💡What is MQA?! (Everything You Need To Know)

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I hope you enjoyed this HIFIMAN Sundara vs. HD650 vs. HD600 Shootout and came away with some valuable insight. Questions? Comments? Requests? Leave them down below! Also don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe to my growing channel. I could really use your support, feedback, etc.
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📰Guides///
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Table of Context:
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What is MQA? 0:00
Time Smearing/Temporal Precision: 1:22
Von Békésy and Microseconds: 2:13
Sound On Sound, Impulse Response, and Diminishing Returns: 2:54
What is actually relevant? 4:13
Pre-Madonna/Apodization/MQA: 5:29
DACS & Output Impedance: 7:09
Big Sound, Small Package & The Origami Unpack: 7:53
Anti-Aliasing/Brick Wall Filtering: 9:02
Does MQA Sound Better? 9:31
Soundstage, Speakers, and Music Quality: 10:59
Outro/Rap: 12:22

[HomeStudioBasics]

I think the majority of the general sound concepts/principles in this vid still stand, but I'm definitely disappointed in Tidal right now and feel as though it is a scam.

After going through the first 20 minutes of his video (all evidence-based conclusions), and taking notes, I canceled my subscription yesterday because the real-world testing in that video was pretty overwhelming (plus I just don't use Tidal as much as Spotify regardless). My video was an attempt to explain the process behind MQA (which makes sense in theory) and determine for myself it was worth having, but real-world testing of original tracks proves that whatever is actually going on in the data transfer isn't ideal at all, regardless of if people can hear that noise or not.

I've always harped on the importance of FLAC/Nyquist Shannon, etc., so if you're reading this: 24/44, 24/48, and maybe 24/96 if you're feeling frisky. Anything above that does not matter in the slightest and was also addressed in my video.

Thanks for stopping by!

[HomeStudioBasics]

Table of Context:

What is MQA? 0:00
Time Smearing/Temporal Precision: 1:22
Von Békésy and Microseconds: 2:13
Sound On Sound, Impulse Response, and Diminishing Returns: 2:54
What is actually relevant? 4:13
Pre-Madonna/Apodization/MQA: 5:29
DACS & Output Impedance: 7:09
Big Sound, Small Package & The Origami Unpack: 7:53
Anti-Aliasing/Brick Wall Filtering: 9:02
Does MQA Sound Better? 9:31
Soundstage, Speakers, and Music Quality: 10:59

[azifdarsan]

After 15 minutes I realised I can't even tell the difference between 320 and FLAC

[davidmaskew]

Love your videos. So I have an Ifi xDSD and a Tidal subscription and a couple of IEM. Any recommendations for a pair of headphones? I quite like the idea of a pair of planar but not sure if they're worth the money unless you spend big which I can't.

[edgardoaleman]

As always, great analysis. Always enjoy your videos. I can’t recommend enough your channel. Kudos!

[mrfrosty]

I very recently took a one month trial of both Tidal and Qobuz, I already had a Deezer subscription running. At the end i cancelled Tidal and the Deezer sub and now use Qobuz. With the music I listen to Qobuz sounded slightly better but I doubt I could tell the difference in a test. The monthly fee for these services tends to be about the same so I never think I might be paying too much. I heard Bob Stuart describing MQA in an interview on one of Darko's videos, it sounded like an unnecessary format invented for the sole purpose of making huge piles of money. As a business strategy the colored light thing on devices is genius. People really want to see that light come on. Apparently there are devices that can process MQA but the light won't change, people don't like that. Its funny to hear someone say "how do I know if I'm getting MQA without the light?"

[matheusmazzei]

Hey man, do you think it is worth buy the Philips SHP9500 for movies/immersive gaming when i pretend to buy the Hifiman Sundara in future? or the Sundara isnt that good for movies? any better option +- $150? i was considering the Fidelio x2HR too but im not a very fan of V-Shaped headphones, and its heavier than the SHP9500 to spend hours using...

[taidee]

Man I'm loving your content more and more. At this stage I'm also aware of the MQA problems. I fully agree that for audio quality there is a number of components besides the actual audio involved in completing that quality chain and this is what we need to always remember.

[LoBoMoNo]

For example I have a 24/48khz normal FLAC and 24/48khz mqa encoded, which one is technically better, which one sounds better???please reply
I'm very confused 😕
Should I delete mqa ones and replace with native ones???

[eemgee]

The ifi zen dac doesn't complete the full unfolding. It relies on software.

[JeremTer]

Hi man, thanks for the explanations. So without a MQA DAC like the topping E30, do you recommend using Tidal Masters or just Tidal HiFi with CD Quality ?

[baboom]

Hey. Could you please help me decide between Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 Ohm and Sennheiser HD 599? I will use the headphones for games and music on my Pc at home only. Which one is better?

[adrianmorrish]

Truly excellent video article, is it possible though that higher range frequencies may cause tissue on inter tissue sympathetic resonance or maybe some form of bone induction even though we can’t “hear” them? I’ve never looked into this area to the level you obviously have so just wondering. So can you feel these similar to sub bass maybe?

[M-D-K]

Ahoy, I'm new to amp/dacs and good headphones and recently bought some AKG271 MKII's and a Fiio K3; is this a decent match or could I get some beefier headphones?

[richardlaub]

Excellent. I have a question. What headphones do you recommend?

[citizenuk]

tried both Tidal and Qobuz on same tracks with ZenDac and Sundara. Qobuz sounds better. I saw Tidal is just upsampling tracks, like from 44.1 to 88.2 to make them sound better (checked with BTR5 and UAPP), but it does so with adding some noise. After upsampling majority of people think they here more music :) It's not more and not intended to be more by the Artist. And why in the wrold you would upsample 44.1. Most MQA files on Tidal are 44.1 / 48 so lol, just HiFi / CD quality turned into a package of MQA upsample noise. And Yeah with "bad" headphones the music suddently sounds "better". But if you put a nice Dac and Headphones you will hear noise and distortion compared to the same track on Qobuz for example.

[thatchinaboi]

Up sampling can be done with a good DAC or with a device with a lot of processing power.

[happyloaf]

So worth going from dragonfly black given as a gift to the red? I doubt it would be...

[antic]

Another awesome video! I feel like I learned a lot. Quick question though. Would you say that there would be a difference in listening to MQA vs lossless pcm files using a software like Roon or Audirvana? I have been building a larger local collection, but I am tempted to join the Tidal cabal if there is a big benefit to MQA.

[Canaeb]

Love the channel man. Very informational video.