Meridian Squashes Hi-Res Files

Meridian have announced a new lossless format aimed at making hi-res music more compact for streaming purposes - MQA. 4.6Mbps drops to 1Mbps.

Meridian MQA Press Release at WHF

Is seems as though this can be carried inside a standard FLAC, WAV or ALAC type container. No mention of who they are partnered with on the content provider side, but it looks interesting.

The article at Stuff seems to suggest that a compatible device is needed, but non-compatible devices will play the file at CD quality.

Stuff Mag


The "A" in MQA stands for authenticated.  Which is a bit worrying, but if it is only used for streaming, I guess the ability to use the music across multiple devices is about apps not about portability of encrypted files.