[werd]

What it sounds like to me is they are trying to remedy a speaker issue. In particular a crossover issue at the tweeter that exists in 2 channel HIFi using software at the source. I have said this for 3 or 4 years now that there is too much tweeter in the soundstage.  They call it vertical stereophonic localization in the median plane I call itoo much tweeter...  . Hey I went on about this for awhile and everyone thought I was nuts.

Pull a tweeter out and and run mono and set your speakers at the 30 degree angle the way they tested their notch filters at. That is the same way I ran my Acoustic Zens with no tweeter on one speaker. Make the speaker with no tweeter sit at the 30 degree angle and sit and face the the one with. Just like their example. Guess what all that smear and treble congestion is gone with the entire soundstage intact. Worked well with Acoustic Zens but may not with other speakers.
The image is no longer in the center but around the speaker right in front. Called it "True Mono"

 

Whoops edit. Put the tweeter less speaker infront and run the one with the tweeter at the angle.

[RDavidson]

You know what MQA smells like to me? A little like MP3. I'll explain...

Back when storage space was expensive, MP3's became ubiquitous. They were a way to save storage space, but still get "most of" the music. Imagine how much money the creators of the MP3 could've made if they saw the bigger picture and figured out a way to licence the technology to Apple etc. vs just making it a way for Joe Schmoe to rip his CD's to a smaller file?

Fast forward to 2016. Storage space is cheap and plentiful and yet MP3's are still the norm. They're embedded in the system and the general public just accepts it. Great. So what's today's problem? More people stream music than they buy music. But at the same time, people are gaining interest in better quality / higher resolution than MP3's can muster.

So how's this a problem? The problem with streaming (particularly with phones : The most ubiquitous listening device) is that the mobile broadband service providers don't have the technology to support millions of people streaming at resolutions better than MP3. This is where MQA steps in. Imagine if they can licence their technology to Tidal, and Tidal takes off BIG TIME because they have the best quality music streaming service for mobile. Eventually MQA becomes the thing that gets embedded in the system and the general public accepts it for the next 20+ years!

Maybe this is OK. I haven't heard MQA, but as long as it is a BIG positive step away from MP3's (finally), I'm all for it. I don't see it replacing FLAC and other hi-res formats. I see it living primarily in the network streaming domain, though possibly replacing MP3 downloads as well. Even if we get to the point where we can reliably and inexpensively stream hi-res FLAC files to our phones over mobile broadband, maybe we won't ever need to do that if MQA is of indistinguishable quality. We'll have to wait and see.

Anyway....Just my thoughts.

[RDavidson]

There is kind of no reason to purchase MQA 24/96 or higher data rate product when it plays back as CD quality. If MQA gets a lot of traction then you will need a compatible DAC to realize any improvement in sound quality that the format might bring to the table.
Scotty

Maybe MQA 24/96 or greater can be decoded via computer software and output via a format that won't require a more specialized DAC than what we have today?

[Marius]

Hi,


Talking about emerging technologies: why invest in a bandwidth saving protocol, when soon there's faster bandwidth in abundance: https://www.nextpowerup.com/news/25790/apple-planning-to-support-lifi/ or https://www.nextpowerup.com/news/24872/lifi-tests-reveal-it-is-100-times-faster-than-wifi/


Cheers,
Marius

[James Tanner]

James,
I'm guessing this means no MQA support from Bryston soon ..
Thanks for sharing this most delightful 'letter'.
Cheers,
Marius

Hi Marius

I did not write this I just posted it as it was sent to me. As I have always said I think it is important to be aware of different points of view.

james

[Marius]

Sure James, no confusion on that.
Interested in where this all goes. Is there any thought at Bryston on supporting MQA?
Cheers,
Marius

Hi Marius

I did not write this I just posted it as it was sent to me. As I have always said I think it is important to be aware of different points of view.

james

[James Tanner]

Sure James, no confusion on that.
Interested in where this all goes. Is there any thought at Bryston on supporting MQA?
Cheers,
Marius

We are looking at it and would be doable on the USB input on the BDA3 DAC and possible the BDP-2 as long as you have the new Bryston Integrated Sound Card installed..

james

[Marius]

great. what ever MQA will turn in to, good to see Bryston keeping up.


