Originally Posted by VirusKiller
Originally Posted by Asa Post
As we know, 16/44 is not high resolution.
I'm not prepared to make that assertion any more. My ears tell me that, when MQA-encoded, it absolutely can be.
This is truly fascinating and carries significant implications.

Are you suggesting that 16/44 MQA can carry the same temporal and spatial information as full-fat MQA, such as is seen on the much-vaunted 2L 24/384 files? And are we to presume that 16/44 MQA does not need either first or second-stage unfolding? (Presumably, through Roon, you know the answer to this?) If that is the case then, given bit-perfect transfer, there would be no need for specially-licensed MQA-processing equipment. And are tweeters with extended frequencies (super-tweeters) still mandatory?

Some have suggested that Qobuz actual high-resolution files are superior to lossy MQA (I don't want to enter into this). But if 16/44 MQA is equal to, or superior to high-resolution MQA then we have entered a completely new scenario. MQA has ceased to be a company delivering high-resolution in a convenient form and instead has become a company specialising in superior mastering. Furthermore, these new MQA files may be open to all insofar as they do not require specialist processing.

I write the above not to dispute your findings but rather to explore their implications. And we now seem to have arrived at an answer to my question, "What is the point of 16/44 MQA". The point is to provide superior mastering. I now await the deluge of marketing from MQA extolling this fact.

Asa Post