Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music Re: MQA status?

I don't see this as sinister at all - it's much more likely as Bob says. Corporates in my experience hate other corporates jumping the gun on announcements, stealing limelight and thunder etc. This bandwagon is rolling and nothing is going to stop it. Fantastic achievement by the boys in Huntingdon.

But that vanilla PCM is still going to be high res PCM at the underlying sample rate prior to MQA decoding? And therefore should still sound pretty good with all the benefits of de-blurring present?

Presumably the norm on third party machines will be that the DAC management process (the final icing on the cake) is not implemented? (eg smartphones, cheap DACs, etc)

My attempt at humor wasn't trying to imply anything sinister is afoot. I think it's exactly as you say. Big corporations are involved here, much bigger than MQA Ltd or Meridian. And I expect lots of i's are being dotted and t's are being crossed and that legal professionals are involved.

Could Bob have painted a thinner veil on that?

That's impressive. The announcement of the HTC MQA-enabled smartphone is probably the most significant to date, even though it's a proof-of-concept.

Stereophile link

No product info in this one but an amazing interview with R. Stuart at TAS.
TAS interview with R. Stuart

Thanks for posting, it aids / reinforces my understanding of MQA and I was privileged to have it presented by Bob himself over a year go now.

Regards,
Carl

Good piece, but I had a major sense of deja vu reading it. I'm sure I've read the same text before.

Edit: It's the same piece from the (excellent) TAS May/June 2015 issue.

That's a great article and a compulsory read if you have any interest in audio recording and enjoyment at all.
It makes all the scepticle posts regarding MQA I have recently read over on the Roon forums seem more laughable now than they were then.
This explains the addiction to Live Music I witness in people who own no Hi Fi at all.
Interesting times, Chris 😎

Deja lu, actually, not Deja vu.

I thought his last comment about incurring the wrath of audiophiles and scientists was very funny. I suspect I know which is worse.

I do hope M remember to announce their own MQA launches at CES, I'm getting bored by the waiting.

Interestingly, in the "MQA thread" on the Roon forum, in spite of some initial scepticism and hostility, the tide appears to be turning; and that's a community with a load of audiophiles, many of whom are not in the Meridian "camp" (but with Roon in common).

Some of the comments at the bottom of the Stereophile link (see above) are pretty vicious, going as far as to claim that the "different" sound will be down to MQA introducing its own distortions.

Indeed. There are always trolls, those who want something to fail, those who simply cannot believe that their own world view is wrong. Thank goodness that both this forum and the Roon forum are well moderated, generally respectful, environments.