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Article: The Next Track: Episode 159 | Amazon Music HD


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16 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I agree. There are no longer any albums I care about that Tidal has and Qobuz doesn't. 

 

It's interesting, because for a very short time - a year or two? - there were exclusives, and Tidal was notably trying to sell their service on that feature. I haven't heard of any big-name exclusives in a while; has that stopped? 

I write about Macs, music, and more at Kirkville.

Author of Take Control of macOS Media Apps

Co-host of The Next Track podcast.

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15 hours ago, bbosler said:

 

That means nothing, I can resample 160K MP3 files to 24/192 and it will show on your DACs as 24/192, so unless you look at the spectrum you can't rely on what the DAC is telling you

 

You can capture the digital output with an app like Audio Hijack, then analyze it. Not hard to do. While you can't test every file, because it would take a long time, anyone who really wants to check could take a sample from a number of albums and look to see if they have any data above 20 KHz.

I write about Macs, music, and more at Kirkville.

Author of Take Control of macOS Media Apps

Co-host of The Next Track podcast.

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13 hours ago, wgscott said:

I think it would be worth measuring, if for no other reason, than to do a santity-check.

 

Subjectively, it sounds different/more bassy.  Even if this turns out to be true, there is the question of whether it is an artifact of my (or other user's) playback chain, software, etc.

 

I'm not sure how you could tell whether the file is being delivered to the DAC bit-perfectly, but if it is possible, that should put all concerns to rest (unless Amazon uses a noisy power supply on their servers).

 

"a noisy power supply on their servers..." 

 

Um, okay. I guess you need to worry about every server between Amazon's A3 repository and you, including every ethernet cable and power supply in every datacenter through which the data transits. And your ISP's hardware. And your telco's hardware. And everything els. 

I write about Macs, music, and more at Kirkville.

Author of Take Control of macOS Media Apps

Co-host of The Next Track podcast.

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12 hours ago, bbosler said:

 

Sorry, just noticed this... how is it "pretty clear" ???

 

The option on their menu is to download the HD file... download means one thing to me and I assume to many others... when I download something that I paid for then I expect to own it, when I pay for an HD file and download it I expect to have an HD file, not an MP3

Do you really think people don't understand that this isn't a smorgasbord where they get to take anything they want for a few bucks a month? You can download movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime, and I don't think anyone thinks they are able to keep them forever. 

 

And I'm not sure what you mean about paying for an HD file and getting an MP3. I haven't started a trial, but I'm assuming each album is correctly labeled as to the type of file available. It's clear that with the "HD" subscription everything is lossless, and that with the Ultra HD only some files are high-res. Amazon says "millions of songs" are Ultra HD, but I assume this is clearly marked. I can't see why you'd get an MP3 file if you have a subscription to the HD plan. 

I write about Macs, music, and more at Kirkville.

Author of Take Control of macOS Media Apps

Co-host of The Next Track podcast.

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2 minutes ago, rn701 said:

 

 

If you purchase and download, you "own" it (sort of) even after subscription stops. These purchased downloads, however,  are mp3 from Amazon's mp3 store. They are not hd. Amazon doesn't really disclose this. That is the source of confusion.

 

Got it. But they're not claiming that these purchases are HD, so the confusion would arise from someone who has an HD subscription but then buys music thinking it's the same quality. Probably an edge case, but I see your point. 

I write about Macs, music, and more at Kirkville.

Author of Take Control of macOS Media Apps

Co-host of The Next Track podcast.

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While streaming services may normalize volume when playing music in playlists or on "radio stations," I cannot imagine that they would ever make any EQ changes to music they stream. This said, check your app or your device if the EQ seems different, because they may have EQ settings. 

I write about Macs, music, and more at Kirkville.

Author of Take Control of macOS Media Apps

Co-host of The Next Track podcast.

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18 hours ago, Jud said:

 

Also, there is a download-to-own segment of the industry in music, where there never has been one of any size or substance for movies or TV shows. Qobuz refers to download for local listening but not owning as "cache" or "offline" or something that makes it a bit clearer this isn't ownership.

Well, companies that "sell" videos - movies and TV shows - such as Apple, Amazon, etc., say that you can download them to own them (Amazon explicits says that; Apple doesn't), though it's not really true.  You are still subject to licensing conditions, and they have DRM, so you cannot do what you want with them. There are certainly some DRM-free video downloads, but only a very small minority. 

I write about Macs, music, and more at Kirkville.

Author of Take Control of macOS Media Apps

Co-host of The Next Track podcast.

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