Amazon HD Music goes live

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

  1. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    How are you connecting these two devices?
     
  2. telemike

    telemike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Greensboro, NC
    Echo input via RCA cables into integrated
     
  3. Crimson Witch

    Crimson Witch Roll across the floor thru the hole & out the door

    Location:
    Lower Michigan
    .. wait - there are problems with streaming ?
     
    T'mershi Duween and frog12 like this.
  4. allegro

    allegro Well-Known Member

    Location:
    USA
    Roon does not integrate Amazon Music HD, Amazon would have to open their API to Roon to enable bit perfect playback with automatic sample rate switching. Neither does Audirvana. Until Amazon Music HD enables exclusive mode in their desktop app or allows full integration into Roon or Audirvana it is an inferior alternative to Qobuz or Tidal. If you enjoy Amazon Music HD count yourself lucky and save a few dollars.
     
  5. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    One issue I've been regularly having with Qobuz that might be a deal breaker is buffering, sometimes for several minutes at a time. Makes it impossible to listen to on the road. I've never had that problem with Amazon, nugs.net, or the Dead Archives. I emailed them for possible remedies via settings or whatever, but haven't heard back.
     
  6. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    What's confusing me is you say you are connecting an input into another device. Far as I know echo devices don't even have inputs. Do you mean the echo headphone out jack?
     
  7. SKBubba

    SKBubba Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tennessee
    The way Amazon has rolled out HD it’s like they mean to intentionally insult “audiophiles,” saying “we don’t want you because you are more trouble than you’re worth.”

    This makes me think the market must be really small. There are a lot of niche products for this small market, but they seem to be from small outfits that have to charge a lot for their products to survive.

    These days it seems like home theater AV is the sweet spot at the intersection of marginally acceptable quality and economy of scale value. But even that’s becoming a niche market. Maybe Denon/Marantz will come up with a solution (that is not heos but more like spotify connect).
     
  8. Coltrane811

    Coltrane811 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan
    The Echo Input is a device specifically made to stream as it has no speaker at all, just the audio output jack.
     
  9. OpethPA

    OpethPA Embracing my inner geek

    Location:
    NJ
    On Windows 10 after the last update I notice clicking on the HD banner, where you see the bitrate that something is playing at, next to where you show lyrics now shows the codec being used.
    That's something new!

    Version is 7.9.02134
     
    mtrot, Mike M and Freebird like this.
  10. uncle

    uncle Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    I cancelled my sub as I could never get it to play in actual HD. If they add support for Android for those of us with DACs or via my computers HDMI out then I will re up maybe.
     
    500Homeruns likes this.
  11. OpethPA

    OpethPA Embracing my inner geek

    Location:
    NJ
    Why dont you just run USB out your computer ?
    UHD and HD work just fine that way .
     
  12. mtrot

    mtrot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tyler, TX
    It worked for me via HDMI from my laptop to my Denon AVR. I was able to get up to 24/192 that way, and it sounded fantastic. But the first HDMI cable didn't work, as it has to be 16 feet long to reach from the laptop to the AVR. I got a second cable and it synced up fine. It's just a hassle to always have to do the HDMI sync for every listening session.
     
    uncle likes this.
  13. Big Jack Brass

    Big Jack Brass Two Separate Gorillas

    Location:
    Leeds
    Not so very long ago the difference between an audiophile setup and a typical cassette recorder or home entertainment system was huge and immediately obvious. Not everyone wanted, needed or could afford such a system, but they could almost certainly tell the difference. These days we've reached a level where good quality audio - easily good enough for most people - is available cheaply and in a convenient form. The difference is not so obvious, the benefit less clear.

    That's the field on which Amazon are playing. Audiophile products don't have the margins, numbers or demand to compete when the average listener doesn't see the point of them.
     
    norliss and sami like this.
  14. uncle

    uncle Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Not sure what this means. I dont have a USB out that I know of.
     
  15. hman

    hman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northport, NY
    Amazon satisfies both markets. My daughters listen through their phones on their earbuds, and I stream HD files through a 2 channel separates hi fi system and get incredible sound. It's a win/win for the whole family.
     
    jeffsab likes this.
  16. mtrot

    mtrot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tyler, TX
    Hmm, it's early, but after this update, it seems as though Amazon Music is using less resources on my Windows 10 laptop. I have the player paused right now and Amazon is using essentially zero CPU, whereas in the past it would use around 5% even when paused. I'm now playing a 24/48 track and it's using around 3-4% CPU. And my cooling fan is not racing like it used to do when Amazon Music was running.

    Now, the other thing that happened this morning is that Windows required an update, so I don't know if something changed in Windows 10 that affected this power usage. At any rate, I'm slightly encouraged. Time will tell if it's really better or not. I do also like being able to see the codec.
     
  17. mtrot

    mtrot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tyler, TX
    What kind of computer? I've never heard of a computer without a USB out.
     
  18. OpethPA

    OpethPA Embracing my inner geek

    Location:
    NJ
    Unless your computer is decades old you have at least one USB port on it.
     
  19. uncle

    uncle Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Sorry I have plenty of USB ports but nothing that transmits audio out or at least none that are labeled as such. I have HDMI, optical and 3.5 audio outs as far as i know. And I cannot get above 24/48 on those.
     
  20. mtrot

    mtrot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tyler, TX
    Sorry, but I have a hard time believing that none of the USB outputs will transmit audio. What is your computer? Like I said, you can get 24/192 over HDMI.
     
  21. uncle

    uncle Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Again I need to clarify. I have no idea if it is possible that one of the ports transmits audio, but none are labeled as "Audio Out" or anything like that. I only use them for peripherals like keyboard, mouse, and hard drives/usb sticks. So if any (or all) can transmit audio I have no idea.

    I have a Windows 10, Intel I7, 32 GB DDR 3RAM with a Geforce GTX 1080 video card. Motherboard is ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. MAXIMUS VI HERO (SOCKET 1150).

    The supported audio options when I got into my settings only go up to 24/48 over HDMI.
     
  22. Blowby

    Blowby Static lp

    Location:
    Colorado
    Installing the latest update failed.
    widevine_cdm_secured_win.dll is quarantined as a threat using "Cylance Smart Antivirus"
    Go figure!
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
  23. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    USB ports transmit audio digitally, that's how many of us are using DACs. It won't be labeled "audio out" or anything specifically because USB has so many uses. If you were to plug a DAC into a USB port it would then show as an extra available audio option.
     
    TonyCzar and vegafleet like this.
  24. uncle

    uncle Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Ah ok. I don't have an external DAC so not familir with them or how they are hooked up, I just assumed they used line outs or something. I just use my receiver. Which can play 24/192 from other sources/devices but not from my PC over HDMI apparently.
     
  25. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    And your receiver has no USB? One would normally hook up a USB cable from their computer to their receiver so the receiver can act as an external DAC for the computer.
     

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