Master Quality Authenticated (MQA): Redefining the Source for Music

Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) is a revolutionary end-to-end technology that captures and delivers master quality audio in a file that’s small enough to stream or download. And because its source is fully authenticated (by the use of embedded metadata), listeners can be sure they are hearing exactly what the artist recorded and approved in the studio — the same digital music source.
 
After attending several presentations on MQA by Bob Stuart (Meridian Audio and MQA’s founder), we knew we needed to dedicate one of our Standards Review articles to the technology and not wait for further developments — which are happening practically every week. In our June 2016 issue of audioXpress, we featured a complete article on “Master Quality Authenticated (MQA): Redefining the Source for Music.” The article summarizes the scope of Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) technology — the Digital Origami — as Stuart calls it. More than describing the technical foundations, the key objective is to describe why MQA is important and what it can do for music, helping refocus the debate around quality in music distribution and the technology we currently have available.

Given that this is essential reading for anyone interested in following subsequent MQA-enabled product reviews that audioXpress intends to feature, we have decided to make the article available in its entirety.
Click here to read the article PDF.

This article was originally published in audioXpress, June 2016.