Mqa stuff is fine if thereās no red book alternative? It still plays just as normal even if you havenāt got mqa stuff.
Not sure why itās a problem? It just doesnāt unwrap to get the full monty, but works fine otherwise in the lower resolution (which is often better than redbook).
I have been using Qobuz as my default option as pretty much decided that is the route Iām going. There are some gaps in the older parts of back catalogues but it is an extensive library.
I didnāt know anything about MQA until it was flagged here but having read up on it I would prefer to avoid it.
Itās very much the principle, Steve.
I donāt endorse MQA, I donāt want MQA, I didnāt pay for MQA when I took Tidalās Ā£20/m ālosslessā service. I think Bob Stuart is an arsehole trying to line his pension pot with a pointless format that contains stealth DRM.
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I get you. But you can just play it unwrapped as a standard file and not have to pay them a penny.
If you have both versions on tidal it is just a labelā¦ you are only feeling better by selecting the non mqa.
It makes no actual difference to what you hear. Unless they make cash from you using it without the licence and hardware.
It would be better just having the free high res (not upsampled stuff), I agree.
Ironically, if you play a MQA file on non-compliant hardware it is not bit-perfect. MQA claim that itās better, because of their de-blur technology. Itās hard to describe that as anything but utter horse shit
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Didnāt know that. Shows how unclear it all is. The guides say it plays ok unwrapped. Often in a slightly better than red book resolution.
Again, why canāt we just have a world where itās clear what you get. Redbook. High res. Upsampled high res. Clearly marked.
Mqa was supposed to give clarityā¦ but it is just DRM with some spin.
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You clearly donāt.
Itās being licensed to Tidal (and Roon). Iām paying them indirectly. I am the product, etc. etc.
Putting aside whether I could even reliably tell the difference between 320kpb mp3 and Lossless in a blind test, MQA is a lossy format. I am being mis-sold if Tidal are not providing redbook versions.
Seems so if unwrapped mqa isnāt just usual or better standard lossless.
I live and learn!
MQA is valueless to the end user and predicated on marketing to drive adoption so they can extract cash from licensing from everywhere but the end-user. Itās clever, as it appears free and with no downside when it is the exact opposite.
Ultimately itās worse in every respect that simple hi-res. Since streaming hi-res is trivial for 99.99% of users nowadays, MQA solves no problems at all. (As an aside, MQA often compresses badly, so can be higher bandwidth than the same lossless file.)
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This.
Itās also worth pointing out that MQA doesnāt utilise the full dynamic range of high res. So if you take a 24/96 recording and MQA it to get a 24/48 stream, you donāt get 24 bits of dynamic range - some is lost for the high frequency stuff.
This probably only matters to you if you are using digital attenuation, but I would expect that high res streaming users are more likely than most to do this.
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Iām very fortunate to have subs provided for Tidal and Qobuz Sublime+. At the start, I still preferred Tidal but right now, if I had to choose one to spend my own money on, Qobuz would be the one Iād pick without hesitation.
A few senior industry types who have to go unnamed, are really hoping that Qobuz being added to Roon could be a significant help in knocking MQA into touch. Weāll have to see.
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Qobuz has one major flaw for my listening habits: the library is missing large chunks of stuff I listen to. It is weak on alternative/indie.
And most stuff is red book not hi-res
Iām not bothered about that either because
a) I think hi-res is unnecessary and doesnāt bring anything to the party
and
b) Itās on a different pricing tier anyway.
that answers that question then
Tidal wins for me, trial only at Keggie then dumped
Excuse the thread necro but there is a massive update to Roon. Iāve just updated the App on my iPad and the software on my Zen which houses the core. Itāll be interesting to see how good the new version is, but the internet radio is a very welcome addition.
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The other āmassive updateā is theyāve put the lifetime price up to $700. I assume the Ā£ price will be the same.
Ludicrous.
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