--- title: "What Is MQA? How It Works and Where It Stands Now" description: "What MQA is, how its folding and unfolding works, why engineers call it lossy, what changed after Tidal moved to FLAC, and whether MQA matters on a DAC." url: "https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/mqa/" type: "article" author: "Jakub Charkiewicz" published: "2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z" modified: "2026-09-29T00:00:00.000Z" --- > Markdown rendering of https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/mqa/ > Canonical URL to cite: https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/mqa/ > Generated from the published page. Text and links only; see the HTML for layout. Breadcrumb: [Home](https://theaudiostuff.com/) > [Glossary](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/) > MQA # What is MQA, and does it still matter? {#term-title} MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) is a proprietary format that folds a high-resolution recording into a file not much larger than a CD-quality one, which a compatible player or DAC unfolds again. It was sold as master quality in a streamable package. It is lossy, its largest streaming partner moved to lossless FLAC, and today MQA support is a minor line on a DAC's spec sheet. - By [Jakub Charkiewicz](https://theaudiostuff.com/authors/jakub-charkiewicz/) - Published Sep 26, 2026 - Updated Sep 29, 2026 - 4 min read ## Glossary definition {#term-define-title} - **MQA**: Master Quality Authenticated, a proprietary lossy compression format claiming to preserve master-quality information in a smaller file. Critics argue it adds distortion and serves rights-holder DRM more than fidelity; Tidal removed MQA from its catalogue in 2024. ## What MQA set out to do {#what-mqa-set-out-to-do} In the mid-2010s, streaming a true high-resolution file, 24-bit at 96 or 192 kHz, took several times the bandwidth of CD quality. [MQA](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/#mqa), developed at Meridian Audio and launched in 2014, proposed a way around that. The file would stay close to CD size, with the extra high-frequency information hidden inside it, so an ordinary player would play it at roughly CD quality and an MQA-aware one would recover more. The name made a second claim: authentication. An MQA file was meant to confirm that what you heard was what the studio had approved, signaled by an indicator light on a certified [DAC](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/dac/). Its originators, Bob Stuart and Peter Craven, described the idea as one managed chain from the studio's converter to the listener's DAC, in which the [sample rate](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/sample-rate/) and [bit depth](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/bit-depth/) of each link could change along the way. MQA also claimed that its processing reduced the time smearing added by conventional converter filters, which it called deblurring. That claim was disputed from the start. ## How the folding and unfolding work {#how-the-folding-and-unfolding-work} MQA splits the audio by frequency. The content above about 24 kHz, which a 48 kHz file can't hold at its normal [sample rate](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/sample-rate/), is coded at reduced [resolution](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/#resolution) and tucked into the lowest bits of the file, below the level of the music. MQA called this folding "origami". Playback happens in stages. A core decoder, often software in a streaming app, performs the first unfold to 88.2 or 96 kHz. A renderer in the DAC, or a full decoder, completes it and applies MQA's own [digital filters](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/#digital-filter). Without any decoder you hear a roughly CD-quality stream with a little extra noise in its lowest bits, where the folded data sits. The [bit depth](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/bit-depth/) explainer covers why those bits normally hold the quietest part of the music. MQA-CD applies the same idea to a disc. It is an ordinary 16-bit, 44.1 kHz audio CD that plays in any CD player, with MQA data in its lowest bits, and a DAC that decodes MQA can unfold it when a transport sends it the untouched bitstream over a digital connection. ## Why engineers criticized it {#why-engineers-criticized-it} The main objection is that MQA is lossy. The folded band is coded at lower resolution, and bits that would carry music in a normal file carry that data instead, so the decoded result is not the original. Independent tests with signals outside MQA's assumptions about real music found output that differed from the input, which sat badly with the words "master quality". [FLAC](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/#flac), by contrast, reproduces the original file bit for bit. The filters drew comment too. An MQA renderer replaces the DAC's own reconstruction filter with MQA's, which are short and roll off gently, trading some aliasing and [imaging](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/imaging/) for less ringing. That is a known engineering compromise, and it takes a decision away from the DAC's designer. Licensing was the third issue. Every step, from the studio encoder to the decoder in the DAC, needed a paid license, and the indicator light confirmed that an MQA stream had arrived intact, which says nothing about whether it sounds better than the lossless original. Much of the argument was about control over the distribution chain. ## Where MQA stands now {#where-mqa-stands-now} MQA Limited entered administration in April 2023, according to its record at Companies House, the UK company register, and has since been renamed Wave Realisations. Its technology passed to Lenbrook, the company behind NAD and Bluesound. Tidal, the service that carried most MQA content, moved its high-resolution tier to FLAC and finished removing MQA in 2024. The major streaming services that offer high resolution today deliver it as lossless [PCM](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/dsd/#how-pcm-differs-and-why-studios-work-in-it). ## Does MQA support still matter on a DAC? {#does-mqa-support-still-matter-on-a-dac} For most buyers, very little. If you stream from a lossless service