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

There are more albums up today. Looks like we are up to 396! I need new headphones

Finally got it sorted! Listening to Bowie via Roon with the 500SEs showing MQA

So this MQA thingie on Tidal is Really Quite Good™. A couple of observations ...

I'm running the Tidal client for Mac on a 2016 MacBook Pro with a 2.5GHz quad-core i7 processor, and the MQA software rendering in the Tidal app is consuming a steady 45% of CPU as it passes the stream to an Explorer 1 over USB. To me, this is a graphic illustration of why MQA simply isn't viable on older or slower hardware - even on dedicated DSP chips that's still going to be a fair bit of processor overhead, so it makes sense to me that my older MS600 and legacy DSP5200s simply aren't up to the job. Clearly it's not the marketing department simply wanting to force us to new kit - it's that the processor load for MQA is probably about 5-10 times what Redbook CD requires. Time for upgrades!

The other thing is that the limited number of MQA albums on Tidal means that I've been going back and listening to old albums, which is not something I'd normally do terribly much of - I'm much more a new music kind of a guy. And part of the reason is that old albums don't always sound that flash in SQ terms ... so the MQA versions I've been listening to are just revelations.

There's a well known effect that whatever you listened to in your late teens is pretty much the defining music of your life. And part of the reason (in my case at least) is that the songs and the bands that you first heard during those impressionable years had this vivid quality to them, which - if you're into a bit of hifi - seems to get paler and paler as the decades roll by. The sheer impact of hearing Phil Collins drum his way through In The Air Tonight for the first time is never quite matched again; particularly as newer albums come out and the quality of the recording and the mastering is just so much better than anything that could be achieved in the 80s. Even when I've bought the the later hi-res versions of older albums, it was really for nostalgia's sake as they never quite recaptured the visceral quality of those first analogue listenings, IMHO.

MQA is completely different. Leaving aside the technological machinations, those old albums now have a life and an energy that instantly dragged me back to the first moment the stylus hit the vinyl and some new band exploded into my teenaged bedroom. So I've been working my way through the (limited) back catalogue on Tidal and the effect is the same, no matter how much of a muddy mess the original album was - I'm looking at you, Yessongs.

Over the last few decades of enjoying hifi, I'd come to expect that old albums are a bit like a slices of life preserved in amber - interesting, but no longer engaging in the way they were when they were new and fresh. MQA has utterly changed my view ... I don't know how it's done (alright, I kinda have an idea from tipping my toes in the shallow end of the technical descriptions), but I find the effect transformative - MQA can take a recording and turn it back into music. It's a truly stunning achievement, and Bob and team should be justly proud that they've not only improved the way new music is listened to, they've also found a way of exhuming and reinvigorating the past in a way that I didn't believe possible without a time machine.

So I'm completely convinced by the promises made about MQA. Someone should go grab Bob out of his office and stand him against the wall so we can all take turns throwing praise and accolades at the man.

I would like to know the answer to this, too.

This beautifully describes and explains what happened to me late last night. Started listening to the Smiths and couldn't stop. Nor could I sit still - the music had the emotional impact you describe so well. It had nothing to do with the copious amount of red wine I was drinking (which seems to be another side effect of MQA - it should come with a health warning - I don't normally drink that much).

The most articulate response I've been able to come up with so far to the Tidal/MQA/Meridian experience was was an offstage quote from a Father Ted episode which keeps popping into mind, "foc**** hell"! So thanks for your help here

What a gift!

Kent in Welly nailed it ... excellent post

I'm listening thru the desktop app, with MQA enabled in software.
You can instantly turn on or off MQA in software as you listening... a revelation indeed ... lifts my system to a new level.

With the software decoder (hopefully Roon has one) I can get almost the full monty ... as I am a Tidal hifi subscriber it's all free to me.

Streaming from Tidal, on playback, the track information states MQA etc using a C15, just no way of searching for MQA albums/tracks specifically as yet

I've imported MQA albums from Tidal to Sooloos (after getting the upgrade Sooloos software 2.516). Then I created a tag MQA. Interestingly, I don't have to add that new tag to MQA albums. Somehow, Sooloos tags MQA albums as such once you play one of the tracks off the album as long as you have already created the MQA tag.

My PC is not connected by USB to my 818 but is on the network with the 818. When I use pass through MQA on Tidal I see 192 on the 818 with those albums where it is present, 96 on others. I thought I had to use a USB connection from the PC to the 818 to have the 818 do the decoding. What's happening here?

Ken

I think you can have your 818 decode both ways. It's the same with the Roon boys too. They can have the 818 decode the MQA too.

Ken - your 818v3 should show "MQA" on the display if it is decoding the MQA stream.

If you are streaming directly from the TIDAL app you will need to use the USB input on the 818v3.

If you are streaming using Roon you can use either the ID41 input or the USB input.

If you are streaming using Sooloos you have no option but to use the ID41 input.

In all cases the 818v3 display should show "MQA" if it is decoding an MQA stream. The different sample rates shown are simply the sample rates of the original master from which the MQA files was created.

Sorry, I should have added my 818 is showing MQA as well as the rate. I'm using Roon. Is there anything to be gained using the USB input? I would guess for me no, since I'm running legacy speakers. Not complaining though, most of what I've tried sounds terrific.

Ken