Skip to main content
What Hifi What Hifi What Hi-Fi? THE WORLD'S #1 TECH BUYER'S GUIDE
Subscribe
RSS
(opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
What Hi-Fi Magazine Subscription
(opens in new tab)
What Hi-Fi Magazine... (opens in new tab)
Why subscribe?
  • The best home entertainment buying advice
  • In-depth, unbiased, expert reviews
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$21.45
(opens in new tab)
View (opens in new tab)
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Best Buys
  • Deals
  • Advice
  • Features
  • Awards
  • Forum
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletter
    • Sound+Image
    • Australian Hi-Fi
    • About Us

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. Home
  2. News
Sponsored

MQA: How to turn your listening room into the world’s greatest recording studio

By Will Findlater

Here’s the home hi-fi kit you need to create the sound your favourite artists always wanted you to hear

The convenience of music streaming has never been in doubt – nobody disputes the attractiveness of instant access to a vast library of music, available on demand.

What has concerned discerning listeners is the resulting quality of the streamed sound. Compressing digital audio files to a size that makes them easily streamed has always impacted negatively on sound quality. Or, at least, it has until now.

Related: MQA: How origami delivers the true sound of the studio

MQA technology delivers the music lover’s nirvana: the convenience of music streaming, with truly uncompromised sound quality. By focusing on preserving the timing data contained in the original master recording, MQA claims to deliver the authentic sound of the studio: fidelity the like of which has always been beyond music streaming technology.

MQA is a method of storing huge amounts of time-accurate digital audio data in lossless files such as WAV, FLAC or ALAC. That means just about any product will play MQA files, and benefit from their claimed better-than-CD sound quality. But those with MQA-ready hardware can also dig out the extra data that’s folded, origami-like, into the file

Related: MQA: How to get outstanding sound when you’re out and about – or in the office

MQA Full Decoders: the complete MQA experience at home

For the fullest possible MQA experience, allowing access to the entirety of the information inside a file, you need an MQA ‘Full Decoder’.

There is a range of MQA Full Decoders already available, from mainstream leaders like Bluesound, NAD and Technics to high-end heroes such as Aurender, Bel Canto, Brinkmann, Cary Audio, Meridian, MSB, Mytek, Onkyo and Pioneer. They fall into several camps, including hi-fi DAC/pre-amplifiers (such as Mytek’s Brooklyn), music players/streamers (like Aurender’s TIDAL-streaming A10) and hybrids of the two (Meridian’s 818v3, for example).

Each product offers precise file and platform-specific DAC compensation and management, unfolding and converting every bit of data contained in the MQA file. And they each include a visual cue – a light, or an on-screen graphic – to show you that they are playing back the MQA file at its fullest resolution.

Related: How to bring MQA into your musical life

Partnered with amplification and speakers or headphones capable of conveying the fidelity of the signal they output, the sound they create is certified as the authentic sound of the studio: ready to transport you from your listening room to the mastering suite.

>> To find out more about MQA, click here

What Hi-Fi? Newsletter

Sign up below to get the latest from What Hi-Fi?, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions (opens in new tab) and Privacy Policy (opens in new tab) and are aged 16 or over.
Will Findlater
Social Links Navigation
0
  1. The 17 best stereo amps available in the US, all tried and tested by yours truly
    1
    Best stereo amplifiers 2023: the 17 best integrated amps for all budgets
  2. 2
    Best Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray players 2023: budget to premium disc players
  3. 3
    Best 65-inch TVs 2023 budget to premium big screens
  4. 4
    Best CD players 2023: CD players for every budget
  5. 5
    Best record players 2023: best turntables for every budget
What Hi-Fi Magazine Subscription
(opens in new tab)
  • ●
What Hi-Fi Magazine... (opens in new tab)
  • The best home entertainment buying advice
From$21.45
(opens in new tab)
View (opens in new tab)

What Hi-Fi? is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab).

  • Terms and conditions (opens in new tab)
  • Privacy policy (opens in new tab)
  • Cookies policy (opens in new tab)
  • About us (opens in new tab)
  • Contact us (opens in new tab)
  • Brands (opens in new tab)
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers (opens in new tab)

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.