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

After further listening I think that a more distant seating position is required by the 808v6 rather than MQA.

Now that I have had a chance to compare packed and unpacked MQA files I can unhesitatingly confirm that the unpacked files sound better and in many respects significantly better.

The Mozart violin concerto has better focus than when unpacked although I think that it could still be improved. There is also a much enhanced sense of scale and airiness.The Britten demonstrated impressive leading-edge string attack and the pizzicato of the double basses is impressive. The Finzi piece was for me the track that was most improved. The singer is now decisively separated from the piano and sounds very good, even to me though I am not a Finzi fan.

There is good trumpet texture on Gjeilo's "North Country II" which is also present on Hoff Ensemble's "Blagutten", where we can also hear appealing drums and acoustic atmosphere.

The Haydn quartet provides exactly what we want from a quartet performance and recording: the musicians appear distinct but profoundly engaged in musical conversation with one another. For the Vivaldi, the soprano is clear and pure and we can also catch the distinctive timbre of the period instruments.

We would expect piano music to excel as Meridian have their own Steinway against which to test their products. The decay of notes and the resonance of the instrument are ably demonstrated. I am not a Neilson fan but the clarity with which the interaction between the left and right hand are revealed added considerably to the interest of the piece.

Many thanks to 2L for making these tracks available. They must make us all eager to hear more.

[all listening was via USB into an 808v6 (upgraded) and then on to 8kSEs (upgraded).]

Thanks for a detailed and thoughtful review, Asa Post.

At last.

I have now successfully been able to play the MQA file and the MQA light was "on" on my Prime Headphone amp.

No discussion about that MQA sounded better than the 96/24 version. But it was not like i was falling out of my chair better.

The sound was a bit smoother but that was about it.

Prime Headphone amp, AQ Coffe USB cable, AQ JItterbug, Sennheiser HD 800, Jriver media player with WASAPI

Music: Tartini Secondo Natura in MQA and 96/24 for comparsion.

I dont feel any urge to replace all my 16/44 and 96/24 with MQA.

It sounded better but as i wrote before i was not hugely impressed by improvement brought compared to the 96/24. I got the feeling that it was about the same improvement one could get from going from 16/44 to 96/24.

Maybe some other music will reveal bigger differences.

Cheers

In looking at Asa's post and others there seems to be thought that to get the proper focus of MQA that one must move back from there original seating position. My question is what was the original seating distance from the DSP's and how much further back did the distance have to become to gather full effect?

Is this really the case or could the same effect be achieved by increasing toe in as previously required / experienced with EBA etc.

JMT Hector

Moving further back shouldn't be required? As long as the speakers are properly positioned and toed in all should be well.

The improvements I heard were a lot to do with sound staging and imaging .. undecoded.. so I'm not sure headphones are the best test...

I posted that I had moved my seating position back about half a metre. The speakers are well away from the wall and out of corners. They are 2m30 tweeter to tweeter; and each one is 3m from the listening position. This leaves 3m30 from behind the listening position to the back wall.

When I upgraded to SE I increased toe-in. This has nothing to do with EBA as suggested above but everything to do with new beryllium tweeters. Each speaker now faces the listening position with the inner edge of the cabinet not visible.

I am not trying to set down hard and fast rules here, just passing on my impressions. Everyone must decide for themselves.

My comments were strictly with regard to the 808v6 and 8kSEs which I don't think you have. Everyone must of course decide what arrangement suits them best.

This is very interesting. Should we then draw the conclusion that MQA doesn't perform as well in headphones as with loudspeakers?

If the conclusion is correct I would say that MQA has failed to some degree to bring us better sound/listening experience.

Cheers

I haven't had time to write up my impressions of MQA in my own home yet - a lot on my plate - but suffice it to say I reject wholly the suggestion that it is not so impressive on headphones. I've done a lot of listening to my Staxes from 818v3 analogue output and the difference with MQA is very striking.