Digital Drive

RE: MQA

73.233.216.42

This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: MQA posted by slartybardfast on June 02, 2017 at 23:51:17

The only thing MQA has in common with redbook encoding is that both are based on PCM. Red Book is 16-bit linear PCM at a 44.1kHz native sample rate, while MQA can be utilized to code at a number of different bit depths and sample rates. Further, MQA captures two octaves (up to 96kHz) of ultrasonic bandwidth and cleverly folds/hides it in the audio band. Red Book of course, doesn't capture any content above 22kHz. Despite these differences, MQA still can be transcoded to fit in to a redbook compatible 'container' where the extra ultrasonic bandwidth simply appears as additional low level noise unless decoded.
In my assessment, the primary performance benefit of MQA is that provides a time-domain optimized digital audio channel encoding/decoding specification and requirement. Key to this optimization is the capture of enough ultrasonic bandwidth to allow room for time-domain optimized anti-alias and anti-image filters to properly operate. MQA's strategy here is based their belief that a significant cause of unsatisfying digital sound is due to the common ignoring of the time-domain with digital audio.
Red Book, for example, is a frequncy-domain optimized standard. High Rez PCM (such as DVD Audio) can also provide an time-domain optimized audio channel, however, there's no industry standard encoding/decoding chain requirement. This lack of an industry wide time-domain optimized standard is a large part of what MQA is attempting to address.
_
Ken Newton

Edits: 06/03/17 06/03/17

Follow Ups: