Can this be done with the Oppo 93? I’ve had a quick look and didn’t see an equivalent driver download on the 93’s support page. This also made me wonder if it is possible to cast the audio from Windows using DLNA?
The one thing that will keep me from switching from Spotify is the advantage of choosing which source the music is playing from, and using my iPhone to control which song is playing. There is a tiny icon on the lower left of the now playing screen on the iPhone version of the Spotify app. Tapping that icon opens a screen with the header “Connect to a device”. Under that it says “listening on” and there are options to choose from which device to play the music while you use your iPhone as a remote control. I like to play music in the living room using my iPhone as a remote. The iMac in the next room is hardwired via HDMI to the AVR (Denon X1400H) located in the living room. The HEOS app included with the AVR can access Amazon Music but it doesn’t show the playlists I’ve created. Is there a way to choose which source the music is playing from on the Amazon Music app, using my iPhone to control which song is playing?
JRiver Media Center users can run Amazon Music in Exclusive mode. Load the JRiver audio driver (WDM, for Windows), set it as your primary audio device, and all audio will be directed to Media Center where you can select a WASAPI (or ASIO) audio output that can be set to exclusive. I assume something similar is available in the Mac version, although I haven't tried it.
I am going to give it a try. Here is a link for anybody that isn't sure how to do it: WDM Driver - JRiverWiki
Used to be you could buy a nice amp, hook it up to some nice speakers with a turntable and tape deck throw on some music and turn it up. I'm looking for an amp that will easily play Amazon HD through my semi high end speakers and use it for the TV. It would have to be an AVR, but the one I have (Denon X1400H) shows that it isn't playing at the 24 bit / 192 kHz that it's capable of. I haven't found a way to make it work. Maybe I need to get a separate amp and switch the speaker cables when I want to listen to music with Amazon HD. Maybe Amazon or someone will create an all inclusive amplifier to make it easy so we don't have to buy extra equipment and have to fiddle and tweak everything to make it work right. What would be the simplest way to listen to Amazon Ultra HD and take advantage of the high res music? I wonder what equipment you all are using.
Laptop with a 24/192 DAC with an RCA output, and connect that output to your stereo input I would think would be fairly simple. And re-using existing hardware if you already have a laptop.
That's definitely not true. For example, Amazon has nothing whatsoever from the Soul Note/Black Saint labels, so that means zero percent of many of the best jazz albums of the '80s and '90s. So you can definitely beat Amazon on selection if you care about jazz. I wouldn't become a paying subscriber to Amazon at this point And you can certainly beat it on price -- you can use Spotify or even Amazon standard res, or you can use Spotify ad-supported. You can also beat it on sound quality and convenience because it doesn't have exclusive mode, it doesn't support wifi using chromecast protocol in another other than horrible sounding SD, doesn't integrate with a lot of library software people use (my guess is that Amazon is primarily interested in driving people to Alexa-enabled devices and not interested in integration with any other platforms or devices or software). So, it's definitely not a be-all and end-all service that can't be beaten. It's just another imperfect streaming service with a mixed back of price and features, not a killer app/killer platform.
Looks like no MacOS version, but I'll mess around with the Windows WDM driver. Thanks for the tip on this one.
What is even happening on the track list for this album? Songs listed more than once. A repeat version of Bambi as track 16. Check out "Prince" by Prince on Amazon Music. https://music.amazon.com/albums/B002Q6OMA0?ref=dm_sh_LJJlesRECidRgtnJFtcUAeFUe It only looks messed up on the app. Not by clicking the link. Oh well.
I think you have Heos on that AVR, so you could get the Heos app and try that. It may be limited to hd 16/44.1, though. That should still sound pretty good, as in cd quality.
Note, the specified max length for USB2 is 5m, or 16 feet. Most people try to run them as short as possible to avoid problems.
Lots of negativity and complaints even for this forum. Thought I’d try to lighten the mood.....Kate Bush “Hounds of Love” 2018 remaster sounds incredible on my crappy iPhone in my crappier 2008 Honda with only a flimsy ass dongle/dac.
I've been using download services (the predecessor to streaming services) since ~2004/2005. That morphed to streaming with Napster/Rhapsody and then moved up to Tidal for lossless streaming not that long ago. So there's no "new" appeal here, it's been there for a long time. Why Amazon has my attention is cost for Prime users, the lack of MQA for high-res, and that it seems to have some differences with newer albums versus Tidal that now explains a few things I've seen in Tidal. For example : Ghostface Killah's "36 Seasons" -- in Tidal this album is listed as "Master" but doesn't explain the resolution details. Meanwhile in Amazon HD it's UtlraHD but pops up as 24/441.k( which, technically speaking, is higher than Redbook). So now I understand why that album is high-res in Tidal as it's likely 24/44.1k also. As for high-res in general, I don't think 96khz or 192khz makes that much difference to me personally. However, I think 24-bit can make a difference and if the original source for newer albums are 24/44.1k it's nice to be able to have that option to hear it at its original 24-bit source. I'm not as interested in older catalogue items, although there's some exceptions like jazz (which Tidal I think still does quite well).
For my part I'm hoping for either 1) An update to the echo link to be announced later today which I can use to run coax 192/24 into my setup and/or 2) Roon announces integration with Amazon Music, and my existing setup will work. I'd prefer 2). Roon have been in radio silence mode since Amazon's launch which is either really good or really bad. I can't work out which.
Yeah, it's funny, it's like streaming just came to exist for a lot of people all of a sudden. It's the market power of a company like Amazon (as is the fact that they can give the service away free for three months to new users). The service really isn't anything special. The library's not as deep as Spotify's; the audio features aren't as good as Tidal's; there are no sophisticated network features, and the battle over exclusivity and use with company's own platforms between Apple, Amazon and Google means interoperability isn't universal, and integration with third party software platforms isn't in place (and may well not be happening if they want to drive everyone to their hardware too a la Apple). I find it a real disappointment. Amazon's pre-"HD" music service was a total non starter for me because the low bit rate file sounded just horrible. This updated service is sonically better, but really gives me no reason to switch from my Spotify/Tidal Hifi subs now. And the albums that Amazon has that are still only available in SD still are horrible.
This worked on my Windows 10 laptop. I am streaming Neil Young and for the first time it shows: Track Quality: 24/192 Device Capability: 24/192 Currently playing at: 24/192 Thank you very much!
My curiosity in the Amazon release is how much (if any) impact their penchant for favoring "sponsored content" will have on curation and discovery. I am a prime member but really don't use te music service as it's quality is just not there. Shame to say, but If I have to choose, it will still be Apple and a tossup between Qobuz and Tidal. And I am leaning towards Qobuz at this point (I am subbed to 4 now including Prime).
I'm having trouble getting even the least bit excited about this latest music streaming service. I have no interest in adding additional hardware to any of my systems in order to access it, nor any other such streaming service. The thought of even hooking up my spare laptop in order to do so has zero appeal. For random background listening, my very basic cable service gives me access to dozens of genre-specific Stingray Music channels. Having essentially my entire music collection (stereo and multichannel) residing on servers, and being able to stream it through my Sony BD players, is hugely convenient. Unfortunately, in Canada, those same Sony BD players cannot access Spotify, or I'd probably be doing that occasionally. If Amazon Music were accessible via those Sonys, I'd at least give the free trial a go. Any service that provided multichannel music streaming would get my attention - again provided that it could be accessed through my Sonys. Given how Sony has only been interested in removing services from its existing customers (Gracenotes for example) I know that none of this will likely ever happen. So for now I remain very content with what I have, and nobody makes any incremental revenue from me. Jeff
