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

Hi we don't see many "reviews" of MQA from the early adopters.

Now that we have a few more albums available and some new ones coming out as originally recorded with MQA what are your thoughts on MQA?

Nice to have, amazing, suits some music, no discernible difference to high res, depends on the listener etc?

(This is a repeat of what I've posted on the Roon forum):

Here are a few albums I’ve found MQA to make an unmistakable difference when compared to other formats I’ve got:

All of the Jackson Browne MQA albums
Benjamin Britten’s Divertimenti by the Trondheim Soloists
The Czech Album by the ATOS Trio (I only have this as MQA, but phenomenal sound)
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by the Flaming Lips
Kent Nagano’s rendition of Eine Alpensinfonie (stunning string and horn sound)

In each of the cases above, the MQA rendition brings me substantially closer to the music than the CD version.

One more observation. The MQA albums I've purchased at 24/44.1 only seem to provide marginal improvements. Probably too early to tell (certainly with my limited data points as of yet), but it seems like 24/>44.1 is needed to hear significant improvements.

An example of this is Matthew Good's Something Like a Storm. I have the CD and the MQA downloads, and the difference is subtle.

Hi Akimo,

Can you share the details of the Nagano recording ? Can’t find it on Tidal.

Thanks!

I don't know about Tidal but I bought it at Highresaudio:

https://www.highresaudio.com/en/album/view/wyz3em/gteborg-symfoniker-kent-nagano-eine-alpensinfonie

Thanks Ludwig. Must buy for me I think.

I'd also gotten it at HiGHRESAUDIO

MQA is an amazing experience. I dont listen to my CD or 24 bit releases anymore as soon as it is available in MQA. Biggest benefit, for the small money i hand over monthly to Tidal i enjoy the full experience. Notwhitstanding that the current number of MQA releases are not sufficient compared to the sheer amount avaialble on redbook, (nor do i understand some releases..).
MQA does not solve poor recordings nor loudness.

Cheers!

Also my experience but when MQA is realised to full potential it is wonderfully convenient and much appreciated here.
Hector

The OP asks why we don't see more reviews etc. Not sure if that means just on HH or in the wider internet space.

I think it is largely due to the toxic vitriol that still surrounds the subject in various places on the web. The dialogue that tends to follow ranges from subtly snide to outright aggressive. Just look at the comments that follow any article on the topic.

The best thing I find to deal with this is to just sit back and listen to music.

I remain impressed with what I experience. New releases seem a bit slower of late but sooner or later the Sony catalogue will launch. Game over.

Excellent advice.

At least through my 7200SE's, the increase is quality is very significant and I'd rather listen to all music this way if I could. As mentioned above, if the original recording is rubbish, MQA won't automagically turn it into a gem, but if it's a good recording then it's simply stunning.

Bearing in mind the 7200SE's are a significant step up over the 7200's (even without MQA), the above is a stunning improvement on top of another stunning improvement.