TIDAL Adds Millions of Tracks to Its Masters Catalog, Makes Finding MQA Tracks Easier Than Ever

(November 12, 2020) TIDAL and MQA have fostered a healthy relationship over the last several years, injecting TIDAL’s Masters Catalog with MQA’s spin on Hi-Res Music. Today, TIDAL announced it's adding millions of new MQA tracks thanks to Warner Music Group. HiFi subscribers can now enjoy Masters-grade access to albums from famous artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Madonna, Missy Elliot, and LCD Soundsystem.

“By paying great attention to the nature of sound and the way we hear, MQA opens a clear window and delivers all the detail and nuance of the original song,” explains MQA’s Founder, Bob Stuart. “The music industry’s catalog contains millions of significant performances from the early days of CD where, sometimes, the recording was created in 44.1kHz 16bit and where no alternative existed. We are delighted that Warner Music Group is bringing this content to TIDAL.”

TIDAL says interest in MQA tracks has been on the rise, with MQA users doubling since 2019. As a result, it's currently streaming 40% more tracks in MQA as compared to last year. To better service these Hi-Res seekers, TIDAL has created ‘Master Edition’ Artist Radio and Track Radio, both containing uninterrupted playback of MQA quality songs, and “The Master Edition of My New Arrivals.” The latter is an intelligently generated playlist of new music featuring tracks in full Master quality.

Customers paying for TIDAL’s HiFi tier also have access to a new “Connect” feature. With the press of a button, Masters-grade music can be streamed in full resolution to devices from Bluesound, Cambridge Audio, DALI, KEF, iFi Audio, Lyngdorf, Monitor, NAD, and Naim Audio. For more information on Connect, visit TIDAL.com/Connect.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Can you hear a difference between MQA and other Hi-Res? If so, curious to know what you listen for?

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I tried, but could tell no difference between my CD decoded via dBpoweramp, Tidal MQA, Tidal non MQA and qobuz... all sounded exactly the same to me on the same tracks. They all sounded fabulous. It would be hard to get any better than what I was hearing. You'll have to have those really good ears to hear the difference, that is for sure.

 

[Grayson Dere]

Great news that Tidal and Warner Music Group are collaborating. Thanks for sharing, Todd!

 

[Todd Anderson]

I know what you’re taking about, @Witchdoctor. It’s hard to put into words! I’ve tried to A/B material without a tremendous amount of luck. Going to give it another shot

 

[Todd Anderson]

Great news! I love the good vibes you're spreading, @Witchdoctor! We need some good news right now! :-)

 

[tesseract]

I am, as I always have, enjoying MQA tracks. I appreciate the effort to capture the master, hi-rez codec aside. I don't have the requisite gear to "unfold", anyway.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Wish I could hear what you guys hear, but at least it all sound fabulous to me.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I just came from a long thread on the Roon forum where guys are seriously disappointed in MQA.

I guess there are those that love what it does, and there are those that hate what it does... then there is those like me... who simply enjoy either one.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I rarely ... very very rarely listen to music except in my listening room or my truck... unless it's just background music on our back porch or in the back yard, at our cabin, etc. I do the headphone thing all along, but not often.

Here's another interesting read on MQA... https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/163302855-is-mqa-doa

I have several albums in my library that are MQA that I listen to. Not because they are MQA, but because I like the music and want it in my library, and it just happened be MQA. I still have no preference... it all sounds really good to me. I'm actually thinking about getting a pair of the Benchmark amps, which is how I stumbled across the MQA article. Imagine that... I can't differences in amps and considering a pair of these.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I found the same thing... very cool.