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    <p>Dear Bob L. I have written to Bob Stuart but not gotten any
      response yet. Of course I want to audition MQA, but I'm using a
      digital crossover, and for stereo I have 4 channels of DAC so I
      need a digital MQA "decoder". Any thoughts on that?</p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <p>Bob K.</p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <br>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/9/16 11:24 AM, Robert Ludwig
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote cite="mid:4B456A46-513F-4BA1-BEFF-948CE46D9464@mac.com"
      type="cite">
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      Hi Ian,
      <div class=""><br class="">
      </div>
      <div class="">Just to reiterate, Thomas is 100% right in my
        opinion, needlessly crushing music is by FAR the #1 item that
        needs to be fixed for better sound, nothing else matters when
        you start with unsatisfying music.  However, assuming you’ve got
        great sounding music, then all the rest comes in to play!<br
          class="">
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">The TIDAL MQA material isn’t officially launched
          yet, but Bob Stuart said there are people who know the URL
          that would get one to the beta site.</div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">I don’t know how much you know about MQA, but it
          is several “things” under one MQA name.  It is an audio
          de-blur algorithm, it is a “folding” or <u class="">data</u>
          compressing algorithm folding 384 kHz or less into either a
          44.1kHz or 48kHz/24 bit file (which can be streamed at 1 -
          1.3MB/sec) and it is a digital copy protection scheme where
          theoretically you could make a one-off DAC that is coded to
          your converter and only people with the same converter could
          hear the music!</div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">As far as MQA examples go, without an MQA DAC you
          can’t hear the whole thing, but one could hear some of the
          results of the de-blur process using a normal converter.  I’m
          trying to see if I can find you a before and after example.
           I’ll get back to you.</div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">In the mean time, you can check out Morten
          Lindberg's 2L label “test bench”.  Even though he is recording
          at 352.8kHz, Morten still finds the MQA to create a superior
          sound.</div>
        <div class="">It’s a mind blower to see a 44.1kHz/24 bit file
          feed the MQA converter and the resulting FFT goes right out to
          176.4kHz!!</div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class=""><a moz-do-not-send="true"
            href="http://www.2l.no/hires/index.html?" class="">http://www.2l.no/hires/index.html?</a></div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">Best,</div>
        <div class="">Bob</div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">
          <div class=""><br class="">
            <div>
              <blockquote type="cite" class="">
                <div class="">On May 8, 2016, at 6:20 PM, Ian Shepherd
                  <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
                    href="mailto:ian@mastering-media.co.uk" class="">ian@mastering-media.co.uk</a>>
                  wrote:</div>
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                    Bob L,
                    <div class=""><br class="">
                    </div>
                    <div class="">Can you recommend a release that
                      really highlights the benefits of MQA ? Is there a
                      way to tell which files on TIDAL are encoded with
                      MQA ? And is there a converter you’d recommend ? </div>
                    <div class=""><br class="">
                    </div>
                    <div class="">Although I’m afraid Thomas may well be
                      right, I’m curious to give it a try.</div>
                    <div class=""><br class="">
                    </div>
                    <div class="">Ian</div>
                    <div class=""><br class="">
                    </div>
                    <div class=""><br class="">
                    </div>
                    <div class=""><br class="">
                    </div>
                    <div class=""><br class="">
                      <div class="">
                        <blockquote type="cite" class="">
                          <div class="">On 8 May 2016, at 14:27, Bob
                            Katz <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
                              href="mailto:bobkatz@digido.com" class="">bobkatz@digido.com</a>>
                            wrote:</div>
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                              <p class="">Guys: <br class="">
                              </p>
                              <p class=""><br class="">
                              </p>
                              <p class="">It's a good thing I buy my
                                music either on CD or from HD tracks or
                                similar vendors. I only buy the AAC from
                                the iTunes store when one of my clients
                                wants me to reference a CD that I don't
                                have and I have to listen to it "now".
                                If then I like that music, then I go out
                                and buy it, usually on CD. Amazon has
                                become my major vendor, I pity the brick
                                and mortar stores, though Best Buy seems
                                to be hanging on, they don't have the CD
                                collection I can get online from Amazon.
                                I can then transfer the CD into iTunes
                                and use on my iPhone if I like. <br
                                  class="">
                              </p>
                              <p class="">For my highest-sonic-quality
                                personal entertainment on my iPhone I
                                use an incredible app called HFPlayer
