Meridian MQA Poll

Argh! Hating predictive text!

That should read availability, not invisibility!!

 

MQA support right now is confusing. I expect it to make more sense once DACs and software are supporting it and we get to play with it for real. Till then we're just trying to make sense of marketing claims. Marketing can't be trusted to be honest with the truth.

The comprehensive Q&A with Bob Stuart offers some info. Still heavy on the marketing speak. We'll see. The Q&A mentions that decoding for a particular DAC can be done in software as long as the software knows the DAC being used and has a profile for it. I assume that means that if you're using a computer as source and the software you're using is able to use the MQA decoder and the MQA decoder knows what DAC you're using and has a profile for that DAC then this MQA thing will work and do what it's supposed to do as well as it can. If I'm reading that right and making the right assumptions then MQA doesn't actually need hardware support on the DAC itself for it to work if you're using a computer as source and the right software. But I don't know.

 

I wonder what Neil Young thinks...

 

He's thinking that he couldn't wait for MQA before doing the PonoPlayer and PonoMusic. He waited long enough for the development of Pono. Couldn't wait longer. And MQA is still a year or years away and may not get enough traction to survive.

 

I was more thinking of what NY thinks of MQA Ltd's claims about the shortcomings of digital audio without their proposed product against the claims made for Pono. Which I think helps to fuel the confusion for consumers in addition. Twas ever thus, I guess.

 

Neil was thinking he needs another acronym and format like he needs a whole in the head.

Ever wonder why he dumped Meridian and went to Ayre to develop the hardware?

 

So what does the acronym PONO stand for? And I remember Neil saying repearedly that Pono and hi-res would sell itself, once people heard it for themselves. All he's done is market a cute little portable player and associated his brand name to one more download service. No new technology involved, or any advantage, at least that I am aware of. Not that it isn't a good product in its own right.

 

It's not an acronym.

It's a good thing they didn't couple PONO to MQA. Would have been a real disaster if they only sold MQA-encoded material.

I don't care too much whether MQA is successful or not, but if for some reason some titles are only available in MQA that would be very frustrating.

 

You really have no clue in the sense you can't see anything but a thumbnail sized picture. I will leave it others to explain it you. Pono is not acronym btw,
it is a word in the native Hawaiian language.

 

I think the Q&A was good. There is still haziness and marketing speak dealing with how the technology is supposed to work and whether it is lossless, but the Q&A did a good job explaining what they mean by provenance and "authentication." What was misinterpreted by many (including me) as DRM is really instead something that will benefit the consumer--ie, ensuring that true hi-res sources and not upsamples are used, insuring that the right master tapes are used versus whatever copy tapes the record labels have laying around, etc.

 

I do! I do! Pono's focus on provenance and the "Pono light" that activates when content from the Pono Music Store is played is JUST TOO SIMILAR to MQA's focus on provenance and the "MQA light" that lights up when "authenticated" content is played.

I believe it is possible that MQA and Pono started out as the same project and then diverged.

I believe that if Pono, MQA, Tidal, and Roon teamed up and merged their ecosystems, they really could do something good.

 

I try to see the value in your posts as much as I can, but mostly what I read is negative attitude, condescension, and cynicism rather than any insight. Thanks for the personal insult. It really helps the discussion. Not. Hopefully the others you leave it to can do better and enlighten me. By the way, I'd be interested in knowing exactly what motivates your participation in audio publishing on the web.

 

Put me on your ignore list. Perhaps you should actually know something about Pono before you spread misinformation.

 

I may just do that, but, pray tell, what false statement did I make? Seems more like a pissing contest where you don't believe MQA offers anything important and I don't believe Pono does. Fair enough. I'm done with his topic.

 

I think that could be achieved with the well established formats we already have. Will a new format really make the labels put in the extra effort?

 

Exactly!

 

I would have agreed with you before yesterday.

I had the chance to visit Alma Audio yesterday in La Jolla for their 1st anniversary open house which included guest speaker Robert Harley, editor of TAS, and proselytizer for MQA.

Meridan plans for world domination by licensing MQA in every smart device, phone, audio device capable of playing audio because of the benefits MQA will provide for any audio encoded file, including MP3 (my limited understanding from Mr Harley's explanation is that MQA will improve *any* MQA encoded file by removing/filtering the inherent A/D noise on the backend during the final D/A.)

An analogy would be mothers who sneak vegetables into their kids fruit smoothies - it is good for them and they won't even need to know that 'it' is there.

Watch for the wave.

 

I am confused.

How does slick, canned marketing spiel from Robert Harley now convince you that MQA is the best thing since sliced bread
and that "world domination" is around the corner?

You DO know Harley has a vested interest in the success of MQA/Meridian?

Also, how do you square away his comment from several years ago about DSD (DSD64, no less) was INDISTINGUISHABLE from a mic feed.

How do you get BETTER than a mic feed? Well, magically you can it seems

 

I never said that I am convinced or a now a 'believer'.

Wow.

 

Are you joking? Your post says other wise.

 

Good grief, I was merely relaying what I heard, not that I was a convert.

 

Okay, so all gear will have MQA, or do they say. I'm not so sure that'll happen admittedly, but it might. And it'll apply when MQA files arrive and do its thing regardless of device.

So, I'll get Master Quality Audio. How does it compare to Hi-res audio on, say, an Astell and Kern player, or Pono?

Suddenly, it's become a format. Even though they say it's not. It surely is. They should have some rudimentary test files available though by now though. Did RH say anything about that?

 

At the risk of being vilified as RH's MQA mouthpiece and follower....RH said that MQA has limited availability now on Tidal.

There was no MQA demo at the open house I attended, so I have no basis for an informed opinion.

 

I interpreted clearly as someone who was a true believer.

 

Ok, you have clarified your position.

What does "limited availability" exactly mean?