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Article: Amazon Music HD Launches


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31 minutes ago, keeper said:

Lots of technical detail, however the whole point of music is to listen and enjoy what you hear.

Technical details aside how do people think it sounds from an enjoyment factor?

A day in I think I prefer the outputted sound to Apple Music.

 

Technical details aside, I've seen reviews here and on other forums preferring the sound of Qobuz over Amazon Music HD, and all but one review preferring the sound of Tidal over Amazon Music HD. But the reasons are likely in the technical details of the local players that will remain obscure to most consumers, and your preference for Amazon Music HD over Apple Music is probably a more important indicator of commercial success.

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26 minutes ago, rn701 said:

 

UPDATE/CORRECTION: Fire TV app plays HD files and ULTRA HD files in 16/44.1 over HDMI. (My receiver reports it as 48K, though.)

 

 

Your TV HDMI system is likely resampling it to 48 kHz. It still may sound better than Apple Music or Spotify played through the same TV, because it starts with better source files, but there's no way to achieve "Ultra HD" results in there.

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2 minutes ago, rn701 said:

 

The FireTV is plugged into HDMI on an AVR that supports pretty much all sampling rates up to 24/192 and usually reports them correctly. So I'm thinking it's the FireTV that is resampling. Not a big deal, was just testing and won't be using it for playback as the Windows app on a PC works/sounds better. 

 

Odd. Something's resampling it somehow. As on other systems, it's possible the Amazon app detects only a max sample rate of 48 kHz (incorrectly, in this case) and resamples to that. Anyway, I guess we can live without knowing. Main thing is you're the second person I've seen in the last 24 hours reporting that Fire TV produces 48 kHz output. He was running it through his TV though.

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Well, that's the expected Music HD compatible Echo. But Dolby Atmos music seems like an abomination. I'm sure most of us here turn processing off to listen to music in our home theaters. Now they're going to release albums specifically pre-processed for Atmos. I'm sure anyone's brain will feel tickled by all that at first, but we'll quickly notice a lack of detail and other disappointments.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/5/2019 at 7:46 AM, adam2434 said:

CCA:

  • There is no way to tell what resolution is being sent when casting from the native app to a CCA.  I suspect 256 kbps AAC based on what Alexa Cast does.  I suspect that even when the HD badge is lit, the CCA is still just receiving 256 kbps AAC, but I can’t confirm this.
  •  It would be interesting if someone had the capability to clock the CCA on their router when playing some HD and UHD tracks to confirm whether the average bitrate is in line with 256 kbps AAC or 16/44.1 FLAC.

 

Thanks for your report! Re just the Chromecast Audio section, the head of Amazon Music HD has stated that they do not (yet?) support Chromecast. The Amazon Help page says they support CCA only in "Standard quality":  https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GNPY8ZGH6BMS7UJQ

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1 hour ago, adam2434 said:

If Amazon quickly launches a bunch of new hardware that supports HD and UHD, then it's easy to see that they want to sell the service and hardware to support it, kind of as a bundle.

 

Well, shortly after launch they announced Echo Studio to go with this service (and Atmos, and Sony 360). They'd like you to buy those in pairs, thank you very much. Also at launch they announced they'd partnered with quite a few hardware brands that can deliver Music HD via HEOS, BluOS, etc., all of which Amazon just happens to resell.

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  • 7 months later...
18 hours ago, 57gold said:

Signed up for free trial of HD version as a Prime member.  Been streaming on my iPhone with wireless earbuds, $35 from Amazon, big selection.

 

Tried it this weekend, my wife and daughters dig Elton John and I have only two CDs ripped, the live one from 1971 which rocks and YBR.  So I selected his first album and Tumbleweed, both idefified as Deluxe Edition and played them on my WiFi connected Mini, which is 6 feet (through a plaster board wall) from a new Netgear hub and Speedtest shows I'm getting 100mbps over WiFi. 

 

Mytek B+ displayed that it was playing a HD 24/192 file...but it sounded crappy, kind of harsh???  

 

So, I need to drill a hole in the wall and connect the Mini to the router with an ethernet cable to get decent sound?

 

I've seen many reports that Qobuz and Tidal sound better than Amazon Music HD. I suggest you should try listening to the same tracks on other services before drilling a hole in your wall.

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