Tag: #MQA

Lenbrook Media Group Unveils Plans for MQA Labs

Lenbrook Media Group (LMG), specialists in high resolution audio, has announced a suite of products from the newly formed MQA Labs that bring audio processing enhancements across the music supply chain. AIRIA by MQA Labs™ (also known by its technical name, SCL6) delivers high resolution audio while seamlessly scaling from full lossless to very lossy rates. FOQUS by MQA Labs™ represents an innovative approach for analogue to digital conversion. QRONO by MQA Labs™ brings a variety of audio processing enhancements within playback devices. These technologies are expected to debut in a variety of licensee products before the end of calendar 2025.

Gordon Simmonds, CEO of The Lenbrook Group, LMG’s parent corporation, reflected on the initial decision to acquire the assets of MQA. “These developments confirm our instincts around this team and the value of the IP. While the choice and accessibility of MQA content remains a priority  for us, this was never about a single codec,” he says.

The creation of MQA Labs and its newest product families reflect Lenbrook’s passion to improve the whole audio chain and bring the highest quality recording, distribution and playback technologies to benefit the entire specialty audio industry and its fans.

“The digitization of an analogue signal introduces a range of imperfections to the resulting audio file. One of the most common and critical is something often referred to as time smearing – when the resolution of two sounds is reduced because their timing is incorrectly reproduced within the digital file,” explains Greg Stidsen, Chief Technology Officer at Lenbrook. “MQA Labs’ team are experts in time-domain audio improvements, having invented many of the techniques to avoid or eliminate such audio defects.”

Two of the new product families will address the issue head on: FOQUS, which tackles the analogue to digital processes, and QRONO, which will address converting digital back to analogue.

The third product family is among the most anticipated of LMG’s future products. Previously known by its technical name, SCL6, it is a new codec seamlessly ensuring the best resolution possible regardless of bandwidth availability. Now named AIRIA by MQA Labs, the codec was developed to transform audio across wireless connections. Most recently, LMG successfully completed pilots for use as a distribution codec – perfect for streaming services.  As a transmission codec, it shines as a high-resolution codec with dramatic operational savings and reliability.

Early response from the industry around these new products has been positive.

“We are inspired by the reactions of our partners who are incorporating these technologies into their products,” explains Mike Jbara, Vice President & GM of LMG. “This is a milestone moment for us. We are committed to receiving and applying feedback from the market in how we apply our technologies and ensuring they are more flexible and accessible throughout the music supply chain.”

PSB Speakers, Sonical and MQA announce partnership to create next-generation headphones

PSB Speakers, together with hearables start-up Sonical and audio specialists MQA, announced a partnership that will define a new category of high-resolution audio headphones. The product combines high resolution wireless transmission, proven high-fidelity design, and Sonical’s CosmOS platform. Released under the PSB Speakers brand by Q1 2024, it will be the first headphone to feature Sonical’s ear computing platform, enabling a variety of apps and software upgrades. It also includes MQA’s latest technology, SCL6, the most advanced codec for adaptive, high-resolution audio streaming.

CosmOS is Sonical’s revolutionary operating system that runs on powerful low wattage processing cores, bringing unprecedented levels of connectivity and computational power to headphones. CosmOS offers mobile audio product manufacturers the versatility to keep pace with rapidly changing consumer demands for convenience and performance. The integration of Qorvo’s Ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology enables a superior audio experience thanks to UWB’s higher data rate and extremely low latency. Using Antennaware’s UWB antenna directly addresses any issues associated with Body Blocking which could occur with wireless wearable devices.

Canada-based PSB Speakers, a pioneer in psychoacoustics and an early brand to create audiophile grade wireless headphones, will innovate through deep relationships with Sonical and MQA to push the boundaries of mobile listening. The product will utilize MQA’s new technology, SCL6, an innovative, time domain-based codec for the highest quality audio streaming. Developed by industry veteran and MQA founder, Bob Stuart, SCL6 ensures high-resolution sound even at low data rates.

“Given PSB Speakers’ long-time commitment to the science of audio and music listening, it’s a pleasure to be in this partnership which shows the world what CosmOS can do,” says Gary Spittle, Founder and CEO of Sonical.

“Our use of the CosmOS platform to make the world’s first software defined wireless headset and the inclusion of MQA’s adaptive wireless codec helps set a new benchmark for a high resolution, mobile high-fidelity product. We believe this product underscores what Paul Barton and the PSB team have accomplished over the brand’s 50-year history in the pursuit of audio excellence for listeners at home and now on the move,” says Gordon Simmonds, President and CEO of Lenbrook Industries, PSB Speakers’ parent company.

“MQA was founded by one of the great innovators in audio. We design by thinking of the consumer experience first which means we are comfortable challenging the status quo. The vision shared by our partners at PSB Speakers and Sonical, bringing together superior audio quality and the next generation of consumer convenience, makes this a perfect fit for our latest technology SCL6,” says Mike Jbara, CEO of MQA.

