I'm not fully committed to streaming yet. DAC is low end. Finishing a 3 month free Apple Music trial. In truth, it doesn't sound that bad to me but tonight I started a 3 month Amazon Music trial and just after spending about an hour with it, it seems to sound better than Apple Music running through the exact same system. Fuller. Richer. More precise bass. No A/B testing, just a general impression. It might even be the music selection. I don't know. Is there any actual reason for this to be true? Or is it just me?
Yesterday I downloaded and installed the latest macOS Big Sur 11.4 on my Mac mini (Late 2014). After the install was completed the Music app (used to be iTunes) shows it is versions 1.1.5.74 now. In the the Music app’s Preferences (in Playback tab) there is now Audio Quality pull down menu that allows me to choose one of three Streaming Qualities: High Quality (AAC 256), Lossless (ALAC up to 24-bit/48 kHz) or High-Resolution Lossless (ALAC up to 24-bit/192 kHz (I picked the last one). Mac mini is connected via a regular 10 dollars USB cable to a 24-bit/96 kHz DAC (GT40 Furutech) I purchased 10 years ago ($400 dollars) and then down to DK Design 360 Watts per channel hybrid amp driving 15" inches Tannoy Gold monitors. It sounds so good that I can’t work while it is playing as it takes all my attention away. I have been using 20 dollars a month Tidal HiFi subscription for years. It didn’t sound as good as Apple’s lossless on my system. Aside from a better quality it seems the selection of Lossless recordings on Apple is wider as it seems every album I click has that "lossless" icon indicating it is playing in high resolution. Lastly, as a side bonus, the Music app comes with Equalizer that I can play with when I want a bit juicier or beefier sound.
No experience with Amazon’s subscription service yet but am currently using Tidal and Apple. I prefer Tidal’s SQ significantly over Apple Music but sometimes Tidal is so buggy as to evoke disgust from a pet rock. I could definitely live with Apple Music if it were the only option but, as of today, I’ll be dropping the Apple trial subscription next month. If Tidal goes on another 5 day connectivity-drunk, I may change my mind…
mate, if you're happy to try any free trial, have a listen to Tidal. All Redbook CD quality. I tried them all and Tidal is by far the best imo and on my system.
Amazon has been a bit coy about the mp3 rates they use and have said they vary. I liked the sound quality of their Unlimited tier better than Apple Music (256 AAC). I now use Deezer HiFi, which I like better than Tidal, BTW.
I know you are specifically asking about apple vs amazon but if you ever want to try something different you may want to do a Deezer trial. Huge library and good interface IMO. I switched from Tidal to Deezer.
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.
My experience with iTunes has been very positive. I started ripping all my CDs as either AIFF or ALAC lossless files about 8 years ago. I really can't tell any difference between the two. I have 4 systems in different rooms and I stream my ripped files wireless from either an iMac or a MacBook Pro to either an Apple TV or an Airport Express and use the optical output to a DAC. We use our iPhones or iPads as remotes. In my opinion, the SQ is as good or better than several systems I have heard with dedicated music streamers.
In 8 years of use I have never had a dropout, cutout, navigation issue, or slow loading pages with iTunes. Actually iTunes has always worked flawlessly. During that timeframe I have installed several versions of MacOS and several versions of iTunes all with no problems.
I typically do not use online music streaming services but i have had several free trials with Apple Music and Amazon Music. I found Apple Music to sound better than Amazon Music but both are fine for casual listening or background music. For serious listening they don't compare with my lossless ripped files.
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.
What is your Mac OS? iTunes version? Amazon Music version?
Mine is: Mojave 10.14.1 iTunes 12.9.0.164 Amazon 6.8.1.1388
If your Apple / iTunes is ’buggy’ it may be time to wipe & reload your OS. I just did that a few weeks ago since all my important stuff is in the ’cloud’ - no loss. What a major difference in performance! After doing so, like I mentioned earlier, I'm having the opposite experience than you in both SQ & performance.
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.
My experience with those two streaming services is quite the opposite:
I feed my DAC via USB from my MacBook Pro &/or wireless via Apple TV & to save on HDD space, I don’t even download the music; just stream - whether from Amazon Music App or iTunes. Listening to Apple Music from iTunes is clearly superior to Amazon Music streaming from Amazon Music App. At least that's the case for me & my ears & system; I guess ‘YMMV’ applies.
I have also found Apple Music to sound quite good when streaming directly from my Apple TV feeding my DAC via HDMI; in fact almost on par, if not better than from my MacBook. My guess is there is less noise or less jitter.
I don’t really have a preference to either interface; both are adequately convenient and relatively user friendly. But I also do not have very high expectations on sound quality from streaming from either of those formats, especially after my recent discovery. (Digital audio can sound astounding from plain old Redbook CD’s when implemented correctly. Namely utilizing a separate dedicated CD transport & DAC) - But, I digress; that’s another story altogether, not really applicable here.
“. . . Is there any actual reason for this to be true?. . .”
My guess is there are other factors in play; maybe the source component & the DAC or everything in between. Without knowing a little more about your system components, it would be hard to say.
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.
I’ve been subscribing to Apple Music for several years (started with Beats which Apple bought) now and really enjoy it. I noticed they have bumped the sample rate up to 96 for some recordings. Haven’t tried any of the other services so can’t comment.
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