MQA files for bankruptcy protection

Discussion in 'Music and Recordings' started by elwappo99, Apr 7, 2023.

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Will you hold onto your unobtanium MQA gear once MQA is discontinued?

  1. Yes, in time people will appreciate the brilliance of MQA

    10 vote(s)
    11.1%
  2. No, hifi audio peaked at the 1920s Victrola

    80 vote(s)
    88.9%
  1. AdvanTech

    AdvanTech Friend

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    Yeah, that is the dilemma. Glad Tidal's coming back to lossless.
     
  2. SnowPuppy

    SnowPuppy Facebook Friend

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    Not sure if Tidal has more music available for streaming vs Qobuz. It probably depends on what music one is looking for. When I switched from Tidal to Qobuz I noticed that Qobuz has a much larger classical music library. For example Tidal has only about 5 Naxos titles while Qobuz has hundreds.
     
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  3. AdvanTech

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    Yep, depends on the genres you listen to, for sure.
     
  4. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    Agreed. I think Qobuz is way better overall for classical and jazz, but Tidal is very clearly better for rock, punk, alternative, etc. Unfortunately, I listen to more of the latter, but because of that I also buy more of the latter so it's sort of a wash.

    I subscribed to Tidal from 2015 until maybe 2021/2022 and finally made the switch because I couldn't stand all the MQA propaganda any longer. If Tidal purged MQA from the system and just released everything in FLAC (original or HiRes, as applicable) then I'd probably just subscribe to both.
     
  5. AdvanTech

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    Their CEO said that's exactly what they're going to do.
     
  6. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Is there a quote where he states unambiguously that they will remove all the existing MQA files from their servers?
     
  7. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    This bolded part of the EnjoyTheMusic blurb quoted below, at least, made it seem as of now, at least, they’re attempting to keep MQA alongside hi res FLAC — would be good if they’d clarify the details:


     
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  8. AdvanTech

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  9. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    MQA was, and still is, a "solution" looking for a problem that doesn't exist.
     
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  10. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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  11. zottel

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    I never even had a trial subscription for Tidal because of MQA. Qobuz has most of the stuff I want, but not everything. When FLAC is there, I’ll do a trial and see what I find.
     
  12. Metro

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    That isn't my experience. I subscribed to both Tidal and Qobuz for a long time (but dropped Tidal last year). My experience is that they both have a large Naxos catalog. However, Qobuz has a much better interface for classical music. For example, instead of a simple track listing as on Tidal. Qobuz tries to display tracks as a group under the work (e.g. movements of a symphony). There are several other things that make Qobuz a better experience for classical music than Tidal.

    BTW, in the USA cancelling a Tidal paid subscription merely bumps your account down to the free tier (MP3 quality, with ads). You can still play music and your playlists and favorites are retained.
     
  13. wormcycle

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    I only recently read lamentations of the MQA crowd on Roon forums and I will repost my comment here:
    " It is sad to read this thread:
    …Tidal is bigger than Qobuz so MQA is not dead. Big enough to keep the dead parrot nailed to the perch for how long?
    …administration is not bakruptcy…so everything is good. Actually administration means that company is insolvent and cannot pay creditors. Administration is just the way of managing bankruptcy. Google it.
    …MQA equipment will still work. Of course SACD players still work, as well as my Atari

    All of this is just irrelevant. What is relevant is that MQA business model is dead. It has been dead for some time.
    No one is going to do batch conversion to MQA of the recorded material anymore. And MQA equipment will be dropped.
    As for Roon, we can only reflect on the development effort that would otherwise go into the product new features and improving reliability.
    The reason MQA will be gone? They pretended to solve problems they solely invented, pro audio equipment companies knew that and have never paid any attention to MQA. And fundamental dishonesty of their business model: forcing proprietary solution on users through the deals with the recording and streaming companies. That created a lot of pushback and prompted serious validation of their “technical” claims. It did not help that Bob Stuart tried to obfuscate any way he could."
     
  14. netforce

    netforce MOT: Headphones.com

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    Fundamentally from a business perspective, they were not getting anymore buy in to MQA. Their revenues was stuck with what they were bringing in and stagnant/unmoving. They tried branching out to different tech to keep keep their investor money flowing but the age of free money is over with rising interest rates.

    Tech for the past decade has been all about growth and profits will follow eventually. The big and successful tech startups are still stuck figuring out how to turn a profit. MQA I would not call big or successful in the scheme of tech companies so why the investors continue to sink money into it.
     
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  15. Thad E Ginathom

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    I think that Mr BS was a good salesman. The kind that could persuade people that some decrepit rustbucket only needed a couple of weekends work and an oil change, anybody could do it, to be a fine vehicle.
     
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  16. scoop

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    Last edited: Sep 19, 2023
  17. AdvanTech

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    Sighs in Canadian
     
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  18. rfernand

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    IMG_3705.jpeg
     
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  19. Biodegraded

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    Sorry!

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. bixby

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    Now I know that Lenbrook is daft! Thanks for confirming.

    I still like Canada, a little. :)
     

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