Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music MQA listening impressions (with a MQA decoder)

I really dislike the "absolute" secrecy surrounding Meridian R&D; however, even I'm forced to admit that Meridian did the right thing this time by keeping it secret and working, in confidence, with the people that mattered (music labels, artists, sound engineers, producers, streaming providers, etc.).

Bob and co. clearly learned from the pain of the SACD/DVD-A/MP3 debacle. MQA changes the status quo in an unfavourable way for many groups with vested interests: academics, competitors (e.g. Linn), conventional "HiRes" producers (e.g. Dr.AIX), "audiophiles" who simply *cannot* have made a mistake with their latest £10k non-MQA DAC purchase, and "audiophiles" who like to think that they are "up there" with the academics. If this had been public earlier, I have no doubt that it would have failed as it would have been attacked earlier, and effort would have to have been diverted defending the technology.

IMO, the strategy is sound, the effort expended has been immense, and it *is* frustrating for us waiting for the final pieces of the jigsaw to fall into place. However, very soon, it will be undeniable that MQA is the real deal. The doubters - manufacturers and consumers - will either have to fall into place, or fall behind.

Virus Killer has it in a nut shell

"The doubters - manufacturers and consumers - will either have to fall into place, or fall behind"

Some are worried that they might not be able to steal content and distribute it at will", The "my system is better than yours" are left with egg on their face, as are those who can't envisage that someone else has had a really good idea and insist on burying their heads in the sand.

If your ears tell you something is better and you are prepared to pay the price then you are the one who has their enjoyment of music enhanced. If others wish to denigrate, then it is they who are not enjoying the benefits that you perceive as a worthwhile investment.

VK, you missed Dr AIX. If it isn't from his recordings and mixing then nothing is hi-res.

The constant interpretation of many of those you list is just to protect their ego and / or revenue stream.

That the level vitriol and spite in so many corners is so great just tells me that these folks know or suspect that the threat is real. Otherwise they would not bother.

The clock is ticking and soon... all naysayers shall be eating their words.

VIrusKiller,
Perfect summing up.

Thank you

I think they're almost the worst. I had a little troll of a chump on Computer Audiophile who pronounced categorically (and with no further explanation of his position) that technically MQA just didn't compare to DSD128, which was the "DSD DEFACTO standard". He'd read a couple of white papers, listened to MQA in a streaming situation and had had "a lengthy discussion with a (sic) [unnamed] expert that lets just say is in the know."

I'm happy to be pragmatic about whether MQA or DSD sounds better, until I get the opportunity to properly decide for myself. Until then I sometimes wonder which side it is that has really drunk the Kool-Aid.

[sorry to quote myself but it was the easiest way to provide the link and context]

Seeing both Linn and Naim in the no camp is doubly sad. Not only are they both rival manufacturers but, perhaps more importantly, they are also recording labels.

Strangely, in his CES interview, Bob has said that no recording engineer rejected MQA so he must have forgotten about Naim:

Bob CES interview

Your rejection of the no camp is broad and generalised. But, with your detailed knowledge of digital systems, I had hoped that you would be able to offer some specific rebuttals to the points made in Computer Audio, cited in the TAS discussion.

I would also be interested to hear your listening impressions of the 2L unencoded or unpacked MQA files.

Thanks

This is hilarious. Sums up 90% of forum discussions...

I find it quite bizarre that those who haven't even heard MQA in operation think themselves qualified to offer opinions, especially when they try to get technical and talk about smearing etc. It really is something that you just have to listen to, if you like it then great, if not then no further action is needed.

It's not even a technology that Linn or Naim could claim is detrimental to their business or the industry. Given they also master audio it adds another string to their bow so until it gets established they and others might just do well to remain quietly on the sidelines.

T

Do we know yet whether Aix is in the no camp? I seem to remember that Bob was going to send him some files.

Incidentally, I would be interested to hear what you make of the 2L files.

As far as I can see, he's in the eejit / head-in-sand camp. I suspect that Bob gave up on him, realising that it wasn't worth the effort.

I've already posted a lot, but am now quite tired of trying to win over people who are deaf to reasoned argument. Point me in the direction of those arguments on CA and I'll take a look, but I'm not going to post anything in that hostile environment. If there is something I can add, I'll do my best to clarify it here.

Been travelling. I hope to do this soon using my Stax rig, but I've recently changed the set-up (energiser now has the "Kimic" modifications and I'm now using the Prime as source vs. my 861v4) and I need to re-baseline my ears.