Japan Audio Society Certifies MQair, LC3plus for Hi-Res Audio Wireless Logo

The Japan Audio Society (JAS) announced Wednesday SCL6, marketed as MQair, from MQA and LC3plus from Fraunhofer as additional certified codecs for the Hi-Res Audio Wireless logo. The codecs join Sony’s LDAC and Savitech’s LHDC as certified Hi-Res Audio Wireless codecs for use in smartphones, digital audio players, earphones and small speakers, JAS said. Products submitted for the Hi-Res Audio Wireless logo must use certified codecs, and for functions other than wireless connectivity, they must meet the Hi-Res Audio logo requirements, it said. “Many people want to enjoy the convenience of wireless connection to headphones or earbuds -- especially 'on-the-go',” emailed MQA founder Bob Stuart. Wireless connections provide “unpredictable data rates and a codec is needed to bridge the gap,” but the bridge can significantly reduce sound quality of high-resolution content, he said. MQair, a real-time codec, can “seamlessly adapt to both the radio capacity and the music content and aims to maximise transparency,” he said. There are no implementation partners yet for the MQair, but it's available worldwide and "conversations are underway," Stuart said.