(2023) $80 MQA Decoder

[kfbkfb]

https://www.amazon.com/S-M-S-L-MQA-CD-Decoder-AK4493S-768kHz/dp/B0C1Y7C9HH/ref=sr_1_2

(I guess Amazon qualifies as media)

Just found this, I have 1 MQA CD (and the same title on regular CD), I noticed the MQA CD has better fake surround sound (DPL2 music).

Anyone have one of these?


Kirk Bayne

 

[4-earredwonder]

https://www.amazon.com/S-M-S-L-MQA-CD-Decoder-AK4493S-768kHz/dp/B0C1Y7C9HH/ref=sr_1_2

(I guess Amazon qualifies as media)

Just found this, I have 1 MQA CD (and the same title on regular CD), I noticed the MQA CD has better fake surround sound (DPL2 music).

Anyone have one of these?


Kirk Bayne

Seems like a great deal! Not unusually, MQA discs are manufactured to higher standards ... usually from the absolute masters and are pressed in Japan with that green ink overlay and are UHQ enhanced. Even Hong Kong's EVOSOUND which continues releasing MQA discs have exceptionasl standards and are usually priced well below those from Japan!

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Personally I would not waste my money on anything that is MQA related!

 

[4-earredwonder]

Personally I would not waste my money on anything that is MQA related!

.... apparently from another poster who apparently hasn't 'experienced' it on a state of the art system properly UNFOLDED!

https://www.audioholics.com/news/lenbrook-buys-mqa

 

[SmcAustin]

Seems like a great deal! Not unusually, MQA discs are manufactured to higher standards ... usually from the absolute masters and are pressed in Japan with that green ink overlay and are UHQ enhanced. Even Hong Kong's EVOSOUND which continues releasing MQA discs have exceptionasl standards and are usually priced well below those from Japan!

Looks like Amazon seller gamesmanship: it's the SMSL SU-1 DAC with a different listing emphasizing the MQA decoding.

Yes, it works great but I will have to wait for tomorrow's great combining of Tidal tiers to see if I can light up the MQA indicator.

 

[JediJoker]

.... apparently from another poster who apparently hasn't 'experienced' it on a state of the art system properly UNFOLDED!

https://www.audioholics.com/news/lenbrook-buys-mqa

No matter how you slice it, it's still lossy. No point in an MQA-CD when you can get a hi-res download instead.

 

[kfbkfb]

My 1 MQA CD [The Best of Joe Walsh] (undecoded) has a more spacious sound (sounds appear beyond the L and R speakers) than the regular CD, anyone compared an MQA decoded CD with the regular CD, does it have the same type of (more) spacious sound?


Kirk Bayne

 

[4-earredwonder]

My 1 MQA CD [The Best of Joe Walsh] (undecoded) has a more spacious sound (sounds appear beyond the L and R speakers) than the regular CD, anyone compared an MQA decoded CD with the regular CD, does it have the same type of (more) spacious sound?


Kirk Bayne

As mentioned above Kirk, the MQA discs are manufactured to a higher standard starting with the finest masters so it's no surprise that it will sound better than one replicated from a lesser master.

JediJoker is correct that an MQA disc, unenfolded, is LOSSY 16b44.1kHz .... but when the player and processor are BOTH MQA enabled decoders it will produce a 24b88.2kHz [or higher sampling rate] CD when properly UNFOLDED!

MOST MQA detractors like to READ about all the CONS ..... rather than LISTEN INTENTLY on a state of the art system! Their BAD!

 

[JediJoker]

My 1 MQA CD [The Best of Joe Walsh] (undecoded) has a more spacious sound (sounds appear beyond the L and R speakers) than the regular CD, anyone compared an MQA decoded CD with the regular CD, does it have the same type of (more) spacious sound?

All down to the mastering. Nothing to do with MQA.

JediJoker is correct that an MQA disc, unenfolded, is LOSSY 16b44.1kHz .... but when the player and processor are BOTH MQA enabled decoders it will produce a 24b88.2kHz [or higher sampling rate] CD when properly UNFOLDED!

It's still lossy when decoded. Sorry; them's the facts.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

My 1 MQA CD [The Best of Joe Walsh] (undecoded) has a more spacious sound (sounds appear beyond the L and R speakers) than the regular CD, anyone compared an MQA decoded CD with the regular CD, does it have the same type of (more) spacious sound?

Loads of regular audio CD's would sound loads better if they were not crippled by loudness compression baked into every track. Hence they can't breath...

If I want to hear my music with loudness compression I can do this myself at home!

 

[Owen Smith]

All down to the mastering. Nothing to do with MQA.

And if that excellent master were used without MQA the result might sound even better.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Suspiciously reminds me of the debacle surrounding MLP DVD~A 5.1 [the MLP stands for MERIDIAN LOSSLESS PACKING] which was reviled back in the very early 00's by Stereophile, The Absolute Sound and other snob audio publications renowned for spinning their precious vinyl on ultra mega buck turntable/tone arm/cartridge combos through equally high priced phono step up transformers into state of the art pre/pros, amps and speakers!!!!!!!!

