Master Quality Sound Authentication

MQA aims to “fundamentally change the way we all enjoy music”. It’s a method of digitally capturing and storing original master recordings as files that are small and convenient enough to download or stream, without the sonic sacrifices traditionally associated with compressed files. MQA is available via Tidal and MQA-CD, and products need to support the licensed technology to be able to decode and playback MQA music.

MQA claims its tracks use a similar bandwidth to that required for CD-quality streams. So if you’re able to stream Tidal’s CD-quality Hi-Fi tier with relative ease then the Tidal Masters-inclusive Hi-Fi Plus tier using MQA shouldn’t be a problem.

MQA stands for Master Quality Authentication. MQA encodes or "folds" high resolution master source (up to 352.8kHz) onto a CD, allowing any CD player to deliver more detailed, nuanced playback. When paired with a MQA-decoder, MQA-CD unveils the full master quality, high resolution recording. MQA-CD can be any CD in the family of compact disc such as regular CD, AQCD, HQCDII, UHQCD or Crystal Disc. Certainly MQA-CD plus Crystal Disc is the best of the best among all the CD formats.

Its something you should seek?