Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems CES Q&A with Bob is back!

There has been fantastic interest on this forum in the MQA technology and what it means to HH with M systems; these are very exciting times!

You may also have noticed that we have been very fortunate to get exclusive - not published anywhere else - information from HQ, as we have done on several things for some time now. In the MQA thread, we have had information directly posted by John Buchanan, and highly informative quotes from Richard Hollinshead and today Bob himself.

We're delighted to advise that, in the continued spirit of co-operation between HH and Meridian, we have been invited to reinstate the old "CES Q&A with Bob". For those not familiar with this, it's really simple: we ask Bob questions, and Bob answers all of our questions not pertaining to future product roadmaps . For reference, all of the previous Q&A threads are linked to in The Meridian Q&A / FAQ Thread.

In terms of subjects for the Q&A, although HQ is not limiting us to the topic of MQA, they have asked that we limit the number of questions to a "Top 10". One of the reasons that the Q&A sessions petered out was due to the significant effort required of Bob to answer a very long list of questions. For this reason, and also in anticipation of more regular (small) Q&A sessions, we are going to restrict this particular Q&A session to MQA only.

We will collect Q's in this thread and then collate and tidy up what we have into a "Top 10" list. Meridian will endeavour to respond with A's in as timely a manner as possible.

Rules for this thread:

• Please avoid any debate or discussion on the questions. Save that for the main MQA thread. This thread is for Q's only.
• Also, let's try and not repeat Q's that have already been answered in the main MQA thread. Please re-read the MQA thread to see how our understanding has been evolving.
• And obviously, don't waste Q's on stuff you already know the answer to: e.g. future product maps; top secret tech inside MHR; when will the labels issue content; etc.

Let's get a Top 10 of really good Q's, so we get a Top 10 of really good answers. Game on...

What does modified 818 mean, is it cards/firmware and a rough guide line as to the costs of going this route?

(done the .5 upgrade and SE upgrade. So just want to be prepared for the worst.)

This isn't meant to be 3 questions by the way.

Cheers
Greg

Thank you to Bob and others who are making this available. This is, in one word, fantastic!

What will be the process/timetable be for existing music to be re-encoded and made available via streaming services or for purchase and download?

In other words, I am trying to gauge what is involved for streaming services and online music stores to start updating their catalog, in a sizable way, with MQA encoded music?

Thank you again.

Do Meridian think there would be a benefit to mankind if we could all MQA/MQL existing music files?

Will MQA encoding be available on Physical Media, CD/DVD or whatever?

This is outstanding! It really looks as though Christmas came a little early for us HHkr's this year. A better way to hear music on it's way and more involvement of Mother to see us through . I really want to thank Bob and all those involved in their continuing effort to bring joy to those of us who really appreciate all they do.
OK Carl, I will ask a question so I can stay qualified. What effect will MQA have for us that have large Red Book catalogues will we reap any benefits from the MQA processing or is this strictly for streaming?
Greg

Moderator Request.

The words of thanks are great but please don't post unless you have a genuine question to ask to Bob.

This topic should stay focused on questions, posts without question will be removed.

If you have a comment on a question please PM the author (and/or a moderator).

Regards,
Carl

If I were to buy MQA CD's, would a typical CD ROM drive on a PC be able to rip it for use on Sooloos? Or would an updated dBpoweramp and/or Control:Mac/Control:PC be needed? Or would new hardware be needed for ripping?

If MQA decoding is facilitated via firmware updates, to what extent are legacy Meridian products able to accommodate this: for example, would such an MQA firmware update become available for G91/G92/G95 owners?

Dear Bob,

Is there any difference in QA betwee MQA and a well produced 24/196? Appreciate the main difference is file size.

Merry Christmas

At present it appears to me that it is only larger recording studios that will benefit from MQA.

Will MQA be available to smaller recording artists who cannot afford expensive studio time?

Given Meridian's publicly announced new relationship with Imagination, will MQA be streamed wirelessly? Please give some examples of required system components that will operate in this way.

If the answer is no then please explain some of the chains of components that will be required for MQA to play in DSP SE speakers.