MQA vs FLAC

Paul explains the difference between the two compression formats.

[bossybill]

Apart from the audio reproduction quality, from a Collector's Point of View, you would not want your collection to be dependent on a propriety technology.
FLAC can be converted to other formats but MQA... well, that output is 'protected' and if the technology 'dead-ends' so does your collection.

[Reluctantaudiophile]

MQA has always been a solution in search of a problem.

[ptg]

My understanding is MQA is most likely dying.... In some type of financial pickle...

[doctormidnight]

I have about 16 TB of local storage just for music. FLAC is the way to go. With the miniscule cost of storage these days, it's a no-brainer.

[hansoosterwal]

Thanks for educating! Let nobody critisize you for not liking something. We live in a free world. Everyone has the right to have their own opinion. I love your videos.

[Extremesam]

Thanks Paul, I never knew MQA was lossy. I'll stick with the WAV's and FLAC

[maxhirsch]

I have Luxman's flagship disc player, bought a couple MQA discs (my unit is enabled for optimizing them) - one being a Shostakovich recording by DG & the other being Zenyatta Mondatta (The Police). Neither one sounded the slightest bit superior to standard cd & the classical one may have been slightly worse (but unlike Zenyatta I couldn't compare it with the identical recording in another format/codec). Oh, and MQA is a 'proprietary format.' I'd long suspected MQA was simply hype. Well, my modest comparison did zero to change my POV on it.

[mythos]

Excellent. Absolutely agree. Just from a logic view you don't want to lose anything.

[goodsound]

In a Reddit Q&A last April 10, 2023, Tidal CEO, Jesse Dorogusker, revealed that the streaming platform will soon be supporting FLAC in their Hi-Res format for HiFi Plus subscribers, days after MQA files for Appointment of Administrator, which is equivalent to bankruptcy in the US.

[richardramorino]

The real issue with MQA is not whether it is good or not. It's how the very mention of the topic makes so many audiophiles apapleptic. Probably most people with a strong opinion about it have never heard it. Likewise, I would guess the overwhelming group of people screaming online about how great Hegel amps are, have never heard one. What is it about audio, that so many people, with so little actual experience, have such strong opinions.

[kuntador]

Hi Paul. Thanks for the videos… I have a question. Carpet or no carpet? I have wooden floor. I am wondering if to place a carpet where I sit and listen to music, probably half the area between the sofa and speakers, not the whole floor. Would that help? Or is it better to place a long and narrow carpet underneath the speakers? Thanks again.

[LelandPratt-nwix]

I have a few MQA’s, didn’t sound bad, but I’ve started using DSD’s and they’re so smooth and natural sounding. No bite no contest! I always use them now if they’re available. It’s a few years since this video and they’re now getting more popular.

[glenncurry]

There is a very major surface level way they are different. Yes they are both data compression schemes for audio. MQA does it's work by attacking higher audio frequencies while still in the analog domain during the conversion to digital. Thus directly manipulating the sound to reduce the information it contains in order to reduce bandwidth needs during streaming.

While FLAC has nothing to do with the actual audio. FLAC is a mathematical process performed after the analog has been converted into a digital file already that just reduces the digital file size. It is digital file compression/ expansion and not pre and post analog audio processing.

[chungang]

Goldensound's channel tested MQA. MQA will be going the way of the dodo.

[ThinkingBetter]

There is no point in lossy compression of audio nowadays. I can stream 90 million songs in LOSSLESS FLAC in CD quality or up to 192kHz 24 bits from my Amazon Music HD account with each song available in a second costing me US9.99 per month. I’m not sure what more I can want in terms of media availability, audio fidelity or cost???
Besides, my internet connection is optical to my house with 1Gbps and I can stream 100s of audiophile streams in parallel if I had the need for it.
MQA is history at this point.

[martineyles]

Never had enough storage to make my portable library FLAC. Always had to settle for MP3. Hopefully as memory cards expand, I can change that, but it will mean re-ripping everything! Still, MQA seems to sit in an awkward middle ground. It doesn't reduce the bandwidth and storage requirements enough to compete with MP3, but it reduces the quality too much to compete with FLAC.

[LuxAudio]

MQA is the audiophile's (me included) Budweiser. 😅

[dipanjanbiswas]

Completely agree. The argument against UHF centers around audible frequency range but has anyone been able to establish that waves outside of audible frequency range do not impact sonic quality?

[thegrimyeaper]

"Lossy scheme" is a good description.

[youuuuuuuuuuutube]

MQA is like a JPEG with 85% quality, and FLAC is like a TIFF (or 32bit PNG) file. Some people might prefer MQA the same way that some people prefer JPEG... they must be people who like those artifacts.