Amazon Launches Lossless "Hi-rez" HD Music Service

Auralic are reaching out to Amazon, no timescales as of yet.

I've been using my laptop pc via usb to my dac and compared with Qobuz, Amazon HD does not sound harsh but the sound lacks substance.  Seems too thin and polite.  No punch.  Voices and instruments do not have that palpable presence.  Qobuz is better in that regard but the sound is bit harsh and more digital like.  What do you guys hear?  

So Bezos would do something like that.

I got this on another forum

"Those settings are for the "offline listening" downloads that are tied to your Amazon Music / Music HD player and streaming subscription. Cancel your streaming subscription and they're gone.

Purchased downloads that you can keep permanently come from the regular Amazon store, in MP3 only. From Amazon's perspective it's natural to cross-sell, but I think a lot of customers are going to be confused and unhappy

.

so even though in Amazon HD you have the option to select HD downloads after you purchase a song, you only get an MP3 file when you do it

Some [Some] current Amazon Products, Sonos, BluOS products, Marantz, Denon, etc. [Note: they may have restricted maximums for resolution / decoding]

https://www.whathifi.com/us/news/first-wave-of-product-support-for-amazon-music-hd-confirmed

https://positive-feedback.com/industry-news/bluos-among-first-to-integrate-amazon-music-hd/

I am a Prime member but this would be my first time with any service. I have a nice DAC but need the software/ hardware(??) between like Bluesound as I've read.....not sure how to link the service to my DAC. Don't want to use a computer or phone/ tablet. What are the units Amazon HD can work with?
Hope I explained that right.

Historically HDTracks is no ’true-resolution’ saint either, tho’ fishyness at their scale is/was small ... fry? compared to what A-zon is capable of. And they seem to have cleaned up their act several years ago, after some ’high-profile’ exposure of their antics.

No, say it's not true. Bezos wouldn't do something like that, would he?

I purchased and downloaded a Led Zeppelin song at 24/96 and the spectrum shows a brick wall filter at 20K like it is an upsampled redbook CD, it may be a 24/96 file but it is only about 5 Mb compared to the same song at 24/96 from HDtracks that is over 90 mB... In preferences I chose to buy and download at Ultra HD resolution. The Amazon file is also MP3.... something fishy at Amazon I think

I have the student discount Tidal subscription. Also I have the Oppo105 which has Tidal streamer build in (no need of USB). And I am lucky to have the last batch of Oppo205 (MQA decoder). As an audiophile and Tidal customer, I would stay with Tidal for a while until Amazon lower their UltraHD to $9.99 and with more 192/24 library.

"audio quality matters v. seven notes and a set of vibrations"

Nice read. Brit humour. And truth.

https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/amazon-music-hd-dos-sound-quality-matter-2549294

“Aurender says they are in contact with Amazon”

Great news indeed. I am a Aurender user for 5 plus years and looking forward to Amazon streaming within Conductor app. 

I did sign up for Amazon HD earlier today. The HD catalog seems pretty limited at this time but their regular CD quality catalog is comparable with Tidal. Given the the aggressive pricing and vast CD quality catalog, I would give edge to Amazon HD over Tidal. 

Way to go Amazon!!!

Agreed. I believe many will. 

Sure thing.  I would probably go for it if Aurender supports it.

@cedargrover  Thanks for that update. It's great news!

Aurender says they are in contact with Amazon and will update in the coming weeks.

Logged into Amazon Music on Node2i,  HD option shows up as menu item. When you click on it it asks you to sign up

Only if Amazon have off-line ultra HD. LTE is not reliable at some location and insider building. I would do hard wired streaming at home or off-line on the road. Doing away from MQA is good if Amazon can do 192/24 or at least 96/24. My Oppo HA-1 and 105D can't take MQA.

just started my free trial--initially i find the UI inferior to and less intuitive than spotify but better than tidal. catalog seems deep, if not as extensive as spotify. ultra hd sounds great; hd sounds better than spotify, though it's not a night-and-day difference and there's less ultra hd content than expected. playlists are ok, though not as well-done as spotify--i expect they'll markedly up their game and add content as they gain traction, since amazon is very customer-focused and has long-term vision on their road to world domination.

So far so good. I upgraded Amazon to HD and it sounds very good. The interface is different than TIDAL but it shouldn't be too difficult to navigate. My stereo is far from great YBA electronic into Vandersteens with a Scott Nixon dac but for CD quality streaming it's not bad. As I get further into it I'll update.

