Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music MQA confusion

There's a new (remastered / remixed) version of Roger Water's Amused to Death out now.

I've listened to it on Tidal & it's "different" - not bad - not good (perhaps it's a grower) but I'd like to listen to it more often. Well, in other words, I'd like to buy it.

Now, do I buy the Blu-Ray / CD package ? Or the 96/24 version on HDTracks, or the 192/24 version on HDTracks ?

Or do I wait for the MQA version - will there even be a MQA version ?

What updates will my 861v8 require for MQA - and how much will they cost / when will they be available / how long will they take ?

Answers to my last two questions are crucial and long-overdue IMHO. People want to know what the implications of MQA are for them personally.
Of course, as soon as the answers are shared then it generates another wave of why / how much / that's too late / that could be better etc etc, but as others have mentioned, interest is seriously waning, but more fundamentally, will our equipment be ready to take advantage of the new releases - and this (apparently) stunning new technology / breakthrough ?

AFAIK Amused to Death is not a 24bit recording, why would you buy anything else than CD quality.
The dynamic range database shows not difference in dynamics between CD and this new release, you buy just more empty space.
I would wait for MQA.
Cheers!

It's a bit like waiting for Graphene products. We know what's technically possible but its a long wait until we see on the shelf products.

Beyond High Resolution by Robert Harley.

Forgive me if this has been posted before but found it on the PONO forum.
Beyond Hi-Res R Harley

A good read in all the confusion

Hector

Hector - excellent article by Mr. Harley on MQA, thank you.

It is an illuminating overview of the technology.

What I hear in the industry is that implementing MQA (or any new product for that matter) takes 6 to 12 months. Expect the first non-M products autumn this year. Until then it would be unwise for M to use MQA as a tool to profile themselves as being the first. That would suggest impartiality of MQA since MQA is a separate brand.

As far as the Naim threads are concerned: a lot of people hate to have to buy the same albums yet again and understandably so. I own the Beatles oeuvre five times now: Vinyl, initial CD release, DESS-MFSL, MR Japan, 2009 remaster and 24 bit. It's even six times! (only the 24 bit version I didn't buy but 'download' since it was not for sale over here). And they were never released on DVD-A or SACD! People that buy Naim, Linn, Meridian and so on normally have heavily invested in software and given the equipment get good results playing it. It will be interesting to see whether they will invest again. Young people need to be educated not to use MP3 (they even didn't care to use the better but still lossy AAC codec). Here the role of Tidal and Qobus becomes obvious. But then again €20 is a rather steep price for many since when you end the subscription you're left with nothing.....

I surely hope MQA will make it, but it won't be easy...

I often see two teenagers carrying an iPhone with one earpiece each, they seem happy with the sound, stereo looks like a tough sell let alone MQA

Russ

Very sad, but very true Russ......not sure whether to put a smiley or sad emoji.......so I'll put both!!.....

At this point in time there is no content available. Why? Only M and the studios know for sure. I was told by M's management at CES in January that 818v3 upgrade kits would be shipping "around the end of March". I'm glad they didn't because if I bought one in say, April I wouldn't be too happy right now.

M obviously has no control over the studios timing. And it's a pretty big deal for a studio to go back into its archives and incorporate MQA into old Master files and tapes as well as begin using it in new recordings. That's assuming they've decided to go with MQA and don't view it as just a niche product.

Ken

For me, three critical decisions remain outside out of Meridian's influence......so even if Meridian were to announce and release an 818v3 and 861v9 TODAY and at an attractive upgrade price, I would still expect IN DEPTH answers and commitments on the following important questions

1) What Labels are committing to MQA........and how much of their Catalog will they commit to releasing in MQA during the first 6 and 12 months??

2) Are the Labels COMMITTED to going back to the original master tapes / recordings and extracting as much information as possible from those recordings prior to archiving that information into MQA files??.......i.e. not just a repeat of so many of the HD Tracks catalog of 16/44 simply Upsampled into 'bigger buckets'

3) Probably even more important than all the above, will the Labels COMMIT to NEVER use Watermarking on any of their MQA Releases......Downloads or Streaming.......at any time in the future

And as you can see from each of the above, NONE of the answers to these questions are for Meridian to decide upon, or even greatly influence, if we're honest

So, while I'd be interested in Meridian giving us some idea on what their product plans are........IMHO, none of that matters until the above three questions are answered in depth.........and knowing the Labels and their history of deliberate obfuscation, I'm not sure how long it will take to get these commitments, if ever!!

I think as long as there is a reasonable quantity of content at launch along with a number of devices /apps to decode the material all will be well.

When DVD launched over here there were an embarrassingly small number of titles to choose from yet it became a huge success. The success of MQA is going to come down to its implementation:

1: license the encoding to OEM's for free - get the hardware out there
2: make the core tech backwards compatible to ease storage burdens on the distributors and allow the same file to be used on multiple devices.
3: make it easy / cheap for the studios to supply MQA material
4: ensure there is a variety of material available at launch and commitments in place to keep material coming at a steady pace.

Whilst I don't think it's going to be an overnight success I do think in the next 2 years it will become the leading format - especially in the streaming marketplace.

Whilst there will understandably be older kit that won't get the MQA treatment I think it's conceivable that processors and Sooloos kit could be given firmware updates to allow the encapsulated stream to be passed on to compatible speakers etc.

Exciting times ahead!

We know from Robert Harley that Meridian were doing closed door demonstrations of MQA at CES 18 months ago. I have been told that Meridian were also conducting demonstrations to the industry in London before that.