MQA actually tested


I got a Tidal subscription a few months ago with the hope of streaming hi res music rather than continuing to buy WAAYY overpriced files from HD tracks and the like....and while the Tidal catalogue is great, some of the Master files just seemed a bit, well, not so masterful. So I decided to listen to Master files in Tidal (full unfold) and compare them to 24/96 min FLAC that I already own, and there wasn’t a single file I owned that did not sound better in clarity and extension than the “Master” file I was comparing it to on Tidal.

I had heard a lot of thoughts from different manufacturers about MQA and just put them down as interesting but not proven since none of them offered anything but their opinion...no testing etc.

then I came across this vid (. https://youtu.be/pRjsu9-Vznc ) last night from a guy who managed to actually test MQA on Tidal using files he created and had loaded onto Tidal. VERY interesting results. First real tests I have seen of MQA and I can now see why my FLAC sounds better to me.
Might have to check out alternatives.

ukthunderace

Showing 1 response by sgreg1

Having not watched the vid I would like to know the delivery chain. I run quobuz hi res from MacBook Pro into balanced dac out to balanced pre into mono blocks balanced in. First was using WiFi for stream sound was great with big sound stage. Then I switched to Ethernet cat 7 and up graded usb cable. Soundstage opened up more and bass was night to day. I next want to add fiber in the signal path. Is Mqa more snake oil or real thing? I have learned just like a fish fry 9 out of 10 that say it is better never seems better to me but when I do find better I can think back on the journey and appreciate the end result. Play around with the options and enjoy when you strike gold.