In Reply to: RE: I'm with you, Doug posted by John Atkinson on August 20, 2017 at 09:45:16:
There have been many "over the top" proclamations about MQA being a "breakthrough" and "making hi-res obsolete" and the "birth of a new world" kinds of thing. How does that square with this paragraph from Michael Lavorgna's article in AudioStream?
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Just how much of an improvement over non-MQA encoded music depended on the recording, and just how wow-inducing these changes were depended on the DAC. For me, when just listening to music I enjoy, MQA was a nice-to-have change in the queue but, and this is an important but, I was not somehow suddenly disappointed with my non-MQA music. Sticking with Mytek's Brooklyn and HQPlayer, I was able to get nice and cozy with all of my music, no problem. Did I miss MQA? For some recordings, like the Doors, sure. But not so much as to get around the fact that for my listening habits, MQA needs to offer a very large catalog of MQA-encoded music before I get really excited.
Read more at https://www.audiostream.com/content/mqa-reviewed
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I believe that much of the answer lies in the "comparisons" that Bob Stuart did for people like Peter McGrath and John Atkinson. Unlike almost any commercial file, these files not only use far simpler recording chains, but every single thing was known about them, including the brand and models of the ADCs, the brand and models of the mic preamps, the brands and models of the microphones, and according to JA, "as well as the mixdown I sent Bob Stuart each of the 3 mike-pair recordings, including an impulse response recording for each, and full details of the mix". (see link below)
It is difficult to find impulse responses of microphones, but I can assure you that they are *far* worse than even the worst digital filter I've ever seen - even a 1/4" high-frequency measurement microphone used to measure up to the 60 kHz range. A typical large diaphragm (1") condenser mic (eg, a Neumann U47 as used by many, including George Martin for most of The Beatles main tracks) will be an order of magnitude worse than any digital filter.
If Bob Stuart is correcting for the impulse response of the microphones (and *clearly* he did for JA's files, else why ask for it?), then *far* more dramatic effects could be created for these files than for virtually *any* commercial release. The same is almost certainly true for Peter McGrath's files.
Bob Stuart is a very eloquent and persuasive person (as can be seen here, where he tells everyone why MQA *should not* be adopted! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdlmp7zpXLM )
This could explain how both perceptions could be "true". ML heard small, yet meaningful improvements as he was listening to commercial releases that only had minor changes to the digital filtering. JA and PM heard *massive* changes to their own personal files as Bob Stuart was compensating for the *microphone's* deficiencies, which are far larger than those of any digital filter. Not a fair comparison in my book, but apparently successful in swaying the opinions of those who supplied files of their own recordings.
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Follow Ups
- Yahbut... - Charles Hansen 14:25:32 08/20/17 (66)
- RE: Yahbut... - Doug Schneider 07:24:29 08/21/17 (62)
- Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 08:10:38 08/21/17 (58)
- RE: Tidal - Doug Schneider 09:18:10 08/21/17 (57)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 09:28:26 08/21/17 (56)
- RE: Tidal - John Atkinson 10:59:50 08/21/17 (16)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 11:17:21 08/21/17 (15)
- Uhm.. - Charles Hansen 11:32:06 08/21/17 (14)
- RE: Uhm.. - ahendler 20:18:38 08/21/17 (1)
- RE: Uhm.. - Charles Hansen 20:47:09 08/21/17 (0)
- RE: Uhm.. - Michael Lavorgna 11:43:18 08/21/17 (11)
- RE: Uhm.. - Charles Hansen 12:09:51 08/21/17 (10)
- I don't even like streaming - fmak 10:43:42 08/23/17 (2)
- RE: I don't even like streaming - ahendler 12:55:37 08/23/17 (1)
- RE: I don't even like streaming - fmak 13:40:46 08/23/17 (0)
- RE: Uhm.. - ahendler 20:23:08 08/21/17 (1)
- RE: Uhm.. - Charles Hansen 20:52:33 08/21/17 (0)
- RE: Uhm.. - Michael Lavorgna 12:20:52 08/21/17 (4)
- RE: Tidal - Doug Schneider 09:36:35 08/21/17 (38)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 09:43:10 08/21/17 (37)
- RE: Tidal - Doug Schneider 09:49:38 08/21/17 (36)
- RE: Tidal - ahendler 20:35:07 08/21/17 (0)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 09:59:28 08/21/17 (34)
- Do I understand this correctly? - Rick W 10:30:30 08/21/17 (16)
- RE: Do I understand this correctly? - Michael Lavorgna 10:42:06 08/21/17 (15)
- Ok, thanks for the info. nt - Rick W 11:31:08 08/21/17 (0)
- At least one other big problem with this - Charles Hansen 11:25:18 08/21/17 (13)
- RE: At least one other big problem with this - ahendler 20:42:03 08/21/17 (1)
- RE: At least one other big problem with this - Charles Hansen 21:03:55 08/21/17 (0)
- RE: At least one other big problem with this - Michael Lavorgna 11:29:42 08/21/17 (10)
- Wake up, please - Charles Hansen 11:52:07 08/21/17 (9)
- RE: Wake up, please - ahendler 20:44:52 08/21/17 (0)
- I'll also remind you , Charley... - Michael Lavorgna 12:15:18 08/21/17 (2)
- remind you - fmak 09:02:13 08/24/17 (1)
- I give up - on you - Michael Lavorgna 09:04:18 08/24/17 (0)
- RE: Wake up, please - Doug Schneider 11:59:54 08/21/17 (3)
- RE: Wake up, please - MIchael Lavorgna 14:13:23 08/21/17 (2)
- RE: Wake up, please - Doug Schneider 18:36:00 08/21/17 (1)
- RE: Wake up, please - Michael Lavorgna 08:02:04 08/22/17 (0)
- RE: Wake up, please - Michael Lavorgna 11:54:26 08/21/17 (0)
- RE: Tidal - Doug Schneider 10:05:08 08/21/17 (16)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 10:10:20 08/21/17 (15)
- RE: Tidal - Doug Schneider 10:25:30 08/21/17 (14)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 10:35:52 08/21/17 (13)
- RE: Tidal - Doug Schneider 10:39:14 08/21/17 (12)
- " if you haven't look outside your own space" - DAP 15:09:01 08/21/17 (1)
- RE: " if you haven't look outside your own space" - Doug Schneider 19:33:34 08/21/17 (0)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 10:52:00 08/21/17 (9)
- RE: Tidal - Doug Schneider 11:16:59 08/21/17 (8)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 11:18:59 08/21/17 (7)
- RE: Tidal - Doug Schneider 11:27:05 08/21/17 (6)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 14:18:56 08/21/17 (5)
- RE: Tidal - rt66indierock 16:05:10 08/21/17 (4)
- Here you go chief - Michael Lavorgna 16:17:42 08/21/17 (0)
- RE: Tidal - Michael Lavorgna 16:10:06 08/21/17 (2)
- RE: Tidal - rt66indierock 18:13:58 08/21/17 (1)
- Keeping score? - Michael Lavorgna 22:57:29 08/21/17 (0)
- Couldn't SoundStage do those comparisons as well? nt - DAP 07:40:33 08/21/17 (2)
- Definitely, but... - Doug Schneider 09:22:00 08/21/17 (1)
- RE: Definitely, but... - fmak 09:09:12 08/24/17 (0)
- Ooh I know! - Michael Lavorgna 15:32:27 08/20/17 (2)
- How enlightening. nt - Rick W 15:53:34 08/20/17 (1)
- Thank You - Michael Lavorgna 15:54:50 08/20/17 (0)