Amazon HD Music goes live

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by BubbaMc, Sep 17, 2019.

  1. wza97

    wza97 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northern Virginia
    I haven't tried this but I don't think it will work because there is no completed handshake. I have a monoprice unit set up with coax out to my Modi 2, then to my Yamaha integrated (HDMI out to AVR). I can't actually tell what resolution the coax is carrying, but I assume it isn't downsampling anything.

    Unfortunately, my current issue is that the fire stick only wants to pass 16/192 no matter what I plug it into anyway. Mildly frustrating, to say the least.
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
  2. ClassicalCD

    ClassicalCD Make audio great again

    Location:
    Bogotá, Colombia
    Qobuz has this same problem when browsing search results. I brought it to their attention and they said they were going to fix it. That was ages ago and the problem persists, and it is incredibly frustrating. I don't do streaming anymore though as I prefer to own and have control over my music, however they should correct it.
     
  3. mtrot

    mtrot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tyler, TX
    After a couple of updates to the app in the last week or so on my laptop pc, I thought I would re-check the CPU utilization, with and without Amazon's "exclusive" mode. It turns out that the CPU usage is about twice as much on exclusive mode. In exclusive mode, the CPU usage never drops below about 6.3%, while with with exclusive mode turned off, the usage will drop as low as 1.4% and averages around 3.5%. This is while playing 16/44.4 content.

    I cannot say for sure if there is any difference in audio quality, but I seem prefer the sound with exclusive mode, perhaps expectation bias, I guess.
     
  4. guestuser

    guestuser Chillin

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Apologies in advance if this is a duplicate question but has anyone found a way to download the hi-res files from Amazon Music HD? For example, I noticed that some albums will stream at 192kHz but when you buy the album and download the files they're 44.1kHz. Is there a user control somewhere to download/buy the hi-res version?
     
  5. SKBubba

    SKBubba Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tennessee
    If I'm not mistaken, Amazon purchased downloads are all MP3.
     
    guestuser likes this.
  6. Stereosound

    Stereosound Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Never heard of Amazon selling high resolution downloads. Buying from Qobuz, HDTracks, etc. are your better options for that. A thread you may wish to check out if you don’t know about it: Hi-Res Download News (HDTracks, ProStudioMasters, Pono, etc.) & Software/Mastering Part 12**
     
    guestuser likes this.
  7. guestuser

    guestuser Chillin

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Thank you @Stereosound, appreciate the pointer to that thread! It's gold.

    Thanks @SKBubba, that's right about Amazon downloads being MP3 files. I'm just surprised that their downloadable MP3s are all 44.1kHz even though their streaming service offers 192kHz. Seems like a missed opportunity for them and a disappointing customer experience for us.
     
  8. 500Homeruns

    500Homeruns Peaceful Punk

    Location:
    Lehigh Valley, PA
    I just re-joined Amazon Music after purchasing a preamp that can take advantage of the full resolution (NAD M12). It only took me one day to decide that I will be keeping Tidal and canceling Amazon (again). Not only can I use the Tidal app directly (without the BluOS app), but even when I use BluOS to search for something on Amazon Music, it's horrible. The Tidal search on BluOS is much better and I don't even have to use that because I can just use Tidal Connect straight from the Tidal app.
    I figured I would give Amazon a shot after being away for awhile, but they still can't figure it out.
     
  9. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England

    Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love is wonderful. But it’s not an “audiophile”
    recording. Her vocals are, but everything else is not. Whether listening to the remastered vinyl, or the pseudo hi-res.
     
  10. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    With Fire Stick, sill 16/48
     
  11. mtrot

    mtrot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tyler, TX
    I just got this email from Amazon:

    "We have some great news for you – going forward, there will be no extra charge for HD as part of your Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.

    You will continue to have full access to all of your HD content, but at no additional cost. This change will be reflected in your next billing cycle."

    Amazon Music HD | Highest Quality Streaming Audio
     
    fluffskul, Bungo, aroney and 6 others like this.
  12. Panama Jack

    Panama Jack Forum Resident

    Location:
    SLC, UT
    Obviously in response to Apple's announcement today of lossless streaming at no additional cost

    Apple Music announces Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio
     
  13. russk

    russk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
    And Spotify’s soon to be released. Hope Spotify is no additional charge.
     
    sunspot42, imsjry and Billy Infinity like this.
  14. jeffmackwood

    jeffmackwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ottawa
    Hmmm...

    So Apple has "Spatial Audio" - which I think they translate to mean Dolby Atmos. That's not something I need, or want. However true native multichannel recordings (ie. multichannel SACD, DVD-Audio, and Blu-ray Audio - 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1) might grab my attention.

    Are there any streaming (not downloading) services offering that?

    Jeff
     
  15. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I suspect Apple is releasing this at no cost to blunt Spotify's ability to charge extra for the service, which is what they were rumored to be doing.

    Let's see if it works.

    Glad to see Amazon will offer HD for free going forward, though. Almost makes up for their crummy buggy app.
     
    russk likes this.
  16. dtuck90

    dtuck90 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Think I’ll be moving to Apple Music in June. The search function on Amazon app is just so poor. And also the Amazon app upsamples everything to 24/192. Hopefully Apple will stick to the native resolution
     
  17. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    Amazon Unlimited isn't free. You get HD for free if you buy into Music Unlimited.

    (I'm sure you know this, I'm just sayin' for everybody.)
     
  18. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    This is only true for certain computer audio settings - settings that most users will not be using.
     
    sunspot42 and superstar19 like this.
  19. aroney

    aroney Who really gives a...?

    Competition is good for folks like us! Bring it on!
     
    wgriel and saturdayboy like this.
  20. ludovicien

    ludovicien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brussels
    That explains the rather desperate emails from Tidal today asking me to reactivate my hi-fi subscription for $2 for 2 months. I'm planning on moving to Qobuz soon and I hope they either match this pricing or make it clear that they are giving more money to the artists.
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
  21. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    This doesn’t indicate whether regular Prime members who also have some Auto Rip files will have HD access.
     
  22. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    I'm in for Prime and I got no email one way or the other.
     
  23. ghostofzuul

    ghostofzuul Harvester of Sorrow

    Location:
    oregon
    got the same email... and then also looked at the promotion. it looks like the entire library is now HD. so if you have prime you will get HD content utilizing a compatible device.

    Amazon unlimited is a different tier of service than prime but HD will not be exclusive to unlimited subscribers. But prime customers will still have the same limitations on listening they do now... but the tracks will be HD.

    clear as mud? ok, good.

    lol.
     
  24. AndyH

    AndyH Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    That’s not my interpretation or what I’m seeing in the app.

    I’ve got Prime but not Unlimited Music and do not see any HD material.

    All the press coverage calls out that HD is now free to Unlimited Music subscribers.

    (hope you are right and I am wrong though!)
     
  25. katstep

    katstep Professional Cat Herder

    I've been hoping Spotify would begin offering hi-res streaming, as my brief try
    You need their Amazon HD music app if you don't already have it. Amazon.com: Amazon Music Desktop Player for PC & MAC: Digital Music
     
    BruceS likes this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine