MQA: The Emperor's New Clothes?

To Doug Schneider,

Has it not occurred to any within the audio industry that something as “revolutionary” as MQA purports to be should be plainly obvious to everyone and not just those who claim to have listening powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men?

If you have to STRAIN to hear “something” then it is indisputable that “it,” whatever MQA claims “it” is, is not there at all. Kinda sorta like the Emperor's New Clothes. Bob Stuart is the tailor, no . . . it is more truthful to state he is the costumer of this wardrobe.

I am an adult and as such do not desire to sit at the table with the “cool kids” that lay claim to being possessed of the hearing of the gods. Like the Pharisees of old, they strain at a digital bit but swallow the camel that is MQA. Music should bring forth memories. It should make us smile. It should take us back in time and make the present all the more pleasant. It should NOT make us strain to hear the soundtrack of our life. Where is the pleasure in so-called “critical” listening?

It is said that love is friendship set to music. What a beautiful thought.

No one needs to buy the White Album again and, even more importantly, no one needs to be MADE to. To paraphrase a certain company, I want equipment that plays the music I have, not the music I’m being forced to buy.

Follow the money. MQA is naught but the lie of the ENC all over again. I can find my own tailor and BS (Bob Stuart) can stick his needles and digital thread where the sun don’t shine.

In all ways and for always, be well.

Scott S.
United States

I agree, something as sonically revolutionary as some have said that MQA is shouldn’t have us straining to hear the tiniest of differences -- if they are even there at all. Without question, if it’s that good, it should bowl you over. In my opinion, this is likely why the folks at MQA appear to be reluctant to do meaningful comparisons in public. . . . Doug Schneider