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With MQA Coming, Should I Buy The PS Audio Converter?

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Posted on January 6, 2017 at 20:19:28
Newey
Audiophile

Posts: 537
Location: Chicago
Joined: December 26, 2012




Thanks to the superb info I received to my question about converting analog phono [or analog any signal - tape, etc], I now know that an ADC's the best way to go.

And, it just so happens that PS Audio's analog to digital converter's on sale for half price right now. And - it's got a super excellent phono preamp. I'd really like to have the PS Audio phono preamp. I used to have a PS GCPH phono pre, and it was extremely wonderful. The phono section in the converter's supposed to be even better. So, no prob there.

What's the problem?
This. MQA. It's coming. So, here's my question:

Should I wait until MQA analog to digital converters are available? Will buying an ADC or even a DAC at this moment in time just mean buying obsolescence? Will I just be spending $1k on something that's already obsolete? Will I miss out on MQA encoding with the present PS Audio converter?

So many questions.
Severius! Supremus Invictus

 

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RE: With MQA Coming, Should I Buy The PS Audio Converter?, posted on January 7, 2017 at 14:44:24
PAR
 If you are already recording in a hi-rez format then there is no advantage to you with MQA as it is a storage and transmission medium only. It is used to in order to fit a hi-rez format within a standard resolution format. This is of use to streaming services or to record companies for internal use. At the consumer end only decoders are relevant.

So, let's say that you record your analogue signal via an ADC resulting in, say, a 24/192 file. If you had an MQA encoder you could then, say, produce a 24/44.1 file containing the 24/192 data. When decoded you get the 24/192 file back (more or less). Which you already have!

I cannot see why you would ever need to do this so I don't think that you need give it any further thought.

 

RE: With MQA Coming, Should I Buy The PS Audio Converter?, posted on January 8, 2017 at 10:19:48
Newey
Audiophile

Posts: 537
Location: Chicago
Joined: December 26, 2012
 Ahh. Now, it's becoming clearer. Thanks.
Severius! Supremus Invictus

 

I knew a guy who spent 20 years waiting to buy the 'coming improvements'.., posted on January 7, 2017 at 11:46:57
3+4=5
 Does not matter what the thing was.. Just that he never could actually DO anything. Because "what if the next improvement matters a lot"

I have no idea if you will miss out.
I am satisfied with a 1998 DAC. no fancy nothing. I have zero plans to find the next big thing (to sucker me into spending money on crap I have no use for)
Call me a Luddite

 

Funny, posted on January 8, 2017 at 10:19:23
Newey
Audiophile

Posts: 537
Location: Chicago
Joined: December 26, 2012
 I used to know a guy just like that, too. He hated his existing system, and he was really crazy about new audiophile gear. But, instead of buying a new pair of speakers, for example [which he really wanted] he had his old ones fixed. The woofer foam deteriorated, so he spent hundreds of dollars to some ripoff outfit. What they did was to replace the factory woofers with some crap automotive drivers that happened to fit the hole. They cleaned the L-pad pots, and for all of that they charged him some $300, which he could've put towards a new pair of Theils that he wanted so much.

Needless to say, the automotive woofers sounded like crap.
Severius! Supremus Invictus

 

That the guy whose collection all had these stickers..., posted on January 7, 2017 at 16:01:59
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31871
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 stuck on 'em?



aa
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

Chalfont Digital - Tjeknavorian, posted on January 8, 2017 at 10:21:12
Newey
Audiophile

Posts: 537
Location: Chicago
Joined: December 26, 2012
 I remember those early digital vinyl records.

Now, they're looking quaint.
Severius! Supremus Invictus

 

RE: With MQA Coming, Should I Buy The PS Audio Converter?, posted on January 6, 2017 at 21:27:12
Jeff Starr
Audiophile

Posts: 1574
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Joined: March 4, 2000
 MQA is an encoding method designed to pack higher resolution into a smaller, easily streamed format.
I doubt you will ever see noncommercial ADCs with MQA encoding. So the PS Audio will allow you to digitize files in DSD or up to 24/192 PCM.

If you get one, assuming your DAC can decode DSD I would try both formats and chose the one you like best.
I would use PCM because you will have more flexibility with editing. Vinyl Studio allows you to remove pops and ticks without losing fidelity. With DSD you can only remove the lead in and the run off noise, nothing else.

If I had the PS Audio ADC I would compare 24/96 to 24/192 and use 24/96 if I could. It would save some space and there is nothing from an LP anywhere near 48k.
I'm pretty sure PS Audio will give you 30 days to try it, and they take trades.
Whether or not you buy it MQA should not be one of the deciding reasons. Even if by some very unlikely circumstances MQA does become commonplace, all DACs will play non encoded music, as intended. All our CDs and files will play same as ever.

 

RE: With MQA Coming, , posted on January 6, 2017 at 20:27:14
bare
Audiophile

Posts: 1879
Joined: April 14, 2009
 BUY everything !! I hear 8 tracks are having a revival as well.

 

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