I was reviewing photos from CES on another site and there were several pictures showing MQA hardware. Here is one of his comments.
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MQA demos - especially the one in the NAD/PSB room. I took lots of videos! The difference vs red book was big.

I got to see the Tidal Beta (see pic in slideshow above) which shows another level on Tidal above "HiFi" called "Master".

Got an understanding of how MQA will work via Tidal. Also, YES, you will need an MQA capable DAC to decode the MQA signal. Streamers like Aurender should theoretically just need a firmware update. MQA works like WINZIP on a computer. If you don't have PKUNZIP on the other end, you can't get or unzip the file. If the master was recorded in 24/384, the MQA technology "folds up" the bits into a 16/44 packet and then the decoder "unfolds" the packet on the other end. I heard 24/356 master files too. Amazing.

This isn't just a "zipping" technology, it's much more. Keep in mind that the Master File is the TRUE Master File from the original source with any kind of corrections made for faults in the recoding equipment and/or changes approved by the original recording artist. That's the only way a file can get the MQA stamp of approval. I heard (and recorded with my phone) many songs. When they played Natalie Merchant Tigerlily I knew the differences right away. Recordings from 30 years ago sounded current, fresh and new - like they were well recorded today. Current recordings from say Lady Gaga sounded amazing.

Jim
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