Yes, those same audio snobs used a $400 Panasonic DVD Audio player to audition MLP DVD~Audio and came to the conclusion that it was hardly ready for prime time and stated unequivocally that VINYL WAS SUPERIOR! And EVERYONE believed them!

My gripe at the time was simple. Meridian, the inventor of MLP DVD~A 5.1 had already released their REFERENCE DVD~A 800 Player which to this day I still have in my system [with a new linear power supply installed] but perhaps the only caveat ... It was designed to interface with their Reference 861 pre/pro via their proprietary 3 digital coax cables [1 for l/r FRONT/1 for Center Channel/.1 LFE bass/1 for l/r REAR] and the cost at the time was $10K ......which for publications such as Stereophile/Absolute Sound was 'chump change' when some phono cartridges at the time were priced at $19K and some of their reviewed 3 meter RCA interconnects were priced at $18K! A few years later, one of Stereophile's astute reviewers [whose name now escapes me] heralded the Meridian 800 THE best CD/DVD~Audio player of its time!

So why didn't they use that to audition MLP DVD~A...instead of a crappy, sub par PANNY $400 DVD~A player?

To this very day MLP DVD~A has transitioned into Dolby True HD which is the core for Dolby ATMOS!

So what is MY POINT? If I believed everything I had read about DVD~A and even SACD from those snob audiophile rags...maybe I, too, would be spinning Stereo Vinyl today with, IMO, all those eccentricities associated with vinyl playback. I opted instead to invest in a very high end all Meridian digital system [sans Turntable] which has allowed me to hear Meridian's latest creation MQA fully unfolded and to my ears it sounds amazing!

So if you are all wondering why VINYL is still being produced today and why so many excellent albums are only being released in that format you can thank all those Stereo audiophile rags for putting the kibosh on higher res formats in the early 00's!

Fortuitously, I wasn't THAT GULLIBLE!

 

[Owen Smith]

MLP is and always has been lossless. MQA is not, never was, and never will be. Meridian, or at least Bob Stuart, lost its way somewhere.

And would you please stop putting half your posts in bold, it looks like you are shouting and does nothing to help your credibility.

 

[4-earredwonder]

MLP is and always has been lossless. MQA is not, never was, and never will be. Meridian, or at least Bob Stuart, lost its way somewhere.

And would you please stop putting half your posts in bold, it looks like you are shouting and does nothing to help your credibility.

Bob Stuart has hardly lost his way and Owen Smith, bold statements deserve to be in bold text.

Perhaps you should READ LESS and LISTEN MORE!

And Owen.....THIS IS SHOUTING!

 

[Mackspower]

MQA discs sound great. The hatred towards this format still saddens me, but as @4-earredwonder points out, this isn't the first time a new format has caused a stir and it probably won't be the last. It is great to see affordable MQA decoders still coming to market, if you're on the fence, come over to greener pastures.

 

[Owen Smith]

MQA discs sound great because of great masters, in spite of the degradation the MQA process (whether unfolded or not) applies to them.

 

[4-earredwonder]

MQA discs sound great. The hatred towards this format still saddens me, but as @4-earredwonder points out, this isn't the first time a new format has caused a stir and it probably won't be the last. It is great to see affordable MQA decoders still coming to market, if you're on the fence, come over to greener pastures.

Well, Mackspower, audiophile labels 2L*and Hong Kong's EVOSOUND are still releasing MQA discs so apparently it hasn't been totally abandoned and Universal/UMG Japan is likewise still releasing some of their DGG Classics in MQA!

And with a little more understanding of the format ..... methinks it's time to retire 16b/44.1kHz RBCD for 24b/88.2 and higher sampling rates to replace that 1980's technology!

*2L includes MQA on the CD layer of their hybrid SACDs!

 

[4-earredwonder]

MQA discs sound great because of great masters, in spite of the degradation the MQA process (whether unfolded or not) applies to them.

When is the last time [if EVER] you've heard MQA discs FULLY UNFOLDED on a state of the art sound system????????

 

[kfbkfb]

https://www.discogs.com/release/7762895-Joe-Walsh-The-Best-Of-Joe-Walsh

My Joe Walsh CD doesn't sound compressed, I have a few MoFi remastered CDs and the regular CD of the album also, I haven't heard added "spaciousness" due to MoFi remastering.


Kirk Bayne

 

[AYanguas]

We should agree that what really influences is the quality of the Master.
A good Master, it even sounds great in MP3.

A correct comparison (same master) would be to convert the output of an unfolded MQA to the standard CD 16/44.1 and make the comparisons with the same equipment, matching volumes, etc.

But wait... The conversion, downsampling, cannot be done 100% digital. MQA 'unfolding' decoding output is always analog, I believe. Oh my god, there will be more debate among double-blind comparison proposals.

It is easy. The MQA format is a money-making machine, while FLAC Hi-Res is free.