the end.

I have trialled Tidal but never with full MQA unfolding. I prefer Qobuz even if it doesn't have as much as the others (in a moving process of my playlists it showed there was approximately 10% missing) but in my system I prefer the sound quality.

 

[npxavar]

"Following the recent positive reception to MQA’s latest technology (SCL6), there has been increased international interest in buying MQA Ltd. At the same time, MQA’s main financial backer is seeking an exit. In order to be in the best position to pursue market opportunities and expedite this process, the company has undergone a restructuring initiative, which includes entering into administration and is comparable to Chapter 11 in the US.
"During this process, MQA continues to trade as usual alongside its partners.

"We won't be commenting further while negotiations take place."

Sounds like it's not the end.

I have trialled Tidal but never with full MQA unfolding. I prefer Qobuz even if it doesn't have as much as the others (in a moving process of my playlists it showed there was approximately 10% missing) but in my system I prefer the sound quality.

What this basically means is no investments until it is sold.

 

[davidf]

MQA adds some post-processing that is supposed to improve the clarity of the recording. It's both compressed and post-processed then, which is quite an achievement!

And also uses a confirmed master.

 

[davidf]

Either way I don't think it


Even with fast connections, for me constant streaming at true high res would be completely wasteful of bandwidth, especially since I mostly work at home, and only listen to background, ambient music while I'm working. So I don't need that resolution all the time. True high res streaming requires more bandwidth as true 1080p video. And then, just like video, does hi res streaming sound as good as playing local hires files from a Nas or.usb?

One of the points of MQA is that they were small file sizes, so were easy to stream, particularly via phones of out and about on the move.

 

[manicm]

MQA Files For Chapter 11 Protection: One Too Many Losses Or Will It Be Sold Off In "Bit" Sized Pieces?

MQA has filed for the appointment of administrators in the United Kingdom. Will they have to sell off SCL6 to survive?

www.ecoustics.com

 

[Noddy]

Chapter 11 is often used as a means to restructure a company and find alternative financing. So it would not be surprising if it survived.

That said, as others have indicated, it is perhaps a technology that has lost its unique selling point due to fast broadband and wireless connections.

Has anyone here done the online listening test that determines if you can distinguish records at compressed and uncompressed quality:

https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/how-well-can-you-hear-audio-quality

Make sure your browser supports high quality audio. The results obey a Gaussian bell curve consistent with pure chance. I find four of them obvious, two not so, and to me it sounds like the latter two are simply not recorded well.

Good. It always was a bloody scam.

Strange comment.

 

[record_spot]

Strange comment.

Not at all. Have a look at the work of Archimago and a bunch of others. At best, MQA satisfies a demand over a decade old and solved in recent years. The only people going to benefit from this are those with a tiny data plan and like high quality audio. Not a common pairing in our hobby.

Their dubious test practices are highly suspect and lack of transparency a joke.

 

[Stuart.W.D]

Tidal is introducing hi-res lossless FLAC but says the MQA catalogue will remain

Big news for the music streaming service

www.whathifi.com

 

[James105]

Tidal is introducing hi-res lossless FLAC but says the MQA catalogue will remain

Big news for the music streaming service

www.whathifi.com

I just read that this morning, hopefully if they do start replacing MQA with Hi-Res or removing it and replacing it with CD versions they'll automatically update peoples downloads in roon and playlists, it'll be a PITA if they dont.