Popular Post whell Posted November 16, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 16, 2020 Yes, between the behavior of playback software on the streamed content, the record labels distribution methodology, the way that some streaming producers market the value of "high resolution streaming", the impact of remastering of such content on the listening experience (which can be positive or negative) and then throw in MQA's marketing and distribution practices, and you've got quiet a dense forest of conflicting information and sonics that can be difficult to navigate through. Thanks for helping us sort through this! Great information contained herein. Listening to my Node 2i right now. I let my Amazon HD subscription lapse waiting for your thoughts on this. Now I just have to figure out if I want to renew it or not. :) Interesting that you found MQA content on Amazon. Which album lit the MQA indictor? Was it one of the albums mentioned above? Had no idea that Amazon was working with Bob Stuart and company. The Computer Audiophile and AudioDoctor 1 1 Link to comment
Popular Post whell Posted November 17, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 17, 2020 5 hours ago, audiobomber said: The non-bit-perfect investigation is interesting, but my question is, how does Amazon HD sound versus Tidal and Qobuz? I think the take away here is this: The answer to your question is: "It depends." You need to get the whole playback chain right to optimize playback from streaming services. For example: I'm going to play a song on Qobuz on my iPhone via Bluetooth to a DAC which has a Bluetooth receiver built in. The song them goes from my DAC to my "Aux" input on my integrated amp. It sounds good, but not great. I'm going to playback that same song on my iPhone, but now I'm going to play it back from my IPhone's headphone jack to via a cable with an adapter that allows me to plug the able into the "Aux" RCA input on my integrated amp. Sounds a bit better maybe, but still not great. Now I'll grab my Windows PC and playback the song on Qobuz's Windows software, output from my PC via USB into my DAC, and then to the Aux input on my integrated Amp. Better still. But if I don't have Windows optimized correctly, then I might not get all of the sound qualify that Qobuz is capable of. Then there are more options for playback, all with potential strengths and weaknesses. As this article points out, I probably won't be able to get the best sound out of Amazon HD unless I use a dedicated device like a Bluesound Node 2i. I think there are more devices that could get optimal sound out of Amazon HD. I think Cocktail Audio makes a streaming device or two, for instance, and there are others. But unless you have such a device, you might want to look elsewhere than Amazon HD, which, by the way, can sound excellent if you have such a device. If you don't have a compatible device already, then you're going to probably want to look at Tidal or Qobuz. Both of these services have their adherents, and both can sound excellent. However, sometimes its even hard to compare between services. On each service a particular album might have one or more difference masters available, and unless you can do some sort of "A - B test" and be sure you're listening to the same master on each service, there might be claims that one service might sound "different" or "better" than another. With both Tidal and Qobuz, there are also more devices available that are capable of optimizing playback from these services. Your choice of playback devices might range from a PC or laptop that you already have with the service's software downloaded/setup, to a dedicated streaming device, to something like Daphile which allows you to convert a PC to a dedicated playback device, and which has plugins for both Tidal and Qobuz. Bottom line - its still the wild west in the streaming world, with more questions than answers in some cases. They all can sound good, but which sounds "best" is much harder to get at. Chucklesiam and audiobomber 1 1 Link to comment
whell Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 19 hours ago, JPK said: I'm looking for an all in one streamer with a hard drive for our 350 CDs and willing to buy more to be respectful of the artists. (I do not have the chops to run something through a Mac Mini/etc.) