MQA is ... !

[Tinman1952]

that's hi res isn't it?....

Absolutely! I have tried Qobuz, Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music.
My point was with Tidal you have no choice…it’s MQA or nothing. Even some CD quality streams are now MQA.
As an aside I went with Amazon Music to supplement my own substantial collection on a NAS drive. Family subscription for 6 people for £14.99 a month is the best value I’ve found so far. 👍

 

[nopiano]

Well that’s a pain. I only had 8Mbps until 2 years ago so I know how you feel!
Correct me if I’m wrong though but even 24/192 in a FLAC container should only be about 4600 Kbps….🤔

It’s about 9.2 Mbps on my Qobuz feed.

 

[Al ears]

Absolutely! I have tried Qobuz, Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music.
My point was with Tidal you have no choice…it’s MQA or nothing. Even some CD quality streams are now MQA.
As an aside I went with Amazon Music to supplement my own substantial collection on a NAS drive. Family subscription for 6 people for £14.99 a month is the best value I’ve found so far. 👍

obviously then Tidal is not the best choice for you. If, as you say the best quality they provide is in MQA format then they are cutting their own throats when it comes to customers without MQA enabled hardware, which is why they didn't win a recent Hifi Choice group test. Stick with Qobuz, it streams 24/192 flac

 

[Tinman1952]

Stick with Qobuz, it streams 24/192 flac

Yep…so does Amazon Music HD 👍

 

[Al ears]

Yep…so does Amazon Music HD 👍

whatever works for you...

 

[Office Dog]

Well you obviously like MQA and believe the marketing hype about ‘deblurring’ and provenance and choose to ignore the fact that it is a ‘lossy’ system that discards audio data that cannot then be recovered. It has also been shown to add noise but MQA even suggest this is a benefit. I simply don’t buy the ‘time smearing ‘correction claims. Sorry.

Overall, I prefer the sound of MQA/Masters tracks on Tidal, it's really no more complicate than that.

I also, for example, really like cinnamon buns and while two local independent bakeries make excellent cinnamon buns, I have a preference there, too. Both bakeries, I am sure, would happily claim that they make the best tasting buns - that's fine, that's marketing and that's their right - but I have literally never questioned the ingredients, nor the respective baking techniques. Maybe I should ask, but they taste great and life's too short.

 

[manicm]

Eventually I will try Tidal/MQA. I have no interest really in streaming 24/192 because it’s a bandwidth hog. My wife and I both work at home, not always at the same time admittedly.

But if we do that means I’m hogging everyone’s bandwidth, as my 4 year old who we pulled out of crèche again due to COVID also wants his chunk of YouTube etc.

I do most of my music streaming during the day on Spotify while I’m working, listening to ambient/instrumental music like Brian Eno etc which doesn’t steal my attention.

Now if I was doing this for 6 hours a day in 24/192 it would be an unjustifiable waste of resources, completely.

 

[manicm]

Also, over 10 years ago people were deriding hires as snake oil, maybe in 5 years time MQA might be reappraised.

 

[Deleted member 108165]

Thought hi-res was still snake oil, based on the ones I've purchased I would agree

 

[Office Dog]

Eventually I will try Tidal/MQA. I have no interest really in streaming 24/192 because it’s a bandwidth hog. My wife and I both work at home, not always at the same time admittedly.

But if we do that means I’m hogging everyone’s bandwidth, as my 4 year old who we pulled out of crèche again due to COVID also wants his chunk of YouTube etc.

I do most of my music streaming during the day on Spotify while I’m working, listening to ambient/instrumental music like Brian Eno etc which doesn’t steal my attention.

Now if I was doing this for 6 hours a day in 24/192 it would be an unjustifiable waste of resources, completely.

If you listen via your mobile/tablet, you could always download albums/playlists in advance, for offline listening while you work.

 

[Friesiansam]

Also, over 10 years ago people were deriding hires as snake oil, maybe in 5 years time MQA might be reappraised.

It wouldn't surprise me if, in five years time, MQA is sleeping with the fishes.

 

[Gonepostal]

It wouldn't surprise me if, in five years time, MQA is sleeping with the fishes.

Definitely sleeping with the fishes. Does anyone remember when Sky were pushing 3D TV.

 

[manicm]

It wouldn't surprise me if, in five years time, MQA is sleeping with the fishes.

