The British Music Embassy teamed-up with MQA, a host of UK artists, selected music titles and What Hi-Fi?, to deliver a one-off concert - and now you can watch it back in MQA audio and HD video, on any playback device.
Following the cancellation of South by Southwest (SXSW) due to the coronavirus pandemic, Production Park’s The Mill Studio in London hosted a concert featuring the UK artists and bands who were scheduled to play at the influential festival in Austin, Texas.
The concert was held behind closed doors but live-streamed to the world via the What Hi-Fi? YouTube channel. Now, in something of a world first, you can enjoy HD video with MQA audio of the live sets, beginning with Noya Rao – other acts are set to follow. Click here to head over to the MQA Live website and see the video.
The content aims to demonstrate that MQA sounds better on any playback device, with no special tech required. The video will deliver "MQA Legacy audio" when listening on non-MQA kit but when listening with compatible MQA DACs, listeners can hear in "higher studio resolution".
Hosted on MQA’s website, files will play responsively based on your browser, either ALAC MQA in MOV at 24 bit/48kHz audio or FLAC MQA in MP4 at 24 bit/48kHz audio. If your browser isn't detected you'll get AAC MQA in MP4.
The BME Sessions are also available as audio-only tracks on Tidal.
The sessions were supported by the British Music Embassy, with the line-up curated by DIY Magazine, Jazz re:freshed Outernational and cSquaredLDN.
Bands and artists who performed included Theon Cross, King Nun, ELOÏSE mp3, Superbird and Noya Rao, with each act performing a 30-minute set.
Mike Jbara, MQA CEO, said: "We’d like to thank all of the British Music Embassy partners for organising the SXSW sessions from London. MQA is committed to enabling artists to provide the best audio to their fans in all listening environments: we launched our ‘audio+video’ solution last year and are very pleased to provide this support during these challenging times. When high quality video is matched with MQA audio, our partners believe the experience is the next best thing to being there."
This concert follows the launch of The Master Sessions, a series of live concerts streamed in MQA studio quality around the world. The first, on the 5th February, saw 10-piece Mercury Award nominees SEED Ensemble perform live at London’s British Grove Studios.
