MQA

MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) is a (supposedly lossless but actually) lossy compressed audio format that supposedly achieves better compression and higher sound quality than other formats such as FLAC, though just how any lossless audio format would have higher sound quality than any other (given that they all encode the same data) is unclear. It claims to preserve "timing data" that is lost in other formats (then they're not lossless?). Apparently the MQA files can be stored and transmitted in the format of existing audio file formats so as to remain compatible with existing software and devices, though it takes a specifically "MQA supporting" device to take advantage of the supposed enhanced quality. The official website is longer on marketing hype than technical detail, however.

Its developers are apparently based in the United Kingdom.

Links

 * Official site
 * Article on it
 * Review and explanation
 * Critical commentary
 * YouTube - I published music on Tidal to test MQA - MQA Review - A deep dive into MQA, and its problems