Discussion:
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Meridian's MQA - a few thoughts, possible concerns...
Archimago
2015-01-16 06:05:09 UTC
Permalink
Hey guys, I just posted a few thoughts on this Meridian MQA "thingy". I
do have a few concerns based on what I've read. I guess there's no way
the mainstream audiophile press would ever say anything else but
"everything is awesome!" when you throw a party on the 69th floor of the
Shard in London!

Ahhhh, the benefits of being an "insider", right Ralph?

http://archimago.blogspot.com/2015/01/musings-miscellanies-on-audio-encoding.html



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Mnyb
2015-01-16 08:22:33 UTC
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A solution in search for a problem ?

What I think the world does not need yet another proprietary licensed
format or any new music format , music files and steaming are already to
confusing for the avarage joe . I would rather like to reduce the format
count .

Mores law will fix any data rate problem pretty soon , maybe not for
mobile phones and cars , but there there is simply no need for ultra
high quality . So even if successful MQA will be obsolete in a couple of
years anyway .

What they really want . Meridian has some sucess with MLP for DVDA it's
now rebranded as Dolby true HD with some upgrades for the blueray
carrier .

So preevious moderate bussiness sucess with developing licensed formats
, have made them take another stab at it now for the streaming market .
This decoding tech would reside in DAC's HT recievers phones and all .

Ok can you sell it , the deciding factor would be content as usual is
there anything to listen to in this newfangled format or not .



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Wombat
2015-01-16 12:42:06 UTC
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MQA is a lowpassed lossywav alike lossy encoder using some supercharged
lowpass filter even better for marketing as the apodizing filter.
There were people preferring mp3 over the original, so did others with
Digital Compact Cassette.
I also see no point in MQA for me as buyable download. Maybe some
Spotify on steroids but even that does not interest me. All this High
Bitrate scam out there cured me already.
http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=LossyWAV


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ralphpnj
2015-01-16 15:40:16 UTC
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Post by Archimago
Hey guys, I just posted a few thoughts on this Meridian MQA "thingy". I
do have a few concerns based on what I've read. I guess there's no way
the mainstream audiophile press would ever say anything else but
"everything is awesome!" when you throw a party on the 69th floor of the
Shard in London!
Ahhhh, the benefits of being an "insider", right Ralph?
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2015/01/musings-miscellanies-on-audio-encoding.html
Nice blog post. I took your advice and read the "As We See It" editorial
in the February 2015 issue of Stereophile, which I agree, is a
worthwhile piece. However speaking of "the benefits of being an
'insider'" it was your warning about "Synergistic Research bull
droppings" that not only showed how silly audio reviewers can get at
times but how unaware of their actual insider status most audio
reviewers are, as evidenced by this little quote from Fremer's article:
"...I wanted to hear some of this stuff in my own space. A few months
ago, Denny and Scott Walker arrived with some products that fall under
the umbrella of Synergistic's uniform Energy Field (UEF) Technology."
With "Denny" being Synergistic's owner Ted Denney and Scott Walker being
the owner of Scott Walker Audio.



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darrenyeats
2015-01-16 22:13:30 UTC
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I don't like the idea. A new format, for what, to combine higher
sampling rates (useless) with lossy encoding (harmful)? Streaming 16/44
from Tidal or Qobuz is quite good enough already.



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ralphpnj
2015-01-16 22:31:32 UTC
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Post by darrenyeats
I don't like the idea. A new format, for what, to combine higher
sampling rates (IME useless) with lossy encoding (IME harmful)?
Streaming 16/44 from Tidal or Qobuz is quite good enough and efficient
enough already.
You are quite right, however this new format/technology is less about
providing improved sound and much more about providing Meridian with a
new revenue stream via licensing. Only thing is that the clowns in the
high end audio press are NEVER going to say anything like that, they
will just still to the script and say that it's all about improved
sound.



