wiki/docs/faq.md

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FAQ

How can I obtain a deleted track from SoundCloud?

Unless someone else has downloaded the track you are looking for before it was deleted, which is unlikely and should not be relied upon, it is not possible to obtain deleted tracks from SoundCloud.

Some people will share the tracks they have downloaded from SoundCloud on Soulseek or VK. One can check those if desperate.

Is there a SoundCloud archive?

No comprehensive public SoundCloud archive exists and it is extremely unlikely that one can get access to the private one.

What is Master Quality Authenticated (MQA)?

Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) is a proprietary lossy audio codec. MQA coded audio can be contained in any PCM audio container (e.g. WAV, FLAC, ALAC, etc) including audio CDs.[^1] [^2]

How can I check if a file is MQA?

You cannot reliably check for MQA. Simply reencoding an MQA file removes the MQA syncword, which makes the file undetectable by MQA identifiers.

Any audio ripped in any quality from any release labeled as "master" on TIDAL is always MQA.[^3] If the audio was ripped in any non-"master" quality it will additionally be undetectable as the syncword will not be present.

Tools that search for the MQA syncword: MQA Identifier, mqaid.

Is Album Art Exchange (AAE/AAX) down?

Many countries and VPNs are banned from accessing the site. The staff cannot be reasoned with and interaction with the site should be avoided entirely. See Finding Artwork

[^1]: I Published Music on TIDAL to Test MQA — https://youtube.com/watch?v=pRjsu9-Vznc [^2]: MQA Deep Dive Part 2 — https://youtube.com/watch?v=NHkqWZ9jzA0 [^3]: TIDAL "HiFi" Is NOT Lossless — https://goldensound.audio/2021/11/29/tidal-hifi-is-not-lossless