MQA Bankrupt?

[sachinchavan 15865]

Yea let's see what they bring to the table. I doubt it will be complete hokum

But some users must have lost trust. They’d need to regain it.

 

[reignofchaos]

But some users must have lost trust. They’d need to regain it.

Absolutely agree. Trust once lost is very hard to gain back.

 

[Analogous]

The MQA finance- profit model depended on DAC manufactures and streaming services to decode-encode and stream music using MQA software. Pre MQA DACs could not do this.
Users did not directly pay for this. Can’t figure out how they charge the users. The HiFi industry (hardware and streaming services ) is definitely not paying for this.
So how does it make money from us if we opt to join the cult?

 

[mbhangui]

The MQA finance- profit model depended on DAC manufactures and streaming services to decode-encode and stream music using MQA software. Pre MQA DACs could not do this.
Users did not directly pay for this. Can’t figure out how they charge the users. The HiFi industry (hardware and streaming services ) is definitely not paying for this.
So how does it make money from us if we opt to join the cult?

There was a royalty charged from DAC manufacturers to legally put the MQA logo on their dacs. So users did indirectly pay for MQA, regardless of whether they used it or not.

 

[Analogous]

There was a royalty charged from DAC manufacturers to legally put the MQA logo on their dacs. So users did indirectly pay for MQA, regardless of whether they used it or not.

View attachment 88227

So that’s for the decoding software on DACs.
Would you know if The streaming services get the encoding software free or does the company pay to get the MQA streams available to users?

 

[mbhangui]

So that’s for the decoding software on DACs.
Would you know if The streaming services get the encoding software free or does the company pay to get the MQA streams available to users?

It is not required since MQA Ltd collects a royalty for every commercial MQA-capable playback unit sold. MQA Ltd prohibits digital output of unpacked MQA in any digital format, only allowing the unpacked data to be fed to an on-board MQA-compatible DAC and output in analogue form. So if any streaming services that offers MQA, the decoding has to be ultimately done by the DAC and hence there is no need to again collect royalty from the streaming service. The streaming services doesn't get the encoding software. Rather it gets access to MQA encoded files encoded by MQA Ltd in their own studios.

In a blog post titled "MQA is Bad for Music. Here's Why", hi-fi manufacturer Linn Products criticises MQA's licensing requirements, asserting that MQA is "...an attempt to control and extract revenue from every part of the supply chain, and not just over content that they hold the rights for.MQA. After having discussed several disadvantages for both the artist and the consumer Linn concludes that a consumer will "…pay a higher price for the same music, and you'll pay more for your hi-fi system too. And even if you don't buy into MQA, everyone will get less innovation, creativity and poorer music as a result.

MQA is Bad For Music. Here's Why. | Linn International

www.linn.co.uk

 

[Analogous]

It is not required since MQA Ltd collects a royalty for every commercial MQA-capable playback unit sold. MQA Ltd prohibits digital output of unpacked MQA in any digital format, only allowing the unpacked data to be fed to an on-board MQA-compatible DAC and output in analogue form. So if any streaming services that offers MQA, the decoding has to be ultimately done by the DAC and hence there is no need to again collect royalty from the streaming service. The streaming services doesn't get the encoding software. Rather it gets access to MQA encoded files encoded by MQA Ltd in their own studios.

MQA is Bad For Music. Here's Why. | Linn International

www.linn.co.uk

So what incentive do the streaming services have to make MQA available? Happy customers?

 

[mbhangui]

So what incentive do the streaming services have to make MQA available? Happy customers?

As long as the marketing bullshit was propagated, you had audio enthusiasts going for MQA. But Marketing a product built on fakery can't go on for ever. While a small number of audio enthusiasts still use MQA (Master Quality Authenticated), its usage has significantly declined, primarily because the main streaming service offering it, Tidal, has largely moved away from promoting it, and the company behind MQA recently went into administration, making its future uncertain; therefore, most people are not actively using MQA today.

Key points about MQA:

• Mostly on Tidal:
  Previously, Tidal was the primary platform offering MQA music, but they have been reducing their focus on it.
• Technical aspects:
  MQA is a lossy compression format that claims to deliver high-quality audio with smaller file sizes.
• Criticisms:
  Some audiophiles criticize MQA for its proprietary nature and potential quality loss compared to other high-resolution formats like FLAC.

Read This

But behold the rise again of MQA, or at least some of its related technologies. Lenbrook has partnered with the download site HDtracks to offer a music-streaming service. No pricing has been announced, though I’d be shocked if it was much different than other high-resolution services like Tidal and Qobuz.

SoundStage! Solo | SoundStageSolo.com - The Death and Immediate Rise of MQA (Again)

Reviews of headphones, earphones, and headphone amplifiers

www.soundstagesolo.com

 

[insane79]

MQA was the biggest audio scam of the decade. They need to do a lot to regain trust back from music lovers now.

 

[Analogous]

This was after the original MQA content was released
Things may be different now…