PSB Speakers, together with hearables start-up Sonical and audio specialists MQA, announced a partnership that will attempt to define a new category of high-resolution audio headphones. The product combines high resolution wireless transmission, proven high-fidelity design, and Sonical’s CosmOS platform. Released under the PSB Speakers brand by Q1 2024, it will be the first headphone to feature Sonical’s ear computing platform, enabling a variety of apps and software upgrades. It also includes MQA’s latest technology, SCL6, the most advanced codec for adaptive, high-resolution audio streaming.
CosmOS is Sonical’s revolutionary operating system that runs on powerful low wattage processing cores, bringing unprecedented levels of connectivity and computational power to headphones. CosmOS offers mobile audio product manufacturers the versatility to keep pace with rapidly changing consumer demands for convenience and performance. The integration of Qorvo’s Ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology enables a superior audio experience thanks to UWB’s higher data rate and extremely low latency. Using Antennaware’s UWB antenna directly addresses any issues associated with Body Blocking which could occur with wireless wearable devices.
Canada-based PSB Speakers, a pioneer in psychoacoustics and an early brand to create audiophile grade wireless headphones, will innovate through deep relationships with Sonical and MQA to push the boundaries of mobile listening. The product will utilize MQA’s new technology, SCL6, an innovative, time domain-based codec for the highest quality audio streaming. Developed by industry veteran and MQA founder, Bob Stuart, SCL6 ensures high-resolution sound even at low data rates.
“Given PSB Speakers’ long-time commitment to the science of audio and music listening, it’s a pleasure to be in this partnership which shows the world what CosmOS can do,” says Gary Spittle, Founder and CEO of Sonical.
“Our use of the CosmOS platform to make the world’s first software defined wireless headset and the inclusion of MQA’s adaptive wireless codec helps set a new benchmark for a high resolution, mobile high-fidelity product. We believe this product underscores what Paul Barton and the PSB team have accomplished over the brand’s 50-year history in the pursuit of audio excellence for listeners at home and now on the move,” says Gordon Simmonds, President and CEO of Lenbrook Industries, PSB Speakers’ parent company.
“MQA was founded by one of the great innovators in audio. We design by thinking of the consumer experience first which means we are comfortable challenging the status quo. The vision shared by our partners at PSB Speakers and Sonical, bringing together superior audio quality and the next generation of consumer convenience, makes this a perfect fit for our latest technology SCL6,” says Mike Jbara, CEO of MQA.
What is MQA and Why Should Audiophiles Still Care?
MQA, short for Master Quality Authenticated, is a proprietary digital audio format developed to deliver high-resolution sound in smaller file sizes. It launched in 2014 with claims of offering studio-master quality playback while using a fraction of the bandwidth of conventional high-res audio files. The format stirred plenty of interest—along with no shortage of controversy—in audiophile circles. Nearly a decade later, the debate continues. But with MQA’s business future uncertain and streaming platforms adjusting their strategies, some audiophiles still wonder: what exactly is MQA, and does it still matter?
To understand MQA’s goals, it helps to look at the environment it was born into. Streaming had become the dominant way people consumed music, but lossless and high-resolution formats were still limited by bandwidth and storage concerns. MQA set out to solve that by “folding” high-resolution files into more manageable sizes, allowing them to stream over regular internet connections. The file could then be “unfolded” during playback, assuming the hardware or software supported it.
The process involves three steps: encapsulating high-res audio into a 44.1 or 48 kHz container (the first “fold”), followed by further unfolding stages if the playback device allows. The full experience requires a MQA decoder (in software or hardware) and optionally a MQA renderer to complete the process. Without those, the file still plays as a 16-bit/44.1 kHz file, essentially CD-quality.
Proponents argue that MQA delivers a sound closer to the original master, with fewer artifacts and less time-domain distortion than traditional PCM files. The format includes authentication data, which verifies the audio hasn’t been altered since it left the mastering engineer’s desk. In theory, that’s useful for purists who want to know their file is an accurate copy of the intended mix.
But not everyone bought in.
Some critics—including engineers and digital audio designers—questioned the claims made about time-domain accuracy and the supposed superiority of MQA’s compression scheme. Others objected to the closed, proprietary nature of the format. Unlike FLAC or WAV, which are open standards, MQA requires licensing fees and can only be decoded with approved software or hardware. That ran counter to the ethos of transparency many audiophiles value.
Another sticking point was the reliance on subjective comparisons. While many listeners reported improved clarity, soundstage, and overall fidelity with MQA playback, controlled A/B tests yielded mixed results. For some, the improvements were real. For others, the format simply added another layer of marketing to a problem that lossless FLAC had already solved.
MQA gained a major foothold when TIDAL, one of the first streaming platforms to offer high-resolution content, adopted it as the backbone of its “TIDAL Masters” tier. Hardware companies followed, with brands like Meridian (MQA’s original backer), Mytek, NAD, and Bluesound integrating MQA support into their DACs and streamers. For a while, it looked like MQA might become a mainstream solution for high-end streaming.
But over time, the momentum slowed. Other platforms, including Qobuz and Apple Music, opted for lossless FLAC and ALAC instead. Amazon went with its own HD format. Even TIDAL, once MQA’s strongest advocate, has begun moving toward open-source FLAC for its high-res tier. In 2023, MQA Ltd. entered administration, casting further doubt on the long-term viability of the format and its licensing model.
So with all that context, why should audiophiles still care?
The most practical reason is legacy content. A large library of albums—particularly those labeled as “TIDAL Masters”—was encoded in MQA, and for users with compatible hardware, it still represents a viable high-res listening experience. If you already have a system with MQA decoding capabilities, you’re not losing anything by continuing to use it. In fact, many listeners find it sounds excellent, especially when compared to standard-resolution streams.
There’s also the broader discussion about how we evaluate audio formats. MQA raised important questions about bandwidth, storage, authenticity, and the way mastering engineers prepare music for streaming. Whether you believe in the format’s superiority or not, it pushed the conversation forward.
It’s also worth noting that not all criticisms of MQA were about sound quality. Much of the pushback was philosophical: concerns about vendor lock-in, licensing costs, and the control of audio formats.
