Kripton HQM Store to Offer MQA Music

The following is a press release issued by Kripton HQM.

London/Tokyo | September 14, 2016: At a press launch held recently at the Kripton HQM store in Tokyo, it was announced that MQA music will be available on HQM’s high resolution download music service from the beginning of October 2016.  Labels offering MQA-encoded recordings on the service for the first time will include Camerata, Shinkomusic Entertainment and Berkeley Square Music.

MQA is a revolutionary technology which delivers master quality audio in a file small enough to stream or download.  HQM’s high-resolution music download store is the result of a collaboration between chamber music specialist label, Camerata, and high-end audio brand Kripton, and is live in Japan, Germany and the UK.

Masahisa Hamada, president of Kripton, commented, “I am honoured to announce that Kripton has adopted the advanced digital technology of MQA to accelerate our business development.  We have led the high-resolution audio field by consistently offering hi-res audio products, alongside our hi-res music distribution service.

MQA solves the issue of large files, which has inevitably been associated with high-resolution music to date.  In addition, MQA can even improve on conventional high-resolution music in terms of sound quality – I remember how impressed I was when I experienced MQA for the first time.

Kripton is committed to using MQA technology in our Kripton HQM music store, and we have a planned release schedule of outstanding albums.   MQA technology will also be incorporated into our hardware products: Kripton is looking forward to collaborating closely with MQA to support the widespread adoption of MQA technology by the audio industry.”

Hiroshi Isaka, president of Camerata Tokyo and music producer, added, “We’re delighted that Camerata’s albums will be available in MQA on the Kripton HQM download store.  Since founding Camerata Tokyo in 1975, we’ve held to our philosophy of connecting the end listener to the music source, and we’ve actively sought out the best new technologies to achieve this.  In 2009, in collaboration with Kripton, we launched our high-resolution music distribution service, which enabled music lovers to listen to high-resolution albums at any time.

After many years of the CD, we’ve seen wave upon wave of new digital technology. Among those technological developments, MQA stands out because it combines original high-quality audio with convenience. As a music producer I have high hopes for MQA and I believe it can be a driving force to further promote high-resolution music.”

Bob Stuart, MQA founder & CTO, said, “I’d like to thank Kripton HQM for their kind support of MQA.  We share a similar belief that the most important thing is to bring the listener closer to the sound of the original performance.  Thanks to this collaboration, more music fans will be able to enjoy a high-quality listening experience on more devices and in more places, including the car.”

Japan is the world’s second largest market for recorded music sales worldwide.  Music in MQA format is currently available in Japan on the e-onkyo music store, most notably recordings from acclaimed Japanese label UNAMAS and the entire catalogue of ‘Anime’ specialist label Falcom.  Indie-oriented digital music service, Ototoy, has plans to offer MQA music later this year, including recordings from the Beagle Kick label.

To experience the full benefits of MQA, listen to MQA recordings with an MQA-enabled product from hardware partners including: Mytek, Meridian Audio, Pioneer, Onkyo and Bluesound. Many more playback products are scheduled for release in the coming months.

About MQA
Using pioneering scientific research into how people hear, the MQA team has created a technology that captures the full magic of an original studio performance.  MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) is a revolutionary end-to-end technology that delivers master quality audio in a file that’s small enough to stream or download.  MQA is also backward compatible, so you can play MQA music on any device – the days of sacrificing quality for convenience are finally over. MQA is a UK-based private company.
For more information visit www.mqa.co.uk
Follow MQA on: Facebook  Twitter  You Tube

About Kripton HQM
The HQM Store grew from the passion of its founders, wanting to deliver to their customers not only state-of-the-art digital music, but also an exemplary authentic experience of first-class musical performances.  The highest quality digital data of the highest quality musical performances.  HQM stands for High Quality Music.
www.hqm-store.com