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Archimago
2015-01-16 23:07:03 UTC
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As others have noted about a "solution in search of a problem", I think
there's another angle here. I suspect the recording houses in their
heart do not like the availability of the true "studio masters" going
out the door. And I think they're realizing that the "HRA" angle isn't
selling.

Other than yet "moar loud" or EQ'ed remaster, a good quality "studio
master" is the end of the revenue stream; they must keep the door open
for potential re-buying of the album and MQA allows another step in
that. It's "high resolution" in that it's potentially better than CD
(Wombat, I'd love to see if there is indeed evidence that it could be
<16-bits) - at least 48kHz is better than 44kHz, right? But it's not
-true -24-bits nor -true -96/192kHz. Call me conspiratorial if you like
but I think there's a big DRM/copy protection issue here as well. Of
course, we can bet this will be hacked pretty quickly just like all that
have come before. If I am correct, the big labels will get on board with
the idea of DRM capabilities and provide backing in a way that something
like Pono would never have. They of course need another way to sell this
to a public wary of copy-protection already and that's why we keep
seeing these fluffy comments about "connecting" the studio/artist to the
consumer, or the "analogue front end to the back end" or even the use of
the term "Authenticated" (through some indicator light).- I think we're
in for an interesting ride in terms of how they will continue to market
and push this "format".-

BTW: I find Bob Stuart's "sales job" interesting... Here's a smart man
with technical experience talking ad-speak putting himself out there
like this as a mouthpiece. Unlike Neil Young who is clearly out of his
depth with Pono, we've got a smart fellow trying to get the public to
buy into his scheme. The responses appear scripted and vague by design.
I smell desperation.



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ralphpnj
2015-01-16 23:17:45 UTC
Permalink
Post by Archimago
As others have noted about a "solution in search of a problem", I think
there's another angle here. I suspect the recording houses in their
heart do not like the availability of the true "studio masters" going
out the door. And I think they're realizing that the "HRA" angle isn't
selling.
Other than yet "moar loud" or EQ'ed remaster, a good quality "studio
master" is the end of the revenue stream; they must keep the door open
for potential re-buying of the album and MQA allows another step in
that. It's "high resolution" in that it's potentially better than CD
(Wombat, I'd love to see if there is indeed evidence that it could be
<16-bits) - at least 48kHz is better than 44kHz, right? But it's not
-true -24-bits nor -true -96/192kHz. Call me conspiratorial if you like
but I think there's a big DRM/copy protection issue here as well. Of
course, we can bet this will be hacked pretty quickly just like all that
have come before. If I am correct, the big labels will get on board with
the idea of DRM capabilities and provide backing in a way that something
like Pono would never have. They of course need another way to sell this
to a public wary of copy-protection already and that's why we keep
seeing these fluffy comments about "connecting" the studio/artist to the
consumer, or the "analogue front end to the back end" or even the use of
the term "Authenticated" (through some indicator light).- I think we're
in for an interesting ride in terms of how they will continue to market
and push this "format".-
BTW: I find Bob Stuart's "sales job" interesting... Here's a smart man
with technical experience talking ad-speak putting himself out there
like this as a mouthpiece. Unlike Neil Young who is clearly out of his
depth with Pono, we've got a smart fellow trying to get the public to
buy into his scheme. The responses appear scripted and vague by design.
I smell desperation.
Another implication of this suspicion is that over time, the big names
will start deprecating HDTracks and Pono as it plays favourites with
MQA. Death to the "studio master", long live the almighty MQA? We shall
see :-).
Wow! And I thought that I was bit paranoid.



