Home Digital Drive

Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Digital Drive ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

The MQA demo I heard on Sunday

I heard a demo on Sunday by Peter McGrath. The loudspeakers were the outstanding Wilson Alexx and I believe the amplifier was a T&A integrated. I did not know what DAC was in the system. I was in between filming and needed a rest. I did not want to upset the demo by interrupting and asking system questions. The room had about 15 people in it. I took a seat in the second row slightly to the right of center. I did not know I was about to have an actual MQA'd file to same file *without MQA* demo comparison. Result: I had no expectation bias.

Peter played an older South American (mixed instrument) recording saying "this is the original file". It sound flat and two dimensional and frankly non involving. It was about a 45 seconds to one minute in length. Next he announced the he was going to play the same file but with the MQA process applied.

I was astounded. The soundstage exploded, all upper frequency brittleness dissipated, the players became far more realistic and 3D and I simply enjoyed the music more. I left the room in awe.

As I reflect on the experience I believe the demo could have been more effective if: 1)the first track played was announced as the 24/96 or whatever resolution original, 2)then a second track could have been played at 16/44.1, and 3)then a third track at 16/44.1 with the MQA process applied and fully decoded.

This would have been a very powerful demo. From all I have read about MQA, this is its full potential: to encode the original high resolution file, stream or hard media store it at a lower rez and then decode at playback so as to simulate as close as possible the highest original resolution recording.


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  VH Audio  

Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
FAQ

Post a Message!

 Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]