Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music Linn's response to MQA

Second time in 48 hours I've seen this as an argument to support rather short-sighted anti MQA propaganda.

I'm open to be corrected but my understanding is that Meridian sold MLP to Dolby (hence its use in Dolby-HD codecs) when they wanted to raise money to buy the Audiolab/TAG factory, their current headquarters/manufacturing plant in Huntingdon.

Perhaps this is part of the "post-truth" that we hear so much about. I think the Linn spokesman might try and remember what PRAT stood for and stopped trying to be one.

I'm unsure where all these $$$ come from when Tidal Masters are included with the CD quality subscription, do I get a refund if I stream Linn HQ offerings? No I didn't think so..... perhaps we should be told where all the extra money goes?

Sorry, what is a lie about Meridian having derived licencing income from MLP? So they sold it off and they don't get income from it anymore; that doesn't change the fact that they did derive income from licensing it in the past,

MQA don't seem to have any products apart from the IP rights so I fail to see how they are going to generate any income unless they sell licences to use their IP.

And the problem is?

Its all good to get diversity of views on new platforms, formats and technologies. So the article put out has its place and function. However, it would have been so much better if Linn was willing to couch their concerns neutrally, and discuss MQA in the context of the pros/cons of existing alternatives, such as DVD-A which Linn uses frequently.

I have very limited experience with Linn's DVD-A range; To try it out on my Sooloos system, I bought and downloaded one of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's albums from Linn's website in DVD-A. It was 3 times the file size of some 96k albums I purchased, and it took a while to complete even on a fast connection.


Listening wise it was good clean and clear but didnt make me go back and buy the whole series. The album was Haydn's symphonies and truth be told, between this DVD-A recording and TIdal streaming DG's rival recordings under Trevor Pinnock at 44.1 upsampled to 88, I couldnt detect a glaring difference. The file size definitely played at the back of my mind.

Further, I am not sure whether it can be directly credited to the de-blurring and wider frequency capture, but, while this DVD-A recording was good, the 2L MQA titles have that extra palpable presence that just hits you, slightly below the heart and spreading through your gut. Not all MQA titles have this impact; but that is can be achieved on recorded media is relevatory.

A similar and earlier article here. Its striking in similarity how both articles focus on monopoly of the music supply chain, aided it would seem to them by the efficiency of the file size achieved by MQA encoding. Yet there is no discussion at all on the MQA functionality in digital deblurring and frequency capture. Its an oversimplification to say that MQA is just about compression.

So I welcome a dissenting view to keep the discussion grounded, but it needs to be objective in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of MQA.

Worryingly, there are stories from CES that Sony are actively developing their own MQA and have streaming partners lined up. Perhaps this is only web chat.

Worrying in that what Sony comes up with won't be as good as MQA? Or worrying in that we'll end up in a repeat of a DVD-A SACD fragmentation of an already small struggling market that is trying to gain traction?

I would fully expect Sony to either ignore or create an alternative, based on their prior strategic responses as formats emerge. VCRs, CD players, Hi-Res DVD players? Absent its compression and streaming benefits, MQA will always be a niche product, in terms of its appreciation and recognized relevance among the masses. I intend to have it but have you tried talking to a non-audiophile about it? Eyes glaze over, as you are talking about a solution to a problem, or an improvement to their quality of life, they have no perception of needing or wanting.

Mtns

You make sense, I suspect Sony with their influence in the Audio market will ensure MQA stays 'niche'. Regarding non audiophiles glazing over about MQA I think even audiophiles are starting to as well, so much moaning and vested interest opinions being voiced, I am sitting by and waiting for a while hoping the melee will sort itself out, 818v3 and 8K SE's at the ready.

Russ

In the meantime, I am thoroughly enjoying the MQA I have tried so far. I didn't get a huge buzz from the 2L demo items but there is plenty in the 1000+ that are on Tidal tight now that do float my boat.

That will increase over time I am sure.

Sony is a larger threat to MQA than Linn. They have successfully exploited commercially several technological developments and continue to do so. With enough scientists/developers I am sure they can eventually figure out how MQA works and develop a similar (not the same) system.

The majority of artists dont really care about the nature of the sound system as long as they get paid. Back catalogue artists are dead anyway. So MQA and similar systems are just a way of content providers extracting more revenue from the same recordings. Streamers - the same or at least a "me to" need. Home equipment manufactures dont care as long as the licence is not too much. And finally consumers, some care and will pay and some wont.

Linn remains niche and doesn't like to pay licence fees etc.

Sony is the real threat to MQA but only if MQA are greedy and developing an MQA rival proves expensive/takes too long. Sony might buy MQA if it looked easier to do so.
MQA has greater chance of success now floated from Meridian.

Ramblings

You are right to ask: I should have been clearer. What I dread is another format war in which MQA would be killed off. The battle between DVDA and SACD did nothing for consumers. As Bob so memorably and pithily put it, in that battle iPod won.

Yes, it seems that some professional musicians are not very interested in music replay. This is a bit off topic but it does show how limited the market is for high quality sound and why Linn may be so intimidated by MQA. See discussion here.