                                from Onkyo..... in conjunction with an
                                Oppo DAC that connects via Lightning
                                directly to the iPhone and plays any
                                high res. flac files I have on the
                                iPhone up to 384 kHz/24 bit (and also
                                plays DSD directly into the ESS Sabre
                                DAC in the Oppo DAC).... It beats the
                                crap out of the Astel and Kearn stuff
                                that is so unreliable and
                                uber-expensive. <br class="">
                              </p>
                              <p class="">Bob L., I tried the Astel and
                                Kearn player and got it to crash in 15
                                minutes, three times before I called it
                                flakey. And their communication with
                                their dealers and reps is exremely
                                shakey. I do not like this company. If
                                they wanted to make a dependable music
                                player, why did they pick the Android
                                operating system?<br class="">
                              </p>
                              <p class="">Also, sorry, Neil Young, this
                                Oppo/iPhone combination beats the Pono
                                because I can also take phone calls 
                                :-(. If I'm jogging or don't want to
                                carry the DAC, the HF Player will
                                downsample the high res material so it
                                will work out of the iPhone's regular
                                headphone jack. <br class="">
                              </p>
                              <p class="">Tip: the Oppo PM-3 headphones
                                are killers! Maybe the most accurate and
                                impacting headphones you can get and
                                carry with you to play music. <br
                                  class="">
                              </p>
                              <p class="">If you want to salivate about
                                the best portable playback on earth, in
                                my opinion, read my review of the Oppo
                                pieces and the HF plyaer: visit
                                <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                                  class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/katzs-corner-episode-11-oppo-explosion#RiXt3ToxveQ4BMf5.97">http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/katzs-corner-episode-11-oppo-explosion#RiXt3ToxveQ4BMf5.97</a>      
                                These PM-3 headphones have bass that
                                goes down to the center of the earth,
                                are extremely accurate and tonally
                                neutral....  With a little of the 64-bit
                                EQ in the HF-player you can get even
                                more accurate playback.... and the Oppo
                                DAC/headphone amp is clean and punchy
                                and open....  <br class="">
                              </p>
                              <p class="">I have tons of high res flacs
                                that fit in a 64 GB iPhone. If Apple
                                lost for me the purchased AAC music that
                                I have from the iTunes store I'd be
                                pissed, but not that pissed because I
                                just don't have that much money invested
                                in AAC material I bought from the iTunes
                                store. It seems to me that music must be
                                in the iPhone backup that's on my Mac,
                                though, isn't it????  I'm only
                                semi-attached to the cloud. I use icloud
                                for Notes, Calendar, etc., but not for
                                music (I think). I share my iTunes
                                library with a few OSX computers....
                                maybe that's through iCloud?  Yuk....</p>
                              <p class=""><br class="">
                              </p>
                              <p class="">Bob K.</p>
                              <p class=""><br class="">
                              </p>
                              <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/7/16
                                2:39 PM, Thomas Lund wrote:<br class="">
                              </div>
                              <blockquote
                                cite="mid:BAAC7455-B634-4085-9C85-C36CAEC83C3D@lund.one"
                                type="cite" class="">
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                                Hi Bob,
                                <div class=""><br class="">
                                </div>
                                <div class="">This casual treatment of
                                  tracks fits with what I'm seeing in
                                  iTunes. One has to actively disable
                                  cloud replacement time after time so
                                  iTunes doesn’t steal your known-good
                                  tracks. From Tidal I’ve heard how
                                  record companies require them to carry
                                  only the newest (crappiest) version of
                                  a track, and make sure originals
                                  aren’t available.</div>
                                <div class=""><br class="">
                                </div>
                                <div class="">Compared to such
                                  demolishment, I’m afraid MQA is a
                                  sheer marketing detail which is bound
