/r/technology - it's vitally important that we talk about MQA, a new, proprietary audio format

"MQ-What‽", I can hear you say? Well, MQA is short for Master Quality Authenticated - a relatively new audio codec spearheaded by Meridian Audio, a British manufacturer of audio equipment.

"Explain?". John Siau of Benchmark Media Systems, Inc has explained it well - I'll try to provide a short summary, MQA is a proprietary audio format that seeks to embed high-resolution audio in a (24-bit, 44.1 kHz) FLAC container, where it splits the original signal into two parts: A compatible lossless portion that occupies the 13 to 15 most significant bits, along with an 8 to 11 bits proprietary lossy container that "unfolds" to, so you can end up with a 17-bit, 96 kHz file. During this process, it also instructs the converter on how to apply reconstruction filters during the conversion process to change how high-frequency transients behave.

"B...but, isn't that a good thing?". No. There is zero evidence that audio with a higher resolution than 16/44.1 kHz (CD quality) is of any benefit. This study by Meyer and Moran inserted a 16/44.1 analog-to-digital-to-analog loop in a high quality setup, and tested it on a large number of users. Until music was being played so loud that the 16-bit converter's noise floor exceeded the natural noise floor of the listening space, users were unable to tell whether the loop was inserted into the playback chain. MQA, Ltd. and Meridian has also come up with an alarming lack of robust evidence of MQA being an audible benefit in controlled blind experiments.

"Ok, so it isn't of any benefit, but it at least does no harm?". Well, this is not correct either. Remember where I wrote that it splits the audio signal into two parts: A compatible part that occupies the 13-15 loudest bits of your music, and a proprietary part that occupies the lower 8-11? This means that if you try to play MQA audio in an incompatible environment, you are left with 1-3 bits of semi-correlated pseudo-random noise. The lowest three bits in a 16-bit signal is approaching, possibly exceeding the threshold of audibility for loud-ish listening, and has the potential to diminish your experience.

"But, I don't have any MQA files?" - This is where I sort of exit my Q&A strategy for this post, and go into full-blown rant mode, and explain further

Linn, an audio manufacturerer and occasional record label has made an excellent writeup about what MQA is, and why it is bad for music. The long and short of it is:

• MQA is patented from here till kingdom come. You can't produce MQA without paying patent licenses. You can't make software that processes it without paying. You can't stream MQA without paying, and you can't sell hardware that processes MQA without paying.
• MQA is embedding itself in Big Recording through partnerships with Sony, Warner, Universal and others
• MQA is embedding itself in the content delivery chain through partnerships with companies like Tidal and 7Digital
• MQA is embedding itself in the hardware chain, by getting manufacturers like NAD/Bluesound, Pro-Ject, Technics, Onkyo, TEAC, Pioneer and others
• You can view the depth of the embedding on MQA's partnership page

It also goes further than this - MQA also acts as "Soft DRM":

• Manufacturers are prohibited from outputting the decoded/unfolded audio data over a digital connection. That means no convenient, wireless lossless connection to a loudspeaker that isn't paying the per unit MQA licensing fees. And yes, this applies to your bluetooth headphones as well
• This prohibition against digital output of an unfolded MQA stream also affects other use cases: People who use digital room correction/EQ with digital inputs (such as HDMI audio into a home cinema receiver) can not use MQA, because the unfolded signal can not be treated without side effects. This means that these users will have to use the analog loophole to benefit from the home cinema gear they've bought.
• As I said above: The undecoded MQA stream is of lesser quality than a straight-up lossless file, and can potentially sound worse. This in particular applies if you apply digital room correction or EQ - if you apply (positive) gain, you can end up with noise spikes that may be far louder than the "3 bits" leads you to believe.

"Is there anything else about this that's bad?" Well, yes:

• If MQA gets to a dominant position in the marketplace, it will de-facto force manufacturers to buy a per-item license. That means that the audio gear you buy, be it a headphone, DAC, speaker, phone or other item becomes more expensive.
• It will also act as an effective barrier to entry for new/small manufacturers. You enjoyed that Schiit DAC/amp you said? Well, you can't have the new and better version. as Schiit were forced out of business. Note: Schiit, as one of the few companies along with Linn and Benchmark, has publicly spoken out against MQA.
• In light of net neutrality being under fire, MQA is potentially extra bad in the US. On January 23, Sprint purchased a 33% stake in Jay-Z's TIDAL. Read: Sprint can force MQA on consumers by forcing competitors off their networks.

"OK, I'm convinced. What can I do about this?". Good old activism:

1. Contact EFF to make them further aware of what MQA is, and why it is bad (I have already done so and received a reply - but they'd be more inclined to act if they see it matters to people)
2. Cancel subscriptions to services that use MQA
3. Make public protests to the record labels that support MQA
4. Refrain from buying equipment from any of the manufacturers that have announced partnerships with MQA. Make sure to let them know why.
5. Campaign to major players that haven't yet said anything, and get them to publicly speak out against MQA: Google, Amazon, Apple, Spotify, Denon, Marantz

If you got this far: Congratulations, and thank you for reading. Here is a kitten picture as a reward.

by Arve http://ift.tt/2w44aLQ