MQA according to new Stereophile "loudness button" and "tweaking EQ in presence region"

All the gnashing of teeth over MQA seems much ado about nothing for those of us who have moved past music acquisition and into streaming. For folks who still want to acquire a library of music beyond what they already own, yes, it may be a concern. Maybe. No doubt most music labels couldn't care less about audiophile wants/needs and see their future in streaming. MQA allows for them to produce 1 file for distribution (streaming, downloading, and MQA CDs) for all types of music lovers from audiophiles to casual listeners. Seems to be a good business decision for them and plenty of audiophiles seem to like what they hear. Like it or not I think it's here to stay.

No one’s debating music streaming vs. Owning.

The issue for me is that MQA Maybe doing something other than just providing hires music in a smaller file and correcting d/a Flaws, but playing a sonic trick on us by basterdizing the master files, not being a better delivery system.

Anyone can goose the bass and treble of a file and have people prefer it over the original. That’s not the objective for me. I prefer raw food to junk food and my palette has adapted to crave that. I often like the sound of unmastered (uncompressed) recordings, rough mixes, etc because I find they sound better than the homogenized version. But that’s just my taste.

Personally the idea of a ubiquitous file delivery system that changes the sound and could be the only way every one eventually gets their music digitally (because that the only way it’s being offered) to be abhorrent and the very antithesis of the audiophile experience.

And it seems indeed like the audiophile press is responsible for the adoption of this new format before it went mainstream, by giving mqa it’s blessing.
If Stereophile noticed right away and wrote that MQA wasn’t the master it was proported to be, but a fructose enhanced version of it, i think things might have played out differently. 

MQA has waffled back and forth saying it can be unpackeed outside the dac, then no it can’t, then yes It can but only partially, etc.
It may have well indeed been public outcry in forums like these, that forced their hand to have a more open architecture.

So you can imagine why I'm skeptical of  the powers behind this new format and their motivations for the future of music.  

emailists,
You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see anywhere in this thread that says you have actually listened to MQA. Most people will tell you if you have not listened to it, you don't have an opinion. Try listening to MQA with your own ears..... instead of your taste buds....

Back when I was in high school and college, I was a drummer in some very busy rock & roll bands.  I remember the sound and visceral experience of the "timbre" from playing that 22" Zildjan ride cymbal.  I've only experienced that same visceral experience from some of the MQA albums on Tidal, never experienced that same feeling from even hi-res "traditional" digital files.
Also, there is something really "pure" about the sound of a well-recorded acoustic piano, something that sounds better to me on MQA.
I wouldn't say it's a "blanket improvement", as not all MQA albums on Tidal (to me) sound "better", "different" yes, "better" not so sure.

Hello fellow music lovers. So here’s the deal: The Brooklyn is a nice DA, very punchy. However, it has a low bump and a high mid bump to it, and that’s what he heard as the "loudness" curve. I would highly recommend the Manhattan II if you can afford it. I helped them to design it and it’s very nice, punchy like the Brooklyn yet also linear, no hype to the curve. Not as elegant as the Bricasti M1 SE (since the Feb 2016 upgrade to the filtering, when I also helped them to tweak the presentation.)

MQA: I’ve heard my work from 24 bits to MQA ... it has a high mids push, and is thinner on the bottom, with some added distortion of course, and most painfully, mid forward so a loss of width and shape. The High Mid comes forward with the MID section vs the SIDE, and it’s lean and of course narrow. This is based on my work using Pacific Microsonics AD at 24 44.1 and reduced to MQA 16 44.1 I would hate to know what it does with higher rates, but my peers tell me it’s no better.

I’m sorry to tell you that this is not the future of great audio. The labels all see money, so they are on board, and because you all are hip to see that LED and can’t hear the source to compare, many of you are suckered in. This review is the first I have seen to admit the truth, the bias, etc.

There is no free lunch in digital audio, and nothing with less data is more. Similarly, more data is not always better, and one should not be suckered in to the idea that 96k or higher is some kind of gold standard. What matters is the hardware and the engineering skill. Great hardware at 44.1 is not less than 96k, although weak hardware can sound better at higher rates and higher rates are good for mixers (plug ins).

This idea of deblurring is total hype. There is no perfection in audio, it’s all about musical approximations and everything in the way of distortion in an approved master has been adjusted to deal with the inherent artifacts in that record, and gone over by a dozen people. The margin for error is small with changing this highly compressed and limited (non classical in my world) music master and MQA is not respectful in the way it needs to be to satisfy their sales pitch. More of an Aphex Aural Exciter in digital garb, or like one of the automated mastering services with huge backing. The high mid bump is seductive, as in the classic SM57 and the Telefunken 251 mics. Or 15 ips 2" tape. MQA has the bump, is thin, and Mid forward. The overall harmonic distortion is audible, not less than, worse than.

If it was a 320 mp3 size file I would say well done. Yet even then it’s not a mile better than MFiT, which is harmonically cold and shortens the groove by losing the low volume low end info.

If you want the source, listen to the master, no matter the rate, it’s the real deal. Nothing else compares.

I have told them all of this, and nothing here is from privileged info. Yes I signed their NDA, then stopped communicating with them once I heard it. My opinion has not changed with their tech sales pitch and my opinion is not for sale.

MQA founders likely need an income stream since their video business has dried up and this is a way to get a few endorsements and corporations on board and tell everyone that a rock is still a diamond, only smaller, because there is a blue light, and a mid forward presence push.

Credentials: I’m a full time mastering engineer based in Los Angeles. I work in every style, 7 days a week, over 500 clients a year, six Grammy winners and many international gold and platinum records, partial credits are here: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/brian-lucey-mn0002167192 website is here: www.magicgardenmastering.com

Room: I use Mytek 8x192 to feed my analog chain which has Fairman TMEQ, Elysia Alpha Ser #001, Etc ... router is Crane Song Avocet, and I use Bricasti M1 SE DA x 2 for monitoring pre and post processing. Birch ply (older) Sonics Allegras by Joahim Gerhardt powered by highly modified Cary Audio 211 FE fed by Sequoia software. the room is fantastic, come by next time in LA to hear it.

Thanks for truly listening and spending money on the system of your dreams. The system is your art form, and we appreciate you.