Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music MQA/Tidal presentation at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

Given the limitation of 96/24 on MHR, and the fact that I really can't see 768k signals moving around inside an 800-series box, my assumption is that the 818v3 will be moving signals at 96/24 internally, but in a new fractal "MQA" format. This opens up the possibility of up-sampling RBCD to 4x or higher sample rates, and handling 192k material (USB and SPDIF inputs) without down-sampling it.

Some final random thoughts of the presentation.

Hearing Bob speak on MQA was like having a favorite college professor speak on what he knows best. Great command of his topic which was thoughtfully presented. Bob could schedule an MQA seminar for a day and fill it.

Bob made a point of saying that when MP3 was launched, people choose it primarily because of convenience. They did not choose lower fidelity, it just came with MP3. MQA offers a way to keep the convenience, but restore fidelity.

The MQA presentation made me think of what the future of high res recordings, let alone high res streaming, would be without a technology like MQA. A limited amount of music sold to a limited audience of audiophiles. The masses would not know or care. Streaming huge files like DSD or 192/24 to whom? MQA is the only way I can think of that a big inventory of high quality music, at whatever quality you chose, becomes available to anyone.

Don't discount streaming to phones. Bob showed his Sony phone, commenting that a number of Android phones already have high res chipsets. Streaming MQA at CD bit rates to phones, when many phones are Wi-Fi connected for much of a day, is a potential killer app.

Finally, kudos to Bob Stuart for great out of the box thinking on everything related to MQA. What an audacious dream! Then taking that dream and making it attainable. A lifetime achievement.

Video of the talk is now on YouTube on the RMAF channel. Gets me excited again but Bob's suggestion of MQA files being available before Christmas doesn't look like it will materialise.

Appreciate the link. A really good presentation by Meridian and Tidal. I'm curious why you speculate further delays. Bob seemed fairly confident (at the 59 minute mark).

Just that the year is fast running out. But I suppose no one saw the MQA announcement coming this time last year, so perhaps it might still happen.

Thanks for posting the link. A really interesting and enjoyable discussion. Encouraging too.

Yep, I would say that is essential listening. It gets right to the philosophy of MQA and the reasons the streaming and record companies need it, never mind the end user.
Thanks for posting, Chris

More confirmation for something happening at CES with a post from MQA on their Facebook page.