In a lazy and totally non-scientific comparison across a couple of my 2nd-tier hifi systems:

Amazon Music "HD" and "Ultra HD" quality levels seem comparable to similar-res audio from Tidal and Qobuz (16-bit/44khz and 24-bit/48kHz). I didn’t compare to Tidal MQA. If anyone thinks they can objectively ’hear’ and distinguish hifi audio ’quality’ differences above 48kHz, or if you don’t but really-think-it-matters, read this: https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html. <= the irony is poignant, given Mr. Young’s latest gushing about how "Earth will be changed forever when Amazon introduces high-quality streaming to the masses."

Amazon’s web- and Mac/Win native players are consistent with other services’ apps: a race-to-the-bottom in effective UX and functional design. In an equally non-scientific and lazy study I have the Spotify, Qobuz and Amazon apps tied for dead-last, then Tidal at barely better. All of them suck in various ways.

Amazon is still working out issues in their catalog play-back (wrong tracks behind some albums, no tracks behind some "Ultra HD" albums etc). Catalog curation is also kinda ’wtf?’ in places. No surprise - greed/fear/hubris rushes most consumer digital media services to market. What are free trials for, anyway?

Pertinent information from Apple Insider:

"HD tracks are 16-bit audio with a sample rate of 44.1kHz, or CD-quality, and an average bit rate of 850 kilobits per second. Ultra HD tracks 24-bit audio with a sample rate of up to 192kHz, and an average bit rate of 3730 kilobits per second. As Amazon points out, most streaming services only offer standard definition quality music, which reduces some of the detail in order to save on file size.

Because the files are lossless, it should be noted that they are significantly larger. A standard song comes in at just around 9 megabytes, where as an HD song comes in at 50 megabytes. An Ultra HD song comes in at 153 megabytes, meaning that devices will be able to hold less music at higher qualities.

This also means that streaming HD and Ultra HD songs will use up more of your data plan, so it's advised that people with lower data caps listen to music via Wi-Fi or download the music for offline listening later.

Additionally, the quality of the music is going to be heavily dependent on how you're listening to it as well. Playing the music through low-quality speakers is going to render a low-quality result."

https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/09/17/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-lossless-amazon-music-unlimited-hd

"If you want to stream music, you’ll need at least a 1.5-2Mbps LTE connection for HD quality and 5-10Mbps for Ultra HD. A large data allowance is a must too – a 3 and a half minute song eats up 51MB in HD quality and 153MB in Ultra HD. A lossy track is 9MB."

Above (posted earlier) verified from multiple outlets. [Quote is from GSMArena]

Brief early "experience / use" feedback. Might be of help to those just starting out with the service.

Those of you with Bluesound / NAD products will be sitting pretty. : )

https://www.t3.com/news/amazon-music-hd-review

@grannyring   Agree. Roon integration is key for me as well. It will be interesting to see how all of this shakes up the streaming marketplace.

How does it work with Aurender?

Amazon wants $9.99 from me for a trial. $14.99 after that.
That’s because I did a free trial of the old service. Then cancelled it.
Makes me wonder if I log in on my Node2i, will I get HD?
Of course I'd have to resubscribe
I’m not a prime member

Yes it must offer Roon integration! I use both Qobuz and Tidal. Both services sound different from each other in Roon. Thus far I like Qobuz a little more. It is less aggressive and more relaxed sounding..,warmer.  Others will like Tidal more as this is subjective and system dependent. Comparing the exact same 16/44 recording on both services reveals a sonic difference.  Seems these services have a “sound” beyond the numbers. 

My initial thoughts were that Amazon might be trying to go after Apple like they have done in the movie market (i.e. Netflix) - maybe go after the audiophile market as a longer-term objective.  For me Roon integration would be essential.

Short write-up from Stereophile:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/amazon-music-goes-high-rez

will be interesting to see how much WAN bandwidth is required

From GSMArena:

"If you want to stream music, you’ll need at least a 1.5-2Mbps LTE connection for HD quality and 5-10Mbps for Ultra HD. A large data allowance is a must too – a 3 and a half minute song eats up 51MB in HD quality and 153MB in Ultra HD. A lossy track is 9MB."

https://www.gsmarena.com/amazon_music_hd_launches_with_two_lossless_audio_options_in_four_countries-news-39226.php

Note: these figures are not verified.

