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

Three pages in and I've lost the will to carry on. Some thoughts:

1. Jussi/Miska is doing some really cool stuff with HQPlayer, particularly with regard to very high frequency up-sampling matched to the DACs; but he's not grasped the essence and significance of MQA. [He does have a vested interest (HQPlayer), but I'm not sure if he is financially driven or not; I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.]

2. Folk are latching on to *any* statement in order to back up their naysayer non-sequitur arguments. For example, because one of the 2L albums was originally recorded in 44.1/16, that must clearly imply that MQA is all about up-sampling standard rate audio. (We know from Bob that MQA works with PCM masters up to at least 384k if not 768k, analogue masters, and DSD masters.)

3. We do have a problem with the current, and no doubt future, non-availability of CD and non-MQA "HiRes" material produced from the *identical* master. Comparisons may simply not be possible. Whether it matters or not depends on your POV. Personally, I think that it would be very helpful to have comparisons.

4. Tying together the ADC and DAC is mentioned, but everyone is downplaying the significance of this. From a couple of tidbits I've heard, I have an inkling that this is going to be most critical for the flawed, but very characterizable, ADCs used in the early days of digital recordings.

5. The opinions of those on the Computer Audiophile forum really won't matter at the end of the day. As Prof. Brian Cox has so elegantly and (IMO) correctly put it:
Hear hear! I enjoy - as an academic exercise - understanding what is going on technically, but many of the details are beyond me (and most people). For me, it's now more about the music than ever before.