Home | High-End Audio Reviews | Audiophile Shows | Partner Mags | News | Search     

 

  High-End Audiophile Review Magazine & Audio Equipment Reviews

  High-End Audiophile Equipment Reviews
  Gear Reviews, News, Show Reports, And More!

  Celebrating 28 Years Of Service To Music Lovers

 

 

Munich HIGH END Show Report 2015
High End Society Munich Germany
Munich HIGH END Show Report 2015

Meridian's MQA Technology @ HIGH END 2015 


Meridian's MQA Technology

  Meridian's MQA, a compression algorithm that helps reduce the file size of streaming digital audio while retaining higher than mp3 sound quality, is getting more support. The MQA 'supporters' list includes many prominent audio brands, including Arcam, Onkyo, and Jay-Z's TIDAL streaming service to name a few. Their press release used the little " ' " marks so am curious if it is just support as to date there is zero paid licensing of this compression/delivery scheme.

Bob announced that MQA is to be established as a business entity in its own right, entirely separate to Meridian Audio. Makes sense on many levels as a business, just in case... This move enables the newly formed MQA Ltd. to focus fully on licensing its innovative technology, working directly with MQA supporters, perhaps IPO, all the while Meridian Audio continues to concentrate on their audio hardware.

It is great they have so much interest in MQA, yet we're all still waiting for TIDAL and others to actually deploy it. Perhaps MQA will need to be given away for free to gain market share in the beginning, as having a better mouse trap means nothing if you can't get virtually everyone aboard. Being a small niche is ok, yet profits will suffer in the long-run. Time will tell how well this all goes and the market saturation they are able to achieve. It looks to be a very good way to reduce the costs of bandwidth while keeping sound quality, so it could save streaming audio companies money while still delivering high quality audio to their customers. So the costs of MQA might need to be less than the cost of serving up added bandwidth to make this a viable business.

To date virtually none of these online streaming music companies are truly profitable, so what will the added expense of licensing MQA do to their bottom line? Or Meridian could simply just give it away to streaming services and then make the hardware manufacturers foot the bill. Another question that has not been answered is if there is a truly profitable market for the added expense of streaming higher than 320kbs audio due to consumer demand. Time will tell....

Meridian's MQA Technology

Here is a photo of The Absolute Sound's editor Robert Harley talking with Meridian's Bob Stuart.

 

---> Back to main HIGH END 2015 show report page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     
 

Quick Links


Audiophile Review Magazine
High-End Audio Equipment Reviews

 

Equipment Review Archives
Turntables, Cartridges, Etc
Digital Source
Do It Yourself (DIY)
Preamplifiers
Amplifiers
Cables, Wires, Etc
Loudspeakers/ Monitors
Headphones, IEMs, Tweaks, Etc
Superior Audio Gear Reviews

 

Videos
Enjoy the Music.TV

 

Columns
Viewpoint By Roger Skoff
Viewpoint By Steven R. Rochlin
Various Think Pieces
Manufacturer Articles
10 Questions For Manufacturers


Show Reports
Capital Audiofest 2023 Report
Toronto Audiofest 2023 Report
UK Audio Show 2023 Report
Pacific Audio Fest 2023 Report
T.H.E. Show 2023 Report
HIGH END Munich 2023
Australian Hi-Fi Show 2023 Report
AXPONA 2023 Show Report
Salon Audio Montréal Audiofest 2023
CanJam Singapore 2023 Report
Florida Intl. Audio Expo 2023
...More Show Reports

 

Other
Audiophile Contests
Cool Free Stuff For You
Tweaks For Your System
Vinyl Logos For LP Lovers
Lust Pages Visual Beauty

 

Resources & Information
Music Definitions
Hi-Fi Definitions

 


Industry & Music News

High-End Premium Audio & Music News

 

Partner Print Magazines
audioXpress
Australian Hi-Fi Magazine
hi-fi+ Magazine
HiFi Media
Sound Practices
The Absolute Sound
VALVE Magazine

 

For The Press & Industry
About Us
Press Releases
Official Site Graphics

 

Contests & Our Mailing List

Our free newsletter for monthly updates & enter our contests!

 

 

    

Home   |   News   |   Equipment Reviews   |   Press Releases   |   About Us   |   Contact Us

 

All contents copyright©  1995 - 2023  HighEndAudio.com and Enjoy the Music.com®
May not be copied or reproduced without permission.  All rights reserved.