Doug Schneider writes ....
On April 1, 2016, we published “Myriad Questions About MQA,” my article about Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), a digital music format for high-resolution music files developed by Meridian Audio and now spun off as MQA Limited. (Audiophiles define high-resolution music file as a PCM digital file with a bit depth and/or sample frequency higher than the Compact Disc standard of 16 bits and 44.1kHz, aka 16/44.1.)
From what I’ve learned about MQA, it promises two main benefits. One is the claimed lossless compression of files of resolutions as high as 24-bit/768kHz to 24/44.1 or 24/48 (depending on the original sampling frequency), the results being files roughly 50% bigger than a 16/44.1 file. Since the process is claimed to be lossless, there should be no reduction in sound quality -- when the file is decompressed, all of the original information should still be present. MQA files are stored in such industry-standard file formats as FLAC or ALAC, so even audio systems and DACs that can’t decode MQA files should be able ......
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