MQA bails on RMAF

[Puma Cat]

I like Schiit's philosophy...they make products for the music you already own, rather than the music you have to re-buy.

I can see where this is headed; Meridian would like to take the market to where there is no actual physical product anymore; all content is either downloaded MQA files or streaming MQA content; and they get a slice of every single piece. It's actually a form of a subscription-based licensing model for obtaining every piece of musical content.

What would be interesting to see if where Apple will eventually stand on all of this as they are one of the biggest content providers.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by GSOphile

You may not agree with him, but IMO Charlie Hansen is no duffus.

+2

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by W9TR

<SNIP>
So I was at RMAF this past weekend. One of my primary goals was to listen to headphones. The cool part of that gig was that everybody was running Tidal, and most of the DAC's being used had MQA capability.

I got a chance to listen to MQA and non-MQA versions of the same songs, back to back, on some incredibly resolving headphones.

Invariably the MQA versions sounded clearer, more dynamic, and more real.

<SNIP>

W9TR, just curious, were the same songs the exactly the same bit depth & sampling rate (e.g. 24 bit/192 KHz)? Were they mastered by same matering engineer exactly at the same time?

Also, who put on the demo? Was it an indepedent 3rd party or was it put on by a manufacturer or content-provider of MQA content?

Just wanting to know if this was truly a level playing field, or if there was what we refer to in the statistically valid data collection world as "ascertainment bias" involved.

[2fastdriving]

Ken (planarspeakerfan), Ed (for the love of music) and I heard the eagles hotel california in MQA on the new Esoteric N01 vs. a CD on the K-01x. We all preferred the CD, but it was close.

Now, it was Ken's CD, and he can elaborate if he reads this, but I think it was a special "gold" remastered CD. It wasn't quite apples to apples, but even so, that actually bolsters the argument that it is the original mastering which matters most.

[bart]

Marc, is the N01 a full blown MQA DAC?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

Ken (planarspeakerfan), Ed (for the love of music) and I heard the eagles hotel california in MQA on the new Esoteric N01 vs. a CD on the K-01x. We all preferred the CD, but it was close.

Now, it was Ken's CD, and he can elaborate if he reads this, but I think it was a special "gold" remastered CD. It wasn't quite apples to apples, but even so, that actually bolsters the argument that it is the original mastering which matters most.

Stephen
It is highly unlikely that the 7400+ MQA titles currently available have all been remastered. Especially unlikely as of now we are paying nothing extra for them.

I do not disagree that mastering is always important when choosing between DSD, CD Quality or Her Rez PCM.

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by bart

Marc, is the N01 a full blown MQA DAC?

yes

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by Still-One

Stephen
It is highly unlikely that the 7400+ MQA titles currently available have all been remastered. Especially unlikely as of now we are paying nothing extra for them.

I do not disagree that mastering is always important when choosing between DSD, CD Quality or Her Rez PCM.

you mean "Marc"

It's cool, I know there are a lot of people who believe in MQA. And a lot who don't. No different than cables and break-in. My position on those have evolved over time, and I am not dismissing MQA, I can evolve there as well. I'm open to it.

For now, FLAC on my system sounds as good or better than any MQA I heard at RMAF. That's all I'm saying.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

you mean "Marc"

It's cool, I know there are a lot of people who believe in MQA. And a lot who don't. No different than cables and break-in. My position on those have evolved over time, and I am not dismissing MQA, I can evolve there as well. I'm open to it.

For now, FLAC on my system sounds as good or better than any MQA I heard at RMAF. That's all I'm saying.

Marc
Sorry I was attempting to respond to Post 33 where Stephen asked about the "same" master of the files.

Everyone has the right to make their own decision one they have had time to audition MQA.

I know from individuals on another site who now get to hear MQA over their Lumin devices, it is pretty obvious where they stand.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Still-One

Stephen
It is highly unlikely that the 7400+ MQA titles currently available have all been remastered. Especially unlikely as of now we are paying nothing extra for them.

I do not disagree that mastering is always important when choosing between DSD, CD Quality or Her Rez PCM.

Hi Jim,
Yes, understood. What I was asking was a simpler question, which was whether the songs that W9TR heard at Can-Jam at RMAF comparing MQA vs non-MQA were mastered at the same time by the same person. Just wondering if all the other variables were removed/controlled. We've all heard different issues/mastering of songs from the same album/CD that sounded completely differently, for example.