                                  to disappoint consumers just like the
                                  myriad of previous attempts at
                                  promising “hidef". 24 bit, 16 bit, 14
                                  bit, 12 bit resolution: Doesn’t
                                  matter. Dither or not: Doesn’t matter.
                                  Sample rate DSD, 192k, 96, 48, 44.1k:
                                  Doesn’t matter. Lossless, 320k, 256k,
                                  128k: Doesn’t matter. The version of a
                                  track/squashing is what generally
                                  matters.</div>
                                <div class=""><br class="">
                                </div>
                                <div class="">cheers,</div>
                                <div class="">Thomas</div>
                                <div class=""><br class="">
                                </div>
                                <div class=""><br class="">
                                  <div class="">
                                    <blockquote type="cite" class="">
                                      <div class="">On 07/05/2016, at
                                        00.20, Robert Ludwig <<a
                                          moz-do-not-send="true"
                                          class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:gatewaybob@mac.com"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gatewaybob@mac.com">gatewaybob@mac.com</a></a>> wrote:</div>
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                                          <div class=""><a
                                              moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/05/apple-music-isnt-deleting-music-libraries.html"
                                              class=""><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/05/apple-music-isnt-deleting-music-libraries.html">http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/05/apple-music-isnt-deleting-music-libraries.html</a></a></div>
                                          <div class=""><br class="">
                                          </div>
                                          <div class="">I think this
                                            article explains it pretty
                                            well.  It isn’t as horrible
                                            as the blog describes, but
                                            it is still taking <u
                                              class="">way</u> too much
                                            control for me to ever want
                                            to use their service.</div>
                                          <div class=""><br class="">
                                          </div>
                                          <div class="">BTW, Tidal has
                                            300 albums with MQA so with
                                            an MQA converter you can
                                            hear streaming 96kHz or even
                                            352.8kHz music!</div>
                                          <div class="">MQA is really
                                            revolutionary.</div>
                                          <div class=""><br class="">
                                          </div>
                                          <div class="">Best,</div>
                                          <div class="">Bob L.</div>
                                          <div class=""><br class="">
                                          </div>
                                          <div class=""><br class="">
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                                          <br class="">
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                                                  class="moz-cite-prefix">On
                                                  5/6/16 5:01 PM, Grimm
                                                  | Eelco wrote:<br
                                                    class="">
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                                                  <pre class="" wrap="">Dear friends,

If this story is true it is unimaginably horrific. 

<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://blog.vellumatlanta.com/2016/05/04/apple-stole-my-music-no-seriously/">https://blog.vellumatlanta.com/2016/05/04/apple-stole-my-music-no-seriously/</a>

Can anyone please tell me it is not true?

Cheers,
Eelco

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                                            <pre class="moz-signature" cols="80"><font class="" face="Courier">
If you want good sound on your album, come to
Bob Katz 407-831-0233 </font><font class="" face="Courier">DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO
Author: <b class="">Mastering Audio              </b></font><font class="" face="Courier">
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.digido.com/" class="">Digital Domain Website</a>

No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However a large number
of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.<font class="" color="#ff0000">
<b class="">Please excuse the weird typing - this message dictated by microphone. Contact me by regular email. </b></font></font></pre>
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                                    href="http://mastering-media.co.uk/"
                                    style="color: blue;" class="">Mastering
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                                  Mastering, Blu-ray and DVD Excellence</div>
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                                          class="">Tel. +44(0)1487
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If you want good sound on your album, come to
Bob Katz 407-831-0233 </font><font face="Courier">DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO
Author: <b>Mastering Audio              </b></font><font face="Courier">
<a href="http://www.digido.com/">Digital Domain Website</a>

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