Apple vs Amazon

As mentioned, Apple Music sounds okay to me. Not as bad as I was expecting from the things I've read about iTunes and Apple Music. Amazon just seems to sound a little better.

Also, Apple Music is super buggy on my system. Frequent cut outs, frequent navigation issues, slow loading pages. Apple Remote is great but Amazon's app is better and Amazon's interface seems better to me too. 

Not sure if there is a cost difference. I'm sure Apple has a larger selection but I've found new and obscure stuff on Amazon.

Will be weighing all this with Tidal hi res.

OS is old 10.10.  iTunes is 12.8. Performance is better on my new iMac (latest versions etc) but still a bit buggy and the bugs I'm having are being reported fairly widely with lots of frustration.

Amazon Music would be the current version.

Amazon has a streaming service now. It is a paid service above what you pay for prime. I'm doing the free trial now.

System is pretty much like yours. I suspect my DAC is much lower end.

I stream from MacBook Pro or iPhone to Apple TV which feeds DAC via Toslink. Or, iMac or MacBook directly to DAC via USB (which does sound a little better than through ATV).

My point is that Amazon sounds better through the same system. Totally agree that it could be just the mood I'm in or the music I selected. Apple Music free trial has ended. I've got another 90 days free with Amazon. So far Amazon gets the nod for me.

I think Apple Music uses AAC. But I'm pretty clueless on file formats. I do not think they stream ALAC files.

I can't find a clear answer as to what file format Amazon Unlimited Music uses but they were mp3 years ago.

Anyway, I'm still experimenting. Feel like I would need a better DAC and wireless set up to take advantage of Tidal hi-fi. Not sure how Tidal standard res compares to other streaming services.

There is a $2 per month discount on Amazon music for Prime members, which I am.

I'm willing to preview anything with a free trial. ;-)