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Wombat
2015-01-16 23:27:59 UTC
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I did no indeep reading leave alone understanding of that patent so i
may be wrong.
A blind quote that may not describe how the realworld implementation
works:
" The listener with access to all 24 bits may use the decoder of figure
5B to enjoy full bandwidth lossless reproduction of the 13-bit signal at
point "A", i.e. with a resolution of 17 or 18 bits in the critical
frequency range 0-7 kHz as a result of the 96kHz shaper."
Thanks to esldude finding this :)

http://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2013186561&recNum=132&tab=PCTClaims&maxRec=599628&office=&prevFilter=&sortOption=&queryString=nano+OR+filter+OR+ceramic



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castalla
2015-01-17 00:53:15 UTC
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@Archimago
I did no indeep reading leave alone understanding of that patent so i
may be wrong.
A blind quote that may not describe how the realworld implementation
" The listener with access to all 24 bits may use the decoder of figure
5B to enjoy full bandwidth lossless reproduction of the 13-bit signal at
point "A", i.e. with a resolution of 17 or 18 bits in the critical
frequency range 0-7 kHz as a result of the 96kHz shaper."
Thanks to esldude finding this :)
http://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2013186561&recNum=132&maxRec=599628&office=&prevFilter=&sortOption=&queryString=nano+OR+filter+OR+ceramic&tab=PCTDescription
Sounds like they used the Scientific Jargon Generator (patent applied
for) for this.



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Archimago
2015-01-17 01:17:54 UTC
Permalink
@Archimago
I did no indeep reading leave alone understanding of that patent so i
may be wrong.
A blind quote that may not describe how the realworld implementation
" The listener with access to all 24 bits may use the decoder of figure
5B to enjoy full bandwidth lossless reproduction of the 13-bit signal at
point "A", i.e. with a resolution of 17 or 18 bits in the critical
frequency range 0-7 kHz as a result of the 96kHz shaper."
Thanks to esldude finding this :)
http://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2013186561&recNum=132&maxRec=599628&office=&prevFilter=&sortOption=&queryString=nano+OR+filter+OR+ceramic&tab=PCTDescription
Thanks for the link. I believe I linked to that patent but didn't click
on the adjacent tab to see the detailed description!

Interesting. Indeed, this implementation described looks like it only
leaves the 13 MSB's untouched, and the 14-16th bits "lossy" in some
form. Also, it looks like the intent is:

-"Thus, it is generally not possible to pack losslessly and with PCM
compatibility a 16-bit 96kHz signal into a 16-bit 48kHz channel, and
neither is it generally possible to pack losslessly and with PCM
compatibility a 24-bit 96kHz signal into a 24-bit 48kHz channel.
However, PCM-compatible lossless packing of a 16-bit 96kHz signal into a
24-bit 48kHz channel is usually feasible."-

and this:

-"The coefficients for Gerzon's 96kHz shaper, which provides nearly five
bits of perceptual improvement, were given in Acoustic Renaissance for
Audio, "A Proposal for High-Quality Application of High-Density CD
Carriers" private publication (1995 April); reprinted in Stereophile
(1995 Aug.); in Japanese in J. Japan Audio Soc, vol. 35 (1995 Oct.);
available for download at www. meridian- audio.com/ara. Stuart provides
a careful analysis considering the capabilities of human hearing
("Coding for High-Resolution Audio Systems" J. Audio Eng. Soc, Vol. 52,
No. 3, 2004 March, see especially figure 16) from which one may conclude
that a 44.1 kHz sampled digital system properly quantised with TPDF
dither (but without noise shaping) to 20.5 bits will always provide
sufficient dynamic range as a distribution medium. The non-noise-shaped
noise spectral density is reduced by a further 3.4dB when 96kHz sampling
is used. We can conclude that a 16-bit 96kHz channel with appropriate
noise shaping is entirely adequate as a distribution format, meeting
audiophile requirements with some margin to spare"-

Interesting, Meridian is indeed feeling that dithered & noise-shaped
16/96 is good enough for "audiophile requirements". The technique is
more complicated than I envisioned. The technique can compress 16/96
into 24/48 "usually feasibly" in a "lossless" fashion in about 97% of
those songs analyzed because it just so happens that there's not too
much happening in the upper frequencies in most songs (no surprise!).
Presumably then, if a piece of music had a lot of "detail" above 48kHz,
then this system would not be able to capture it all... Hmmm, this is
certainly a different type of definition of "lossless" than what we're
used to isn't it? Some kind of "limited" losslessness depending on how
close the music conforms to expectations.

