With the recent release of MQA firmware updates for Meridian Audio products, and with other companies poised to release MQA-capable playback systems in the near future, the question you may well be asking is, “Where can I find MQA files to listen to?” The answer is: from Norway.
First out of the gate with an extensive MQA catalogue is Grammy®-Award-nominated producer Morten Lindberg’s Norwegian label 2L, whose store already has over 130 MQA-encoded albums available right now, with more being added over the coming period.
2L’s collection features Norwegian composers and performers, an international repertoire – and a Nordic accent. The label has garnered no less than 23 Grammy Award nominations since 2006, 16 of these in the Best Engineered Album, Best Surround Sound Album and Producer of the Year categories. These innovative recordings overturn some very basic concepts regarding how music is played – and even how it’s composed.
Morten has personally selected seven albums for MQA listeners that he feels particularly demonstrate how the system reproduces the natural, authentic sound of the original performance, several of which are Grammy-nominated – follow the links to learn more:
Arnesen: Magnificat – Nidaros Cathedral’s Girls Choir & Trondheim Soloists (2016 Grammy nominee)
Quiet Winter Night – Hoff Ensemble (2012 Grammy Nominee)
Piano Improvisations – Ola Gjeilo
SPES (2016 Grammy nominee)
Hymn To The Virgin – Schola Cantorum (2013 Grammy Nominee)
Carl Nielsen: Piano Music – Christian Eggen
Stille Lys: Quiet Light – Jan Gunnar Hoff
Says Morten, “I have spent many hours with Bob Stuart, listening to original recordings and am constantly amazed by the incredible sense of space and clarity brought by MQA.”
Eggen Neilsen album coverFor additional notes on the Neilsen album, click here. MQA creator Bob Stuart said: “Using MQA, this recording is a total revelation! You can clearly hear the instrument timbre, the room, the piano action, Christian’s technique, and - the point of it all - we get lost in the music. You’ll hear an incredible sense of space and clarity in this recording.”
In addition to 2L’s 130-plus MQA recordings available for purchase, Morten has made some free MQA files available on their “hi-res test bench”, including excerpts from some of the recordings listed above. The demo files are often available in both MQA and non-MQA versions, so it’s easy to experience the difference.
If you’re listening with a Meridian Explorer 2 or Prime, be sure to use a suitable bit-accurate player, such as foobar2000 with WASAPI component for Windows, or Audirvana for Macintosh.
Source: Press Release