or play your own FLAC files, MQA decoding does nothing for you. It matters only if you own MQA-encoded downloads or MQA-CDs and want them fully unfolded. The site's DAC reviews record it either way, because it is a fact about the product. The [SMSL DL100](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/smsl-dl100/) and [SMSL DO100 PRO](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/smsl-do100-pro/) both decode MQA and MQA-CD. The [SMSL RAW-MDA1](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/smsl-raw-mda1/) does too, and its review calls the feature not very useful for a reviewer whose library is lossless. The [Henry Audio DA 256](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/henry-audio-da-256/) leaves out MQA and [DSD](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/dsd/) altogether, and plays PCM up to 24-bit/192 kHz on every input. If you want to know whether a file sold as high resolution carries real content above the CD band, the [hi-res audio checker](https://theaudiostuff.com/tools/hires-audio-checker/) draws its spectrum in the browser. The [DAC guide](https://theaudiostuff.com/guides/best-dacs/) ranks converters by what they do with ordinary PCM, which is almost everything you'll play. ## Reviewed gear that shows this {#term-products-title} 3 reviews in the catalogue. Each score is set against its own category's reference. - [![SMSL DL100 with its display reading OFF, a hand on the volume knob and 6.35 mm and 4.4 mm jacks at left](https://theaudiostuff.com/images/thumb/smsl-dl100-front-panel-160.avif) SMSL DL100 Recommended $179 Score 8.2 out of 10](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/smsl-dl100/) - [![SMSL DO100 PRO with 44.1 lit on its glossy display, a Hi-Res Audio Wireless sticker on top and a round knob](https://theaudiostuff.com/images/thumb/smsl-do100-pro-front-display-160.avif) SMSL DO100 PRO Recommended $219 Score 8.0 out of 10](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/smsl-do100-pro/) - [![SMSL RAW-MDA1 with its glass display switched off, a ribbed knob at right and two headphone jacks at left](https://theaudiostuff.com/images/thumb/smsl-raw-mda1-front-display-160.avif) SMSL RAW-MDA1 Recommended $239 Score 8.0 out of 10](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/smsl-raw-mda1/) ## What our reviews say about MQA {#term-said-title} 3 reviews raise it in their pros and cons: 2 lines credit it and 1 faults it. each quoted as its review states it. - Strength: MQA / MQA-CD, DSD256, DoP support - [SMSL DL100](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/smsl-dl100/), 8.2/10 - Flaw: No DSD, no MQA, and PCM stops at 24-bit/192 kHz - [Henry Audio DA 256](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/henry-audio-da-256/), 8.2/10 - Strength: MQA / MQA-CD decoding, DSD512, PCM 32-bit/768kHz - [SMSL DO100 PRO](https://theaudiostuff.com/reviews/smsl-do100-pro/), 8.0/10 ## Compared head to head {#term-h2h-title} Comparisons between products on this page, each weighing the two reviews side by side. - [Henry Audio DA 256 vs SMSL DO100 PRO](https://theaudiostuff.com/compare/henry-audio-da-256-vs-smsl-do100-pro/) - [Henry Audio DA 256 vs SMSL RAW-MDA1](https://theaudiostuff.com/compare/henry-audio-da-256-vs-smsl-raw-mda1/) - [SMSL DL100 vs SMSL DO100 PRO](https://theaudiostuff.com/compare/smsl-dl100-vs-smsl-do100-pro/) - [SMSL DL100 vs SMSL RAW-MDA1](https://theaudiostuff.com/compare/smsl-dl100-vs-smsl-raw-mda1/) ## Put it to use {#term-use-title} - [Analyzer Is this file really hi-res? FLAC & Hi-Res Audio Checker](https://theaudiostuff.com/tools/hires-audio-checker/) - [Buying guide Best DACs This guide is for anyone adding a DAC under $2,000 to a desk, a TV or a hi-fi rack, and its picks run from $29 to €1,600. 8 ranked picks, led by the Denafrips Enyo 15th Anniversary](https://theaudiostuff.com/guides/best-dacs/) ## Sources and further reading {#term-sources-title} - [RFC 9639: Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9639.html) Standard Internet Engineering Task Force The IETF specification of FLAC, the lossless format that reproduces the original audio bit for bit. - [Stuart and Craven (2014): A hierarchical approach to archiving and distribution](https://aes.org/publications/elibrary/elibrary-page/?id=17501) Paper Audio Engineering Society MQA's originators' paper: a distribution chain where sample rate and bit depth vary per link, managed end to end. - [Companies House: MQA Limited insolvency record](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09123512/insolvency) Public record Companies House The UK register: MQA Limited, since renamed Wave Realisations, entered administration on 3 April 2023. - [Wikipedia: Master Quality Authenticated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Quality_Authenticated) Encyclopedia Wikipedia ## Keep reading {#term-more-title} - ### [DAC](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/dac/) Digital-to-Analog Converter, a device that translates binary audio data into an analog electrical signal that can be amplified and heard. - ### [DSD](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/dsd/) Direct Stream Digital, a 1-bit, high-sample-rate audio format used on SACD, encoding audio through rapid single-bit switching rather than multi-bit PCM words. - ### [Sample Rate](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/sample-rate/) How many audio samples are captured per second; 44.1kHz captures frequencies up to 22.05kHz (Nyquist limit), well above the 20kHz hearing limit. - [The full audio glossary](https://theaudiostuff.com/glossary/) - [How we test](https://theaudiostuff.com/about/how-we-test/) Written by ## [Jakub Charkiewicz](https://theaudiostuff.com/authors/jakub-charkiewicz/) {#term-author-title} Founder & lead reviewer Writing for The Audio Stuff since May 2023 [Everything by Jakub](https://theaudiostuff.com/authors/jakub-charkiewicz/) [@TheAudioStuff](https://www.youtube.com/@TheAudioStuff) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakub-charkiewicz) [Report a correction](mailto:contact@theaudiostuff.com?subject=Correction%3A%20MQA%20explainer&body=Page%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Ftheaudiostuff.com%2Fglossary%2Fmqa%2F%0A%0AWhat%20looks%20wrong%2C%20and%20where%20you%20read%20the%20right%20figure%20(if%20you%20have%20a%20source)%3A%0A%0A)