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Frame from I published music on Tidal to test MQA - MQA Review Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

I published music on Tidal to test MQA - MQA Review

GoldenSound
Explainers
YouTube
1 HN user recommended this explainer1 month2021–2023 score 1
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Cited in audio-streaming threads as a critical breakdown showing MQA is neither lossless nor transparent.

GoldenSound publishes music on Tidal to test MQA, a deep dive into the format's claims and problems including its leaky filter. Testing begins around the 5:45 mark.

“the video breakdowns I've watched on MQA are interesting listens even as someone who doesn't use Tidal.” (HN, 2021)

1 recommendations · 2 critical · Explainers · intermediate

3 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@throw_nbvc1234 May 2021 Recommends
on HN thread Apple Music Announces Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio
Read more
Just to add to this comment, the video breakdowns I've watched on MQA are interesting listens even as someone who doesn't use Tidal. [this video] -- Critque of MQA [link] -- in defense of MQA At the end of the day, people should listen to what they think sounds good (is this an opinion?). If a placebo makes someone enjoy something more, is it really a placebo? If someone can't tell the difference between low quality recordings and high quality recordings, why should they go through the trouble of sourcing the high quality stuff. It's so easy to lose track of the subjective nature of audio in all of the objective details.
Interesting breakdown of MQA even for non-Tidal users.

Citations, criticism and jokes

@LeoPanthera Feb 2023 Pushes back
on HN thread Spotify is first music streaming service to surpass 200M paid subscribers
I can't forgive Tidal for their promotion of MQA, nothing more than a scam to fleece audiophiles who don't know better out of their money. MQA isn't lossless and distorts audio: [this video] Tidal HiFi isn't lossless either: [link] I don't think any of the streaming services are particularly friendly to artists either, but Apple Music pays more to the artist than Spotify does, and includes (real) lossless audio at no extra cost. For now, they've got my dollar.

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