It'll be good to see how this all works out!



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Wombat
2015-01-17 01:40:50 UTC
Permalink
This all comes down to the magic filter in action. They can remove lots
of data but the superfilter applied makes is better sounding as the real
full bit version.
They prepared the world lately together with the AES with placing a
paper about the audibility of filters. The word will spread. You know
this one i guess.



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Archimago
2015-01-17 02:09:57 UTC
Permalink
Post by Wombat
This all comes down to the magic filter in action. They can remove lots
of data but the superfilter applied makes is better sounding as the real
full bit version.
They prepared the world lately together with the AES with placing a
paper about the audibility of filters. The word will spread. You know
this one i guess.
I'm thinking you mean this:
THE AUDIBILITY OF TYPICAL DIGITAL AUDIO FILTERS IN A HIGH-FIDELITY
PLAYBACK SYSTEM

-This paper describes listening tests investigating the audibility of
various filters applied in high-resolution wideband digital playback
systems. Discrimination between filtered and unfiltered signals was
compared directly in the same subjects using a double-blind
psychophysical test. Filter responses tested were representative of
anti-alias filters used in A/D (analog-to-digital) converters or
mastering processes. Further tests probed the audibility of 16-bit
quantization with or without a rectangular dither. Results suggest that
listeners are sensitive to the small signal alterations introduced by
these filters and quantization. Two main conclusions are offered: first,
there exist audible signals that cannot be encoded transparently by a
standard CD; and second, an audio chain used for such experiments must
be capable of high-fidelity reproduction.

Authors: Jackson, Helen M.; Capp, Michael D.; Stuart, J. Robert
Affiliation: Meridian Audio Ltd., Huntingdon, UK
AES Convention:137 (October 2014) Paper Number:9174 Import into BibTeX
Publication Date:October 8, 2014
Subject:Perception: Part 2 -

Indeed. It appears we need super filters :-)



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darrenyeats
2015-01-17 02:39:50 UTC
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I wonder what they mean by 'signals' ...



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Archimago
2015-01-17 03:59:30 UTC
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I wonder what 'signals' means ... do you know if they used music for
these tests?
No alas, I don't have access to the AES journal through my university
library.

Anyone around here in the audio engineering world?



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Wombat
2015-01-17 14:47:05 UTC
Permalink
Don't worry to much about this paper. They proved that by 56% (slightly
better as flipping a coin) on 45.000$ speakers with special treated
silent room using SUB-standard filtering that lowpassed music can be
discerned.
The exact filters used with MatLab were not offered, leave alone the
real music samples. It is known the filters are very steep and they used
a rectangular dither method even the paper writers (Meridian) don't see
as sufficient but use it for the test.
Also i saw no clear description if the difference was found as really
better sounding in any concrete way, only a difference.
They used an ultra hard metal tweeter with their speakers that itself
may cause IM in a way that may sound different lowpassed. No attempt was
made to exclufde that.
So it may just be the "Most comprehensive paper ever published about
metal tweeter IM"
It becomes even more funny when following their conclusion that it must
be the way of the filter acting while they did not try anything to prove
different filters sounding different. They more or less copied their
Meridian marketing speech into the AES paper.
A clever BUY-IN!
Thats how i understand it after reading some discussions and snippets of
the original paper i found online.

I don't know anything about the signals they talk about.

There is also a long thread at Hydrogen with lots of info.



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Archimago
2015-01-17 18:48:46 UTC
Permalink
Post by Wombat
Don't worry to much about this paper. They proved that by 56% (slightly
better as flipping a coin) on 45.000$ speakers with special treated
silent room using SUB-standard filtering that lowpassed music can be
discerned.
The exact filters used with MatLab were not offered, leave alone the
real music samples. It is known the filters are very steep and they used
a rectangular dither method even the paper writers (Meridian) don't see
as sufficient but use it for the test.
Also i saw no clear description if the difference was found as really
better sounding in any concrete way, only a difference.
They used an ultra hard metal tweeter with their speakers that itself
may cause IM in a way that may sound different lowpassed. No attempt was
made to exclufde that.
So it may just be the "Most comprehensive paper ever published about
metal tweeter IM"
It becomes even more funny when following their conclusion that it must
be the way of the filter acting while they did not try anything to prove
different filters sounding different. They more or less copied their
Meridian marketing speech into the AES paper.
A clever BUY-IN!
Thats how i understand it after reading some discussions and snippets of
the original paper i found online.
I don't know anything about the signals they talk about.
There is also a long thread at Hydrogen with lots of info.
Interesting. Thanks for the summary!

