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MQA Shill Steve Stone Provides a Good Laugh For a Friday...


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Some reports for this demo were there mqa playback was obviously louder.

 

Maybe that was only in the wrong seat where phase didn't line up properly. O.o

And always keep in mind: Cognitive biases, like seeing optical illusions are a sign of a normally functioning brain. We all have them, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, but it is something that affects our objective evaluation of reality. 

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The number of MQA album releases over time has slowed down massively. About 150-200 per month.

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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1 hour ago, Ajax said:

Mark Waldrep from AIX Media Group does not hold back on what he thinks of the article and MQA in general.

 

"Do You Hear What I Hear? AXPONA Part II

I was heartened to learn from several other vendors that MQA is not a regular topic of conversation and audiophiles aren't asking whether this or that DAC will include this completely unnecessary technology. But I do continue to read discussions and comments posted by advocates for MQA. Steven Stone's recent 2018 Show Report contains a rather curious section that narrows down the conditions under which MQA encoded music sounds best (if it's supposed to sound different from the master at all!). His first universal truth is "if you really want to hear what MQA can do, you must begin with a well-recorded phase-correct recording of instruments in a real acoustic space". Apparently, he liked the MQA process on a variety of Peter McGrath's recordings as played in the Paragon Room through Wilson speakers at the AXPONA show — but only if you sit in the "prime listening position". If his assessment is correct (which is highly doubtful), virtually all of the MQA albums being streamed on Tidal won't benefit from the MQA process because they were produced in the confines of a recording studio. Additionally, listeners have to sit in a single location in order to maximize the sonic benefits accorded to MQA processed material. Wow.

As the purveyor of recordings made using high-resolution PCM (at 96 kHz/24-bits) in acoustically rich venues that are indeed phase coherent, my catalog would be a prime candidate for MQAing, right? As I've stated before, the inventor of the technology and others in MQA employ have offered to process some of my tracks and let me experience the "magic" that MQA can impart on my otherwise high fidelity tracks. I uploaded 12 tracks to a mutually agreed on FTP site almost 4 years ago and despite repeated requests haven't heard back from the company about when I can download the MQA tracks. I suspect that the MQA versions will sound different than my high-resolution originals — and I would consider that a degradation of their fidelity — and a violation of the tenants of the process as explained to me by the inventor. All this talk about MQA's "sonic improvements" or its ability to deliver "more readily identifiable soundstaging" or whatever people say they like about it, contradicts the intended design goals of the technique. Robert Stuart told me that the process shouldn't enhance the sound of an original master. It's primary job is to maintain more of the original fidelity through each stage of production — and reproduction. The idea is to lose less fidelity along the way. So those that hear and value the euphonious effects of MQA are actually arguing against it. No change from master recording to reproduced output would be ideal — and imperceptible.

As far as I can glean from all of the articles, technical papers, patent applications, and conversations I've had, the advantages of an MQA-encoded file apply only to real high-resolution music recordings when streamed through a bandwidth limited network (wired or wireless). It was not designed to be a sonic enhancement process but rather a bandwidth saving technology — and it does manage that trick although there are other "open source" methods that accomplish the same thing. The record companies that have submitted to the hoax that is MQA don't have catalogs of high-resolution audio with ultrasonic frequencies in need of origami folding. This is my biggest complaint about the MQA myth. If the trick of folding ultrasonic content under the in band content is key to its "better sound" then there better be meaningful amounts of ultrasonic content in the original tracks. The fact is there isn't any and even if there were, your system and ears couldn't process it. The CEA/CTA and its associated member companies continues to promote "hi-res" music as the next big thing in music — they don't realize that taking old content and wrapping it in a large bit bucket doesn't do anything — but it is good for commerce.

One recent FB comment dismissed my dislike of MQA by saying that I just don't have adequate equipment or that my hearing is incapable of experiencing the fidelity improvements of MQA. Once again, it's a personal failing that I can't hear the difference. This regular subjectivist retort is tired and completely false. The MQA process is a business that hopes to dominate streaming music by promising the removal of "time smearing" and other digital artifacts for a very limited catalog (maybe 2500 high-resolution titles) for individuals sitting in the "sweet spot" for those with great hearing who happen to own state-of-the-art systems. How is that a real business proposition?"

 

Wow.

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2 hours ago, Ajax said:

The MQA process is a business that hopes to dominate streaming music by promising the removal of "time smearing" and other digital artifacts for a very limited catalog (maybe 2500 high-resolution titles) for individuals sitting in the "sweet spot" for those with great hearing who happen to own state-of-the-art systems. How is that a real business proposition?"

 

It's not, and was never the real business proposition.  The real business proposition always began and ended with DRM...

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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It seems to be coming obvious that the MQA “magic” consists of dulling trasients, hiding low level detail, and softening the sound of recordings - all while adding artificial “space and air” to recordings. So many listeners like the sound - softened and more space seems more “analog” like and “audiophile“ like to them. 

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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On 4/22/2018 at 10:05 AM, rickca said:
On 4/22/2018 at 9:33 AM, miguelito said:

The number of MQA album releases over time has slowed down massively. About 150-200 per month.

Let me know when it's zero.  We'll throw a party.

To be clear, I am basing this on what I see in the TIDAL MQA titles file refreshed every month on meridianunplugged.com. 

 

We shall see where MQA goes. I think my recount, and certainly Archimago's, have been honest and fair. 

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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44 minutes ago, ARQuint said:

Nobody pays to read Computer Audiophile.

Wrong.  Journalists check facts.

 

44 minutes ago, ARQuint said:

It's a classic ad hominum attack

It's ad hominem.  Journalists use spellcheck.

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

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