[Dixter]

All I can say... If it sounds good to you then use it... its simple as that....

 

[GoldenSound]

All I can say... If it sounds good to you then use it... its simple as that....

And I'm not saying any different.
No one should tell you what you 'should' or 'shouldnt' listen to.

Preference is preference and does not always align with objective performance.

And in fact even in instances where something absolutely makes no difference and is just placebo, if the amount someone spent on a solid silver cable riser or something gives them a perceived benefit they feel is worth what they spent, then that's all that really matters.

But at the same time, regardless of whether something is good or bad, false or dishonest marketing should always be called out.

 

[boxster233]

And I'm not saying any different.
No one should tell you what you 'should' or 'shouldnt' listen to.

Preference is preference and does not always align with objective performance.

And in fact even in instances where something absolutely makes no difference and is just placebo, if the amount someone spent on a solid silver cable riser or something gives them a perceived benefit they feel is worth what they spent, then that's all that really matters.

But at the same time, regardless of whether something is good or bad, false or dishonest marketing should always be called out.

And you've done that quite adequately and publicly.

 

[Dixter]

And I'm not saying any different.
No one should tell you what you 'should' or 'shouldnt' listen to.

Preference is preference and does not always align with objective performance.

And in fact even in instances where something absolutely makes no difference and is just placebo, if the amount someone spent on a solid silver cable riser or something gives them a perceived benefit they feel is worth what they spent, then that's all that really matters.

But at the same time, regardless of whether something is good or bad, false or dishonest marketing should always be called out.

what do you think of the new Atmos formats coming from Apple Music and Tidal these days....

 

[OldRoadToad]

Just curious... when I see this written I do have to ask... how did that person come to this conclusion... did they take a MQA version of a song and a non-mqa version and actually measure the noise... would be interesting to see all of the measured noise from all of those songs... you don't even need to have Tidal to listen to MQA... they play back just fine as FLAC files too...

Maybe because a great many of us think, not feel, that MQA is all in the listeners head.
Including the "unfolding".

ORT

 

[GoldenSound]

what do you think of the new Atmos formats coming from Apple Music and Tadal these days....

I think they're a bit gimmicky especially for headphone/2 channel use where properly mixed stereo makes much more sense.

But they do what they say on the tin and so for systems with more channels or head-tracking capability they're a pretty interesting option

 

[Dixter]

Maybe because a great many of us think, not feel, that MQA is all in the listeners head.
Including the "unfolding".

ORT

Thats good... some people don't have the equipment where you can hear the difference and some have better equipment....

 

[Dixter]

I think they're a bit gimmicky especially for headphone/2 channel use where properly mixed stereo makes much more sense.

But they do what they say on the tin and so for systems with more channels or head-tracking capability they're a pretty interesting option

curious if you have heard the Apple Music or the Tidal offerings of multichannel content via a nice set of headphones and the Smyth A16 amp.... with those options you get to hear 24 channels via the headphone/2 channel use... and you get to choose the actual virtualized speaker of choice... so as an example... if you listen to the Doors Whispering in the Wind in a configuration that utilizes 10 of the ceiling speakers you can hear Morrison whispering the lyrics above your head while the band is singing... that config is 13.1.10 being the 13 surround ground level speakers, a subwoofer and the 10 ceiling mounted speakers.... lets use the Focal Model Trio 6 Be for the speaker of choice... thats 24 Focal speakers... pretty cool... and, I know you'll like this... if you listen to Tidal MQA you can up convert so that MQA 2 channel is playing on all 24 of those speakers in a perfect listening room virtualized...... and.. of course you can hear the difference quite easily between MQA and Non MQA... you don't even have to strain your ears...

 

[OldRoadToad]

Thats good... some people don't have the equipment where you can hear the difference and some have better equipment....

Well, it was an official MQA & Onkyo certified listening booth at a HiFi show manned by what appeared to be for all intents and purposes, real frAuiophiles (i.e., they had golden ears and were proud of it). My ears are pretty good and I was in control of the DAP (Onkyo). I also did not know where I was on the MQA "dial". No difference in the music. The difference between plebeian play back and MQA should have been striking.

Instead, MQA struck out...And like I stated, I refuse to strain at a Bit to swallow a lie.

ORT

 

[Dixter]

Well, it was an official MQA & Onkyo certified listening booth at a HiFi show manned by what appeared to be for all intents and purposes, real frAuiophiles (i.e., they had golden ears and were proud of it). My ears are pretty good and I was in control of the DAP (Onkyo). I also did not know where I was on the MQA "dial". No difference in the music. The difference between plebeian play back and MQA should have been striking.

Instead, MQA struck out...And like I stated, I refuse to strain at a Bit to swallow a lie.

ORT

Cool... good for ya.... later

 

[tjlindle]

Nice, this will be a definite pickup if impressions/reviews don't reveal any dealbreakers.

 

[dmac6419]

what do you think of the new Atmos formats coming from Apple Music and Tidal these days....

Put em on the spot.

 

[QuasiSpecies]

Excited to try this!
Great to see some products finally ditching MQA.

Are we winning?!?

 

[lantian]

Are we winning?!?

Would say yes, now we finally don't have to pay extra for a future most of doesn't use or even want. This is best thing a consumer can hope for. Wish everyone would offer this, including dap makers. Would even go further and ditch Bluetooth, wifi in all these devices as well.
In a perfect world every manufacturer would offer their dacs and daps with two sku's one with mqa, Bluetooth, wifi and one with just pure focus on music without all these features.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Why on earth would people wish to have no Bluetooth or WiFi? They unquestionably sound as good as wired connections and are astoundingly convenient. The days of poor quality Bluetooth are long in the rearview mirror. There isn't a snowballs chance in h*ll that anybody listening to music for hours on end would ever hear a difference when I stream from my phone via Bluetooth to my Gustard X16 or connect via USB. I have very nice speakers, a nice room, great high quality music, a very clean amplifier and I have totally passed up using wired connection because it offers absolutely zero advantages, actually it is a detriment as it is so inconvenient.