Published
Fri, Jan 6, 2017, 15:48
- The format plays on all devices but additional products are required to access full fidelity.
Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) audio is now supported by the Tidal streaming service.
Originally introduced in 2014 by Meridian Audio, MQA is a lossy codec that makes 48kHz/24-bit audio sound like a lossless file through a series of complex techniques. It has been described as "audio origami" where higher frequencies are "folded" into lower ones by downsampling, resulting in a smaller file size, before being "unfolded" to full fidelity. The end result is that hi-res audio can be delivered in significantly smaller sizes than lossless formats like FLAC and DSD.
Tidal announced at the CES 2017 tech conference in Las Vegas that the format will be available to subscribers of its Hi-fi tier. The companies spoke of such a partnership back in 2015. Record labels will need to master releases specifically to support MQA, with Warner Music being one of the few early adopters. While MQA can play on any device, unlike FLAC for instance, dedicated hi-fi devices are required to support its highest possibility fidelity, according to Tech Radar. The same is true of smartphones, which require third party apps for hi-fi playback. Otherwise, MQA files will play at CD-level quality.