MQA arrives on Astell & Kern music players, new Audiolab DAC and more

By Becky Roberts
published

The streaming technology gets even more ubiquitous

Support for Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) – an audio technology that in recent years has made hi-res audio streaming of networked music files and Tidal Masters a reality – appears to be steaming along at a rate of knots. 

Every technology show seems to be a stage on which MQA can announce new brand partnerships and/or product integrations.

The latest, the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, saw new support for the technology - including from the just-announced trio of new NAD products. The Astell & Kern’s A&ultima SP1000 will be MQA-certified in the next week or so, with more players in the latest A&K range due to receive the update 'soon'.

It is also arriving on Dali’s BluOS-based Callisto wireless speaker system (which we currently have in our test room), while Audiolab’s new 8300CDQ DAC, out later this month, will land MQA-ready.

Krell also plans to integrate MQA into its K-300i amplifier later this year.

A more extensive list of products with MQA support can be found here.

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Becky Roberts
Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10 years in the hi-fi industry, she has been fortunate enough to travel the world to report on the biggest and most exciting brands in hi-fi and consumer tech (and has had the jetlag and hangovers to remember them by). In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.