Thanks,
Marius

We are looking at it and would be doable on the USB input on the BDA3 DAC and possible the BDP-2 as long as you have the new Bryston Integrated Sound Card installed..

james

[Grant Hill]

That's nice. BDA3 will be an even more flexible device... Standard Redbook, SACD, Blue Ray, PCM, DSD, DoP, DXD, MQA...everyone than will chose which format use, but with the Bryston quality

[Grant Hill]

great. what ever MQA will turn in to, good to see Bryston keeping up.


Thanks,
Marius

exactly 

[RDavidson]

Hi,


Talking about emerging technologies: why invest in a bandwidth saving protocol, when soon there's faster bandwidth in abundance: https://www.nextpowerup.com/news/25790/apple-planning-to-support-lifi/ or https://www.nextpowerup.com/news/24872/lifi-tests-reveal-it-is-100-times-faster-than-wifi/


Cheers,
Marius

That's interesting, especially with free Wi-Fi for everyone (in large public spaces) becoming more the norm. However, this doesn't really apply to the VERY large numbers of people, who don't live in Wi-Fi bubbles, who depend on LTE exclusively or at least outside their homes. I think that's where MQA comes into play. It is helpful to everyone, though perhaps less useful for Wi-Fi.

[mav52]

On one site you read its a software thing on another its a firmware thing and the DAC has to be certified by Meridian as a MQA dac. Then you read if you don't have a MQA dac the music is still redbook if you stream. 

[Bones13]

I am not sure if I have it all correct, but I believe the total MQA system involves the file having built in corrections for the specific recording system, and that the "approved" DAC would have built in correction for its DAC when receiving an MQA file.  Corrections for possible front and back end devices, what kind, I have no clue.

A non approved DAC would just play the uncorrected file. I am not sure if HiRes files would down convert to Redbook, but I doubt it. The software would just convert the MQA file to a regular file of whatever the resolution is for the DAC to work on.

The other part of MQA is that you can pack HiRes files into a smaller MQA file for streaming, and still end up with lossless data. Easier for streaming HiRes. While this is probably attractive to some, cheap storage, and improving wideband, make it less important to me.

[scirica]

We are looking at it and would be doable on the USB input on the BDA3 DAC and possible the BDP-2 as long as you have the new Bryston Integrated Sound Card installed..

james

While I'm not yet sold on MQA, this is very encouraging! Already happy with the value of my BDA-3, and this just gets better!

[Anonamemouse]

It's out there now...

https://www.meridian-audio.com/news-events/world-first-meridian-firmware-update-enables-mqa-playback/

I heard a studio demo recently, and was quite flabbergasted. If this gets a decent chance it could well be the new standard.

[James Tanner]

http://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/opinion/954-myriad-questions-about-mqa

[James Tanner]

Meaningful MQA Comparisons
 
 Category: Reader Feedback
 Created: 03 April 2016
To Doug Schneider,

I just finished reading your article on MQA and I think all the points you made are valid. There’s a set of tracks you can download for free from 2L (http://www.2l.no/hires) that includes MQA-encoded files as well as PCM and DSD copies at various sampling rates/bit depths, as well as the original digital “master.” Now you know the provenance of each file and can compare to the original. The Meridian Explorer2 I had on hand could only unfold up to 192kHz, whereas most (if not all) the digital masters are at DXD bitrates. I ended up using the 24/192 PCM transfers for comparison purposes. I found that MQA sounded decent, but it certainly wasn’t the same as the PCM version. Vocals had a thinned-out quality and there seemed to be less bass and midrange warmth present. I put down my thoughts on my blog, if you’d like to read them.

I’m glad there's somebody in the audio press that’s doing some critical thinking about MQA.

Kind regards,
Harland
United States

[gtaphile]

It would be exciting to hear MQA via the BDP-2, especially with all the traction that MQA is getting these days.