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John Atkinson: Yes, MQA IS Elegant...


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Zen & the Art of A/D Conversion:

 

"In a series of recent feature articles for Stereophile, Jim Austin has examined how the controversial MQA codec works: "MQA Tested, Part 1," "MQA Tested Part 2: Into the Fold," "MQA Contextualized," "MQA, DRM, and Other Four-Letter Words," and, most recently, "MQA: Aliasing, B-Splines, Centers of Gravity." I doubt there is a Stereophile reader who is unaware of the fracas associated with MQA, and I have been repeatedly criticized on web forums for describing its underlying concept as "elegant."

 

But elegant it is, I feel. MQA Ltd.'s Bob Stuart has described the goal of MQA as being to reduce to "plumbing" everything between the original analog signal fed to the analog/digital (A/D) converter and the analog signal output by the digital/analog (D/A) converter, other than routing the signal from the original event to the end-user's system. In other words, the A/D conversion of the output of the microphone preamps (in a purist recording) or the mixing console (in a conventional recording), the transmission, storage, and subsequent D/A conversion will be transparent, except for an ultrasonic rolloff equivalent to a signal path of a few feet in air."

 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/zen-art-ad-conversion#bf4kky2Hi5SiOKXP.99

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10 hours ago, Brinkman Ship said:

screen-shot-2016-12-29-at-12-21-07-pm.pn

Oh please, not the dotard here as well!!!

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, firedog said:

So I skimmed through JA's new article. The point was that MQA and Ayre get  to a similar result with different methodology? Both managed to reproduce the signal with almost no ringing? 

 

I'm not sure how this makes  points for MQA, which is what JA seems to be trying to do. If I understood the article correctly, Ayre managed to create basically a perfect ADC/DAC  conversion with low distortion and virtually no ringing. Even if MQA did the same, isn't that more proof of how unnecessary MQA is?  Isn't that proof it isn't needed for "de-blurring"?

 

Well, "perfect," who knows? Nicely done and preferred by many, sure.  The reason the Ayre filter doesn't ring is because it isn't very steep, so it may let through some frequencies that create aliasing, imaging, and higher THD numbers.  (Not sure I'm remembering correctly, but Ayre DACs may at least at one time have had different "Listen" and "Measure" filters.) Similar thing applies to MQA - doesn't ring because the filters aren't steep, which allows for aliasing, imaging, and increased THD.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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25 minutes ago, mav52 said:

If Charles Hansen was still with us, I would bet he would have a counter argument to JA's article. 

 

If his take on DSD was any indication (he seemed to me to still be pretty pissed at Sony's poor attempt to take over the market with copy-protected SACDs, and thus had no time for anything related to SACD, including DSD), I can just imagine.  :) 

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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34 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

If his take on DSD was any indication (he seemed to me to still be pretty pissed at Sony's poor attempt to take over the market with copy-protected SACDs, and thus had no time for anything related to SACD, including DSD), I can just imagine.  :) 

Not entirely true...

 

Hansen became much more neutral about DSD as a recording medium..yes he was not happy about DRM'd SACDs, but began to realize the appeal of DSD..very analog, slightly softer transients...altthough he still preferred 24/192 PCM himself.

 

IN FACT, he published his own DSD/PCM comparison with the Ayre ADC-

 

Unfortunately, the link no longer works, but here is a link from this forum.

 

You find it interesting that if I remember correctly, it was basically a 50/50 split on preference. I personally

preferred the DSD files.

 

 

 

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