I'm wondering, if you've ever attended these kinds of
talks/presentations? I know that in my field, sometimes criticisms and
arguments can get quite intense even in formal presentations when the
results look questionable and the paper/research appears inadequate.



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Julf
2015-01-17 20:12:56 UTC
Permalink
Post by Archimago
I'm wondering, if you've ever attended these kinds of
talks/presentations? I know that in my field, sometimes criticisms and
arguments can get quite intense even in formal presentations when the
results look questionable and the paper/research appears inadequate.
Presentations are OK - you should try any of the industry
standardisation committees, they get pretty bloody, as everybody is
promoting their proprietary solution as the standard...



"To try to judge the real from the false will always be hard. In this
fast-growing art of 'high fidelity' the quackery will bear a solid gilt
edge that will fool many people" - Paul W Klipsch, 1953
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Mnyb
2015-01-17 19:01:38 UTC
Permalink
Post by Wombat
Don't worry to much about this paper. They proved that by 56% (slightly
better as flipping a coin) on 45.000$ speakers with special treated
silent room using SUB-standard filtering that lowpassed music can be
discerned.
The exact filters used with MatLab were not offered, leave alone the
real music samples. It is known the filters are very steep and they used
a rectangular dither method even the paper writers (Meridian) don't see
as sufficient but use it for the test.
Also i saw no clear description if the difference was found as really
better sounding in any concrete way, only a difference.
They used an ultra hard metal tweeter with their speakers that itself
may cause IM in a way that may sound different lowpassed. No attempt was
made to exclufde that.
So it may just be the "Most comprehensive paper ever published about
metal tweeter IM"
It becomes even more funny when following their conclusion that it must
be the way of the filter acting while they did not try anything to prove
different filters sounding different. They more or less copied their
Meridian marketing speech into the AES paper.
A clever BUY-IN!
Thats how i understand it after reading some discussions and snippets of
the original paper i found online.
I don't know anything about the signals they talk about.
There is also a long thread at Hydrogen with lots of info.
Yes research are not incorruptible , that's what peer review are for .
Seems like Meridian get tangled in some bias in thier research , the
results seems weak ,but they want to believe in it . Especially when
there is a bussiness opurtunity at stake .



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Kitchen: Touch + powered Fostex PM0.4
Misc use: Radio (with battery)
iPad1 with iPengHD & SqueezePad
(in storage SB3, reciever ,controller )
server HP proliant micro server N36L with ClearOS Linux

http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
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ralphpnj
2015-01-17 19:16:08 UTC
Permalink
Post by Mnyb
Yes research are not incorruptible , that's what peer review are for .
Seems like Meridian get tangled in some bias in thier research , the
results seems weak ,but they want to believe in it . Especially when
there is a bussiness opurtunity at stake .
Like any halfway decent detective story - follow the money, always
follow the money.

Remember that money always trumps everything and anything else, even
facts and science.

Don't like the word "money" then use "gold" instead.



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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Archimago
2015-01-17 19:50:36 UTC
Permalink
Post by ralphpnj
Like any halfway decent detective story - follow the money, always
follow the money.
Remember that money always trumps everything and anything else, even
facts and science.
Don't like the word "money" then use "gold" instead.
And I thought I was cynical.

... Ok, maybe just paranoid... :-)

I must admit, watching these guys work the spin during their interviews
can be quite entertaining. Indeed, "halfway decent detective story".
Ultimately the money must flow!



Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective'
audiophile blog.
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ralphpnj
2015-01-17 20:13:41 UTC
Permalink
Post by Archimago
And I thought I was cynical.
... Ok, maybe just paranoid... :-)
I must admit, watching these guys work the spin during their interviews
can be quite entertaining. Indeed, "halfway decent detective story".
Ultimately the money must flow!
I'm pretty sure that it is not always about money but money does play a
very important part nonetheless since Meridian is a for profit company.

The real issue is when money becomes more important than things like
integrity, which is the case with several parts of the high end audio
world, such as cable manufacturers and the high end audio press.



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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pablolie
2015-01-18 01:06:21 UTC
Permalink
we talk about money, and yet how successfully are encoding algorithms
when it comes to monetization? even the MP3 inventors gave up on it.

i would get the software business motivation, hey, audiophile software,
subscription fees... sure. my posts in these very forums are still out
there when i said that Slimdevices or Logitech ought to have charged for
an LMS subscription license, the value was always more in the server
even though the streaming boxes were always great. but how Meridian
hopes to establish such a model with MQA is beyond me. no self
respecting competitor is going to adopt their stuff for obvious reasons.


but with MQA i don't see the mega business opportunity out there. the
differentiation is questionable. the partner landscape limited. and
audiophiles don't care of it's MQA or DSD or two squirrels doing it in a
box as long as it sounds great and looks premium.



...pablo
Server: Virtual Machine running Ubuntu 12.04 + LMS 7.7.3 on VMware
Player
System: SB Touch --optical->- Benchmark DAC2HGC --AnalysisPlus Oval
Copper XLR->- NAD M22 Power Amp --AnalysisPlus Black Mesh Oval->- Totem
Element Fire
Other Rooms: 2x SB Boom; 1x SB Radio; 1x SB Classic-> MusicalFidelity
M1PWR -> Totem DreamCatcher
Computer audio: workstation --USB->- audioengine D1 -> Grado PS500e
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philippe_44
2015-01-18 01:56:20 UTC
Permalink
Post by pablolie
we talk about money, and yet how successfully are encoding algorithms
when it comes to monetization? even the MP3 inventors gave up on it.
i would get the software business motivation, hey, audiophile software,
subscription fees... sure. my posts in these very forums are still out
there when i said that Slimdevices or Logitech ought to have charged for
an LMS subscription license, the value was always more in the server
even though the streaming boxes were always great. but how Meridian
hopes to establish such a model with MQA is beyond me. no self
respecting competitor is going to adopt their stuff for obvious reasons.
unless they use it as a nice (yet meaningless) wrapper for products that
look and are priced a lot like Squeezeboxes, and the server streams in
MQA to the boxes, oh great, and the server software is sold as it should
- pay for updates.
but with MQA i don't see the mega business opportunity out there. the
differentiation is questionable. the partner landscape limited. and
audiophiles don't care of it's MQA or DSD or two squirrels doing it in a
box as long as it sounds great and looks premium.
I have to say that brown squirrels produce less jitter and a much richer
sound - still, I've been told that the quality of nuts helps as well,
although I still need to do a scientific experiment



LMS 7.7.2 - 5 radio, 3 Boom, 4 Duet, 1 Touch, 1 SB2. Sonos 2xPLAY:1,
PLAY:3, PLAY:5, Marantz NR1603, JBL OnBeat, XBMC, Foobar2000, XBoxOne
(sort of)
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pablolie
2015-01-18 02:10:50 UTC
Permalink
Post by philippe_44
I have to say that brown squirrels produce less jitter and a much richer
sound
damn you, you made me spit out a perfectly fine mouthful of sauvignon
blanc.. :-D



