Yeah, I generally like Qobuz more than Tidal, but occasionally Tidal has a song that isn't on Qobuz, and sometimes, the Tidal track sounds a little better to me... though that's rare enough that it isn't a really a factor to me. I'd love to drop Tidal altogether, but my kids really like it, though maybe they'll like Amazon more!
Yeah, I feel you. I was tired of paying for both, so with Qobuz sounding a little better to my ears, Tidal had to go. I mostly spin vinyl and my own discs and files anyway. Streaming is mostly for discovery and when I'm feeling really lazy...
ugh. So far digital hi-res files sound far better, for whatever reasons, played from the harddrive in my system. A lot better, and I've been down the horrible rabbit hole of switching servers and internet providers and ethernet cables and the whole thing, even streamers, Aurender vs. Ayre etc. But, really, what's awful about all of the this is not just the fact Amazon has found one more way, no matter how small, to dominate, but that everyone is saying HD audio is better across the board, when much of the time it is not, often it is worse. An over-tweaked and compressed 24/192 hi-res files can't compete with well-mastered 16/44 version or vinyl, if all from the same source. Or that so many vintage hi-res offerings are from bad copies of masters. Hate that the focus is on "delivery systems" (what a horrible concept) and not focused on getting the actual recording to sound as best it can.
I signed up for the trial, liking it so far. Definitely a set up from Tidal, and the price is definitely right. I’m really hoping Apple responds by upgrading all Apple Music accounts to hi-res automatically at the same prices, undercutting everyone.
I signed up for the 90 day trial, and took it for a test drive on the way to work, via CarPlay. There were a few very brief glitches streaming an HD recording, not sure if this was due to the cellular connection or the CarPlay interface. I presume the latter, as a cellular glitch would normally take longer to resolve, and in any case all decent streaming apps use buffering. Will try it at home with Bluesound Node 2i and Sonos Connect this evening. Hopefully Roon support will be coming at some point.
If you click learn more in the link I posted it lists a whole bunch of brands that are supposed to be compatible.
Howdy Folks... I'm giving it a try. Natively, some tracks will play 16/44.1 just fine. Some of the Ultra-HD tracks that are supposed to be 24/44.1 get downgraded to 16/44.1, some don't. I think there's some sensitivity to bandwidth even though I have a kickass connection here in the office. Using Project-PreBoxS2 which is rated at 32/384Khz and my Nighthawks.
As of yet, unless I'm not seeing something, there's no option in the Windows desktop app to select an output device, which means no exclusive mode, which means no bit-perfect output, which....defeats the purpose of loseless quality.
I'm not an Apple guy, but I can't imagine that Amazon doing this won't help to give them a little nudge in that direction.
For all of you with a Bluesound device: No update needed. Navigation is rough, but, CD quality & up streams just fine.
Initial impression is that Amazon HD sounds as good as Tidal so far on my system (PC USB -> ADI-2 DAC). For example, listening now there isn't a huge difference between the Tidal mqa and the Amazon 24bit 96khz of Two Against Nature. That said, one must go into the preferences in the Amazon app and turn off loudness normalization! That killed the sound. Turn it off, all is good. So far, as a Prime member I'm really liking this.
Hello. New member here. I also signed up for the trial. However I noticed the app is reporting my device capabilities wrong (tap on HD or Ultra HD above track name on playback screen). I tried several ultra HD tracks in 24bit/192khz. But it says my device can only do 24bit/48khz and therefore only plays at 24bit/48khz max. This is over the 3.5mm jack on my Galaxy Note 9. I own several 192khz FLAC files and play them just fine on my phone via Poweramp. And checking output, and the phone is indeed outputting at 24bit/192khz. Even the samsung spec sheets say the device can output 192khz. So I dont know what's going on. Bug in Android app perhaps. I dont use any sound enhancement in settings, and EQ is flat. I emailed Amazon so we'll see if they fix it.
Rock legend Neil Young, who has for years extolled the benefits of high-res music (remember Pono?), really took the hyperbole up to 11 in reacting to today’s news. “Earth will be changed forever when Amazon introduces high quality streaming to the masses,” he said in Amazon’s press release. “This will be the biggest thing to happen in music since the introduction of digital audio 40 years ago.” Pono.
Yeah, just noticing this too. I have gigabit fiber here, so bandwidth isn't an issue from my end. I've had a couple tracks spontaneously downgrade to standard quality from hi res 24 bit, sounded horrible! Then it went right back up to 24bit 96. Hopefully this is a temp hiccup.
