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Post by Slinger on Apr 16, 2021 17:42:04 GMT
I've cribbed this from a post by "Ithilstone" over at HFS. It's definitely food for thought, and I don't even understand half of it.  I'd say that if you use Tidal though, you probably should hear what the guy's got to say. |
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Post by MartinT on Apr 16, 2021 19:03:32 GMT
It's not fake so much as unnecessary. Why do you need a choice of resolutions in the unfolding process? In these days of fast internet speeds, why do you need to conserve bandwidth?
Give me straight hi-res from Qobuz any day. MQA is the perfect piece of spin marketing for something you don't really need.
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Post by Slinger on Apr 16, 2021 19:05:16 GMT
It doesn't really concern me, but I watched the video from start to finish and found it very informative.
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Post by wannarock2 on Apr 16, 2021 19:12:39 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Apr 16, 2021 20:31:20 GMT
Management summary:
MQA degrades music which is not unfolded (i.e. not using an MQA DAC)
MQA does a better job when fully unfolding with a suitable DAC, but it is not comparable with the original master
MQA does indeed use compression for the 'folded' content
Tidal no longer offers pure PCM Master files
When I compared Tidal with Qobuz a while ago, I really didn't like Tidal very much at all. The video above demonstrates why.
Ultimately, as I said earlier, MQA is marketing for a closed proprietary format designed to make the patent holders rich.
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Post by petea on Apr 16, 2021 21:44:47 GMT
An interesting 'video'. Thanks, Paul. It does reinforce some of my suspicions / skepticism about MQA and I think your "Management summary:" does indeed sum it up pretty well, Martin.
I use both Tidal and Qobuz and although I tend to favour Qobuz, not all of my streamers support it; for example, the NDX I have here in Germany. This though is not a major issue for me as my main source is files; either rips or High Resolution downloads stored and served by a Fidata server directly to the DAC via USB. However, this 'video' did make me look further at what Naim do regards MQA, and they still do not support it and probably never will (which I think may be a good decision), and in the process I spotted a post about using BubbleUPnP to stream Qobuz to the NDX. This I should be able to do using a Docker Container on a Synology NAS. I have downloaded the image and will set it up over the weekend and see how I get on.
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Post by MartinT on Apr 16, 2021 23:39:38 GMT
I spotted a post about using BubbleUPnP to stream Qobuz to the NDX. This I should be able to do using a Docker Container on a Synology NAS. I have downloaded the image and will set it up over the weekend and see how I get on. Go for it, I really like BubbleUPnP now that I've got used to it (warning: there are a LOT of settings). It's a good DLNA controller. Works very well and is fast and reliable. |
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Post by petea on Apr 28, 2021 9:44:53 GMT
I ended back here after following a Wikipedia entry for Tidal (to see who is the main owner now) which led me to the Wikipedia entry for MQA. A nice summary and probably not one they are too happy about. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Quality_Authenticated |
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Post by julesd68 on Apr 8, 2023 10:32:37 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Apr 8, 2023 10:41:51 GMT
Good riddance.
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Post by Tim on Apr 8, 2023 11:52:23 GMT
Ousted by people power . . . they probably thought their snake oil marketing wouldn't be found it, which is a bit arrogant of them to be honest. I won't be shedding a tear that's for sure.
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 13, 2023 6:38:45 GMT
5/8
With Tidal’s CEO announcing Tidal is ditching their lossy high resolution files (“Master” also known as MQA) and Tidal will soon be offering full lossless FLAC files instead like Qobuz, Apple Music and Amazon Music already offer. Price remains to be seen. Hopefully this forces Deezer to offer higher than just CD resolution that they offer now. Either way all five will offer full fidelity lossless files. Which is a majority of the main 8 streaming services. This leaving Spotify, YouTube Music and Pandora as high fidelity holdouts. Hopefully the three of them will be forced to offer high fidelity files in order to better compete with the others as they will loose some customers now that awful MQA is about to die.
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Post by Tim on Apr 13, 2023 9:09:47 GMT
Choppy waters ahead for them I reckon, it was always a big risk launching MQA IMO - a good idea in theory but they weren't honest about what they were doing and it backfired. Shame really, but I got the impression they were taking audiophiles for audiophools which when you're in their playing park is a bit of a gamble.
Still I won out of it as it made me try Qobuz, which for me is a much better fit.
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Post by julesd68 on Apr 13, 2023 10:56:20 GMT
5/8 This leaving Spotify, YouTube Music and Pandora as high fidelity holdouts. Hopefully the three of them will be forced to offer high fidelity files in order to better compete with the others. I'm starting to think that Spotify just doesn't give a crap about listeners who would like the option of a Hi-Res service. Or they think their market doesn't want it. Or they are conjuring up some super next level game changing Hi-Res that we can all only dream of right now ... lol. |
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Post by HD Music & Test on Apr 13, 2023 10:59:31 GMT
For those still feeling MQA is better may I recommend one of these
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Post by Tim on Apr 13, 2023 11:26:33 GMT
I'm starting to think that Spotify just doesn't give a crap about listeners who would like the option of a Hi-Res service. Or they think their market doesn't want it. Or they are conjuring up some super next level game changing Hi-Res that we can all only dream of right now ... lol. I don't think that's their goal now Jules, from what I'm reading from the speculative pundits, they are now wanting to add something the others don't have, as in more bloat if all you want is music. They've missed the boat regarding CD quality or higher, so would IMO need to do something else - something Tik Tok ish I wouldn't be surprised at? But with their absolutely huge subscriber base, who I would say mostly don't care about Spotify Hi-Fi, it's almost becoming a non issue. "If you want higher resolution go to the others, but we're doing this . . . "Can't say I blame them really, I think Spotify isn't focused on folk like us who just want to stream music anymore, it's far too mainstream now. Just look at their new Home page on the app, that's trying to attract a much broader audience than just music lovers and a much younger demographic than crusty old audiophiles! I'm really not expecting to see Spotify Hi-Fi anytime soon, but I could be wrong. |
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Post by MartinT on Apr 13, 2023 12:43:25 GMT
I'm starting to find the Spotify UI and app a bit of a mess.
It makes me appreciate the clean lines and ease of searching of Qobuz.
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Post by Tim on Apr 13, 2023 12:52:47 GMT
I'm starting to find the Spotify UI and app a bit of a mess. It's like Blackpool illuminations, all shiny and fizzy which to me indicates who their target audience now is. |
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Post by julesd68 on Apr 13, 2023 19:37:30 GMT
I'm starting to think that Spotify just doesn't give a crap about listeners who would like the option of a Hi-Res service. Or they think their market doesn't want it. Or they are conjuring up some super next level game changing Hi-Res that we can all only dream of right now ... lol. I don't think that's their goal now Jules, from what I'm reading from the speculative pundits, they are now wanting to add something the others don't have, as in more bloat if all you want is music. They've missed the boat regarding CD quality or higher, so would IMO need to do something else - something Tik Tok ish I wouldn't be surprised at? But with their absolutely huge subscriber base, who I would say mostly don't care about Spotify Hi-Fi, it's almost becoming a non issue. "If you want higher resolution go to the others, but we're doing this . . . "Can't say I blame them really, I think Spotify isn't focused on folk like us who just want to stream music anymore, it's far too mainstream now. Just look at their new Home page on the app, that's trying to attract a much broader audience than just music lovers and a much younger demographic than crusty old audiophiles! I'm really not expecting to see Spotify Hi-Fi anytime soon, but I could be wrong. I think you are more than likely correct Tim. If Spotify was really going after a big share of the audiopile market they would have done it by now - it's not like they don't have the facilities to have rolled it out eons ago. But to be honest I'm not that bothered - it's been going on so long now and I've stuck with them because it's incredibly rare that they don't have what I'm after and sound quality is great. I'm not saying there isn't better out there of course but I've not compared any other streaming services on my system and am not feeling a primordial urge to do so. |
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 13, 2023 20:09:14 GMT
I don't think that's their goal now Jules.. I'm not saying there isn't better out there of course but I've not compared any other streaming services on my system and am not feeling a primordial urge to do so. ..go on, you know you want to🙂 I was at Santa Pod Raceway ages ago. There was a white, crude looking specialised elongated dragstrip bike that caught my eye. On the rear fairing someone had written, in a very shaky hand, "It's the voices that make me do it"😂 It was a wild ride indeed. 8 secs if I remember correctly😱 |
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