It seems to be gaining wider adoption. And it’s nearly 7 years old now, so if it were to die it would have done so long ago.

 

[Tinman1952]

It seems to be gaining wider adoption. And it’s nearly 7 years old now, so if it were to die it would have done so long ago.

However since the Goldensounds video and the appalling video of MQA executives rudely attacking Chris Connaker and preventing him airing legitimate concerns….there is now more anti MQA sentiment than ever before!

 

[manicm]

However since the Goldensounds video and the appalling video of MQA executives rudely attacking Chris Connaker and preventing him airing legitimate concerns….there is now more anti MQA sentiment than ever before!

Attacking him? Are these videos on YouTube? I’ll have to watch.

 

[Tinman1952]

Attacking him? Are these videos on YouTube? I’ll have to watch.

Well …. judge for yourself. 🙂

View: https://youtu.be/NSv0lcHlawk

 

[Surly Sid]

Tidal and MQA will soon disappear. Bob Stuart will be begging for money soon enough!

 

[manicm]

Tidal and MQA will soon disappear. Bob Stuart will be begging for money soon enough!

No they won't. Not until Apple opens up Apple Music. Other alternatives like Qobuz are too expensive. Amazon Music still has a half-arsed app.

John Darko backtracked a bit, but you can get high-res Apple Music through an iPad to a DAC. Still convoluted though and you're at the mercy of the iPad's battery life, also no remote control.

Apple won't exhibit any such generosity soon. They want to tie you to their ecosystem - which is why I won't count on them offering a standalone 'connect' app. I can download an excellent Spotify app on my Windows PC. Apple still want you to use fu*king iTunes. F*ck them.

I'll be happy for CD quality now and see what Spotify does later this year and at what price. Hint: they'd be complete idiots to increase prices as Apple and Amazon charge standard subscriptions now.

 

[insider9]

John Darko backtracked a bit, but you can get high-res Apple Music through an iPad to a DAC. Still convoluted though and you're at the mercy of the iPad's battery life, also no remote control.

No disrespect to the man but is his opinion any more valid than yours, or mine?

 

[Tinman1952]

No disrespect to the man but is his opinion any more valid than yours, or mine?

I admire him as an audio journalist navigating today’s complex world of HiFi products…..but his taste in music…….? 🤔

 

[Deleted member 116933]

I admire him as an audio journalist navigating today’s complex world of HiFi products…..but his taste in music…….? 🤔

oes it matter what he listens too. Not all audio nerds love Norah. Not all listen to jazz. Personally can’t stand either.

Theres well recoded music at every level from classical - house music heck one day the might call garage classical. Lol please don’t bring back garage.

I sometimes wonder what, what hi fi are smoking with some of there music picks.

 

[Al ears]

oes it matter what he listens too. Not all audio nerds love Norah. Not all listen to jazz. Personally can’t stand either.

Theres well recoded music at every level from classical - house music heck one day the might call garage classical. Lol please don’t bring back garage.

I sometimes wonder what, what hi fi are smoking with some of there music picks.

Musical tastes are a bit like cables.......stop it!

 

[Deleted member 116933]

No disrespect to the man but is his opinion any more valid than yours, or mine?

Frankly yes it is. He’s listened to far more than the general joe and only gives opinion on what he has at the time. Leading to more accurate accounts of the product.

I don’t know you from Adam and you me. Mine and yours opinion is, well, frankly completely worthless in most cases. The op’s need to form the experiences for themselves. My journey is completely different and I’m looking for other things as are you.

I give advice but people should take it with a huge pinch of salt. And I don’t expect anything other.

 

[Al ears]

Frankly yes it is. He’s listened to far more than the general joe and only gives opinion on what he has at the time. Leading to more accurate accounts of the product.

I don’t know you from Adam and you me. Mine and yours opinion is, well, frankly completely worthless in most cases. The op’s need to form the experiences for themselves. My journey is completely different and I’m looking for other things as are you.

I give advice but people should take it with a huge pinch of salt. And I don’t expect anything other.

Hear, hear!

 

[manicm]

No disrespect to the man but is his opinion any more valid than yours, or mine?

I wasn’t endorsing him, just pointing out he found a way to make it work, and he admitted he wasn’t thorough enough.