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MQA Controversy – A True Audio Breakthrough? Or a Marketing Scam?

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MQA uses a process they call music origami
MQA utilizes a process they call “Music Origami”
[Photo: By Laitche – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3244373}

Part 1 – A Bill Leebens Guest Post

STRATA-GEE: For some time now, I have been hearing rumbles throughout the audio community, particularly the high-end audio community, about controversy surrounding MQA (Master Quality Authentication) – a U.K. company that claims to have created a proprietary technology that allows for the delivery of “better than lossless” audio via certain streaming services. At first, it seemed like the Holy Grail of audio – delivering music that is identical to the original master recording into your earbuds via streaming services such as Tidal. Then the whispers started – “It sounds like it is too good to be true because it IS too good to be true.“

Recently, a YouTube video appeared that blew the doors of MQA dissent wide open and seems to show that MQA technology is NOT doing what the company claims and leaves many to conclude that MQA is little more than a thinly veiled marketing scam. The company pushed back…hard. I asked Bill Leebens to investigate the swirling whirlwind of controversy now engulfing MQA.

See more on our investigation into MQA…

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ISE 2021 ‘Heralds’ Getting the Industry ‘Back to Business,’ But Did They?

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In a press release distributed Wednesday morning, Integrated Systems Events (part of Integrated Systems Europe) announced the conclusion of their annual ISE event, this year in Barcelona, Spain for the first time on June 1-2. It was a hybrid-style event, offering an online or virtual conference as well as an in-person event with exhibitors in the Fira de Barcelona exhibition center. The organizers heralded the event as helping “the industry getting back to business.”

But how successful was the ISE this year? See more…

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US Jobs Post-COVID: A Longer Slog Back Than Expected

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US jobs are taking a while to rebuild post-pandemic

Not long ago, I weighed in on whether I believed that the U.S. economy would “bounce back” after the impact of COVID-19 began to taper off. A vigorous debate had erupted at the time, with multiple market observers offering their opinions as to whether there would be a v-shaped, w-shaped, u-shaped (or another character) recovery. We all wanted a v-shaped recovery, which would mean that the economy would essentially snap back instantly to where it was before the pandemic.

I did not expect a v-shaped recovery because it seemed to me that reopening the economy would be less coordinated than when the entire country basically shut down at the beginning of the pandemic. The latest government data on U.S. job growth shows this to be the case.

See the latest US jobs numbers in our sloppy recovery

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US Consumer Media Usage Hits All-Time High in 2020; What Happens Now?

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Consumers media usage - Watching TV

Whether you are a manufacturer designing tech gear for the residential market, or an integrator designing systems for your client’s homes, it can be helpful to better understand how they wish to use the gear or systems to consume media content. New statistical research shows that – no surprise – the average daily time U.S. consumers spent consuming media hit an all-time high in 2020…the year of COVID-19. You probably already knew this fact or at least suspected it to be the case. Now the data is in and between digital media and traditional media, the average consumption moved up by almost an extra hour a day.

But what you likely don’t know is – which specific media category saw increased use, which specific media category saw decreased use? And, most importantly, what happens now?

See the latest data forecasting of consumer media consumption…

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VOXX Finally Speaks: We Have an Agreement to Purchase Only Onkyo

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onkyo logo

Well after much coverage on the VOXX/Onkyo deal by Strata-gee, in which VOXX remained strangely silent, the company finally issued a press release today in which they acknowledged that they had signed an asset purchase agreement (APA) with Onkyo for $30.8 million. The deal remains subject to approval by Onkyo shareholders in a vote scheduled to take place on June 25, 2021.

This news was likely not a surprise to Strata-gee readers. But what was a surprise is that this purchase does NOT include the Pioneer and Pioneer Elite brands.

See more on the latest news out of VOXX about Onkyo

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Bryston Partners with Azione Unlimited

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Bryston's logo

Bryston Ltd., a well-regarded manufacturer of high-end audio and home theater gear, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Azione Unlimited, a nationwide buying group of integrators. The move looks to expand their potential network of dealers here in the U.S.

See more on this Bryston and Azione partnership

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Simple Steps to Level Up Your Defenses to a Cyberattack

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Ransomware is one of the most popular forms of cyberattack

Talk about your contradiction of contradictions! Is the internet the greatest invention to emerge over the last ten or twenty years…or the worst? I guess, depending on the context, it is both. But lately, there have been some troubling cyberattack developments coming out of the hacker world that have caused the associated risks to have risen to a scary level.

I found some useful commonsense tactics you can employ to help protect yourself from a damaging cyberattack. No one can give you a 100% guarantee that they have a foolproof system that is undefeatable. But, as one security expert once told me about home security, you can only hope to fortify your defenses such that the hackers choose to move on to an easier target.

See how to level up your cyberattack protection…

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SnapAV Says Latest Control4 OS 3.2.2 Update Offers Full Support of OvrC

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Control4 and OvrC

SnapAV announced today (Tuesday) that its latest rendition of its automation brand Control4’s OS 3 operating software – OS 3.2.2 – finally introduces full support of the company’s popular OvrC remote management platform. No doubt part of their ongoing integration strategy since they first acquired Control4, this news is sure to make life just a little easier for their Control4 dealers who support OvrC.

See more on Control4’s OS 3.2.2 & OvrC

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Onkyo Directors Vote to Authorize the Sale of the Company in $30.3M Deal

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On Wednesday, at a specially convened meeting of the Board of Directors for Onkyo Home Entertainment Co. Ltd. (Onkyo), company directors formally voted to authorize the transfer of Onkyo’s home AV division to the partnership of VOXX, Intl. and Sharp Corporation, in a deal valued at $30.3 million. The transaction is pending shareholder approval. This development represents real progress on a deal that had appeared to be bogged down recently.

See more on this deal as it gets back on track

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Sony Doubles-Down on Transformation from CE to Gaming, Media, & Services

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sony invests

Company Plans to Invest $18 Billion in ‘Strategic Investments’; See What Segments are Targeted

Sony Group announced yesterday that it will invest no less than ¥2 trillion ($18 billion) over the next three years to turbo-charge the company’s transition from a consumer electronics powerhouse to a global leader in gaming, media, and services. The only hardware they are looking to equally dominate is the sensor business – and a potential entry into the general chip-making business (more on this later).

More on the remarkable Sony global transformation

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