I am using the m-control app (bubbleupnp) recommended by PS Audio with their direct stream DAC. I currently subscribe to tidal and qobuz but am interested in trying Amazon HD, just don't know how to get it on my dac. If anyone figures this out, please let me know

Giving it a 90-day free trial. Angus and Julia Stone have an album in Amazon UltraHD quality - that type of music sounds so good on electrostats (guitars and vocals). I like that Amazon has clearly identified which music (albums/tracks) are in UltraHD (similar to Tidal MQA)! Will give it a listen on music system tomorrow evening. Interested to see how well it integrates with BluOS2i MDC module (built into NAD C-388 integrated), controlled by BluOS Win10 app. Tidal MQA worked very well on the system, now we’ll see if Amazon UltraHD will recognize the account upgrade, play through it - and how it sounds. The Amazon Prime Music app recognized the account upgrade immediately upon opening the app on my outdated Samsung tablet, so likely BluOS will too, especially since there is no ’unfolding’ to be done (like MQA). As I read in this thread, ’UltraHd’ are FLAC files - will be interesting to see how much WAN bandwidth is required. I did notice the afore mentioned UltraHD album downloaded nearly instantly to the tablet, but suspect it’s likely actually downloading in the background; although, I haven’t noticed any lag on the tablet, so that’s good.

Already a Prime member.
Looking forward to trying it.

JD

How does this work ? With Tidal you have an app  if I could stream this 
from my computer through my dac to Ludspeakers  Thst is Hirez 
 not listening through an iPad . Please advise .thanks much.

Same question.  Can I sit in the listening chair and use my Android tablet to control the laptop that is feeding data from this Amazon service to an external DAC?  (Like JRiver's JRemote)

So download Amazon Music on your iPhone or iPad and you can control the new HD Music on your main computer?

I’ve been using Amazon Music Unlimited, and pay $79/year. I control the program with my phone.

HD is $5 more a month.

Free trial for current and existing customers. I’m trying to upgrade now, but the webpage is very busy according to customer service.

I’m looking forward to trying it out

Yes.  Like being able to control the Amazon music on your main computer with an iPad.

I've signed up now trying to figure out how to get it to work on my system. I'm using JRiver on my laptop and bubbleupnp on Android tablet. I'm going load the Amazon music app on to the laptop.  If anyone is successful please post instructions. 

Usually I'm not too thrilled about Amazon taking over markets, brick and mortar, etc.  And I'm no expert on the economics of this.  That disclaimer aside, it does seem like it will put market pressure on all to stream higher resolution and that is a good thing for the hobby. 

Off to check out the terms. 

Here is the link:

https://www.amazon.com/music/unlimited/hd

Please note I'm not affiliated with Amazon. I also don't plan on signing up at present. I'm a happy Tidal and Qobuz via Roon streamer. : )

Okay hw do I sign up? The website hasn't been helpful.

Regarding Amazon's files:  "Both types of HD audio will stream as uncompressed FLAC rather than the MQA format used on Tidal."

From Extreme Tech: https://www.extremetech.com/internet/298538-amazon-pulls-the-rug-out-from-under-tidal-with-new-hd-music-streaming-service

@digepix  You'll be fine. Either way (for Tidal and for Amazon) you will be limited to CD resolution. Share your findings if you sign up.

I think it's a usb version of the TD2.2. I've had it since 2006 and don't change equipment often. I think I'll be okay.

Hopefully the added competition will result in lower prices from Tidal and/or Qobuz.

@big_greg  It will definitely be interesting to see how Tidal and Qobuz respond. Spotify and Apple also.

I have a TIDAL account with a Scott Nixon dac so no hi-rez necessary. Do you think switching over to Amazon is worthwhile? Yes I have a Prime account.

I don’t know which Scott Nixon DAC you have, but if it is only decodes / outputs CD quality I don’t see why not. How you value the other factors related to streaming, I can’t say.

From the Scott Nixon site, for his newer DACs:

"The usb models are not hi-rez, but I really think most listeners don’t need it yet (or ever). For hi-rez I recommend the s/pdif models and a pro-interface or usb/spdif dongle that will output 24/96. The Chibi and TD2.2 will decode 24/96 and output 16/96. There are usb hi-rez models in the works, but will be 4 to 5 times the cost of these offerings."

Hopefully the added competition will result in lower prices from Tidal and/or Qobuz.  I don't buy anything from Amazon if I can help it for a number of reasons, so I won't be using their music service even if the prices for other services remain the same or go up.