...pablo
Server: Virtual Machine running Ubuntu 12.04 + LMS 7.7.3 on VMware
Player
System: SB Touch --optical->- Benchmark DAC2HGC --AnalysisPlus Oval
Copper XLR->- NAD M22 Power Amp --AnalysisPlus Black Mesh Oval->- Totem
Element Fire
Other Rooms: 2x SB Boom; 1x SB Radio; 1x SB Classic-> MusicalFidelity
M1PWR -> Totem DreamCatcher
Computer audio: workstation --USB->- audioengine D1 -> Grado PS500e
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philippe_44
2015-01-19 08:25:45 UTC
Permalink
Post by pablolie
damn you, you made me spit out a perfectly fine mouthful of sauvignon
blanc.. :-D
Sorry for the wine, but that was too tempting :)



LMS 7.7.2 - 5 radio, 3 Boom, 4 Duet, 1 Touch, 1 SB2. Sonos 2xPLAY:1,
PLAY:3, PLAY:5, Marantz NR1603, JBL OnBeat, XBMC, Foobar2000, XBoxOne
(sort of)
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Mnyb
2015-01-19 08:33:23 UTC
Permalink
Post by pablolie
we talk about money, and yet how successfully are encoding algorithms
when it comes to monetization? even the MP3 inventors gave up on it.
i would get the software business motivation, hey, audiophile software,
subscription fees... sure. my posts in these very forums are still out
there when i said that Slimdevices or Logitech ought to have charged for
an LMS subscription license, the value was always more in the server
even though the streaming boxes were always great. but how Meridian
hopes to establish such a model with MQA is beyond me. no self
respecting competitor is going to adopt their stuff for obvious reasons.
unless they use it as a nice (yet meaningless) wrapper for products that
look and are priced a lot like Squeezeboxes, and the server streams in
MQA to the boxes, oh great, and the server software is sold as it should
- pay for updates.
but with MQA i don't see the mega business opportunity out there. the
differentiation is questionable. the partner landscape limited. and
audiophiles don't care of it's MQA or DSD or two squirrels doing it in a
box as long as it sounds great and looks premium.
It's hard but possible Dolby and DTS manage to do it . I think the key
is hardware devices you get a logo on the machine somewhere , not that I
think the mfg behind a Chinese 50$ DVD player actually paid royalty for
their Dalby logo :) but it usually works .
Meridian had some sucess with MLP , and the rebranded improved variant
do sell on blueray discs .
But this is streaming so I share your concerns .
But I do think the intent is again to sell chip or licenses for hardware
devices .



--------------------------------------------------------------------
Main hifi: Touch + CIA PS +MeridianG68J MeridianHD621 MeridianG98DH 2 x
MeridianDSP5200 MeridianDSP5200HC 2 xMeridianDSP3100 +Rel Stadium 3
sub.
Bedroom/Office: Boom
Kitchen: Touch + powered Fostex PM0.4
Misc use: Radio (with battery)
iPad1 with iPengHD & SqueezePad
(in storage SB3, reciever ,controller )
server HP proliant micro server N36L with ClearOS Linux

http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
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Archimago
2015-01-17 00:27:43 UTC
Permalink
Post by ralphpnj
Wow! And I thought that I was bit paranoid.
Paranoid, maybe :-)

Let's see how this plays out. Might as well throw out a theory... Would
be fun if even parts of it turns out to be true!



Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective'
audiophile blog.
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pablolie
2015-01-17 05:25:43 UTC
Permalink
when i read about it in Strereophile i quckly moved on. this is
stillborn. there are already well established solutions to a problem
these guys are too late to address. yeah, right, we need a commercial
entity to be declared gatekeeper to audio quality... let's have a wolf
herd the sheep while we're at it.



...pablo
Server: Virtual Machine running Ubuntu 12.04 + LMS 7.7.3 on VMware
Player
System: SB Touch --optical->- Benchmark DAC2HGC --AnalysisPlus Oval
Copper XLR->- NAD M22 Power Amp --AnalysisPlus Black Mesh Oval->- Totem
Element Fire
Other Rooms: 2x SB Boom; 1x SB Radio; 1x SB Classic-> MusicalFidelity
M1PWR -> Totem DreamCatcher
Computer audio: workstation --USB->- audioengine D1 -> Grado PS500e
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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