Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music MQA Limited in Administration (Chapter 11)

Submitted request.

I also have submitted a reaquest.

Tidal's response:

Debora M. (TIDAL)
Aug 16, 2023, 2:06 PM EDT

Hi Ian,

Thank you for getting in touch with TIDAL Support.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback regarding this situation. TIDAL has always prioritized and invested in superior audio quality. Our commitment to open platforms for both artists and fans drives our adoption of FLAC, and specifically HiRes FLAC as the preferred option for the best sound quality we offer.

In addition to utilizing MQA, we make use of various high-quality and immersive audio formats, such as Dolby Atmos, to provide our subscribers with a premium listening experience and more artists the opportunity to share their music exactly as it is intended to sound. However, our system will prioritize the HiRes FLAC quality.

We’ll be sure your request gets in the right hands as we don't offer the option to choose the MQA format as preference at this time. Your feedback helps us improve and we appreciate your thoughts!

Thank you,
Debora
TIDAL Support

My reply:

Debora,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I appreciate that this is not your choice personally and you’re just conveying a management decision. I would like to expand a little on my original communication and convey the

I consider MQA to be a technically superior format to Hi-Res FLAC with technical justification (though I recognize this is a matter of debate amongst some in the audio community). I have made significant investment in rendering endpoint audio equipment which allows for the final unfolding to occur in the renderer. I subscribed to Tidal HiFi+ in the first place to get access to MQA and be able to prioritize playing MQA files when available. If I get forced into Hi-Res FLAC when MQA is available, the main service differentiator will have gone. As the consumer, why should I be forced to accept a choice which I find inferior in addition to consuming unnecessary additional bandwidth? Qobuz offers hi-res FLAC at a lower subscription cost, so switching service in that case won’t be a difficult decision.

Cheers, Ian[i][/i]

Ditto…

I’m with you. I’ve been very disappointed with the nastiness and vitriol on various forums, very offputting.

I said much the same in my submission, that Qobuz already offers FLAC and at lower cost.

Is this a case of judging market via Reddit?

If only Reddit were the only place the MQA witch-hunt was prevalent!

This is one of the only safe-zones.

No response from Tidal in 48 hours. Could that be a sign of impact?

Well it seems they are working on making file information visible. Unclear if we'll have a choice in selection.

Reddit forum link

Well spotted, Bruce!

Well if everything in the article is true (Tidal gradually replacing all MQA with FLAC) this is very bad news for MQA.

I must say, if they did go down that route, I would personally have zero reason to choose Tidal over numerous other streaming services. MQA was a unique selling point; hi-res FLAC is not.

[Not to mention they would have lied about their intention to maintain the existing MQA catalogue, I can’t abide companies who lie to their paying customers.]

Some hope…? Lenbrook acquire MQA