BluOS Expands Music Streaming Services and Becomes the First to Bring MQA Content to Internet Radio

BluOS, the premium multi-room music management platform by Lenbrook International, has announced a number of enhancements that will come with today’s release of version 3.14. Users will be prompted to update their BluOS players, at which time they will gain access to three new natively-integrated streaming services, exclusive access to Radio Paradise MQA-encoded audio streams and various performance improvements. The BluOS 3.14 update supports all BluOS Enabled devices from NAD Electronics, Bluesound, DALI Loudspeakers, Monitor Audio, and future products from Peachtree Audio, Roksan and PSB Speakers.

NEW STREAMING SERVICES

Spotify (Free version), SiriusXM and SiriusXM Music for Business join more than 20 other streaming services already available to BluOS users, expanding the variety and sources of audio content that can be enjoyed on BluOS Enabled products.

BluOS, Radio Paradise and MQA Partner to Deliver BluOS Users Exclusive MQA-Encoded Content

Effective with the BluOS 3.14 software update, BluOS user globally will have exclusive access to Radio Paradise MQA-encoded audio, utilizing high-resolution 24-bit masters where available.  Radio Paradise is an independent, listener-supported Internet radio service with a focus on providing the highest quality audio experience to a passionate worldwide audience. This collaboration marks the first time an internet radio station will carry MQA-encoded content.

Spotify (Free version)

In addition to Spotify Premium currently offered to BluOS users, we are pleased to now support the free version of Spotify. Spotify is one of the world’s largest music streaming service providers and features a library of more than 70 million songs. Spotify makes it easy to listen to the songs you love, discover new music and podcasts and creates personalized playlists.

The integration of SiriusXM, the largest audio entertainment company in North America, allows BluOS users in the USA and Canada who are SiriusXM subscribers the ability to browse and select from hundreds of channels of commercial-free music, premier sports talk and live events, and the latest local and world news, on demand, from within the BluOS app.

With BluOS 3.14, Bluesound Professional, the premium distributed audio ecosystem for commercial spaces adds SiriusXM Music for Business to its growing list of commercially licensed streaming music partners. Available to SiriusXM Music for Business subscribers in the USA and Canada, the service offers Bluesound Professional users a curated, licensed audio content to enhance client experiences in retail, hospitality and other commercial spaces.

Other Feature/Maintenance Improvements

The BluOS 3.14 release also includes various feature/maintenance improvements. These include:

  • NAD M33 and T 778 are Roon Ready for music management and streaming
  • New, more intuitive play queue design that deepens the listening experience with enhanced visuals
  • Roon improvements for grouping and signal path reporting
  • Updates to TIDAL, Qobuz, Amazon Music and Deezer
  • Improvements to library indexing for file permissions and handling unreadable audio files
  • Performance improvements for WiFi

Radio Paradise MQA Audio Coming Exclusively to BluOS Players. #MQA #BluOS

Radio Paradise, Lenbrook International and MQA today announced a new hifi internet radio service exclusive to the BluOS platform. Radio Paradise, a listener-supported internet radio station known for its high quality audio streams, is now providing MQA-encoded audio on all four of its mix channels, utilising high-resolution 24-bit masters where available.

Lenbrook International, the owner and developer of the market-leading BluOS high-resolution multi-room platform, has announced that all BluOS devices will receive an update in April 2021 to enable Radio Paradise MQA as a native music streaming option. It will be included in all current and future BluOS Enabled devices from leading audio brands like Bluesound, NAD Electronics, DALI Loudspeakers, Monitor Audio, Roksan, Peachtree and PSB Speakers. The collaboration marks the first time an internet radio station will carry MQA-encoded content.

Screenshot of Radio Paradise’s RP Rock Mix in MQA

“As music lovers and audiophiles ourselves it was a revelation to hear the performance difference in music when encoded into MQA, even when only 16 bit/44 kHz masters are available,” explained Bill Goldsmith, long-time radio personality and founder of Radio Paradise. “It’s a unique opportunity for us to provide improved audio performance to our BluOS listeners who are very serious about their content quality. The team at BluOS has been 100% committed to delivering high-res audio direct to the listening room and has long supported our work at Radio Paradise. Our shared values for best-in-class audio make this collaboration a totally natural evolution.”

“Radio Paradise MQA is the perfect vehicle for the musical curation of Bill and the Radio Paradise team,” says Mike Jbara, CEO of MQA. “We are proud to play a part in helping showcase their talent and expertise alongside our long-time collaborators on the BluOS platform team. The world’s best sounding entertainment is what customers of BluOS have come to expect following their years of leadership and innovation In high-resolution audio.” 

“The BluOS ecosystem has the largest selection of MQA enabled players in the world,” states Gord Simmonds, President & CEO of The Lenbrook Group, the company developing the BluOS platform. “We wanted to offer our discerning customers something they cannot get anywhere else. Now our BluOS family of brands and their global customers have an exclusive 24/7 mix of MQA content at their fingertips. To partner with Bill and Radio Paradise and our MQA friends to offer this great sounding music to our customers, for whom high resolution audio and hifi are paramount, is an outstanding alignment of our shared visions.”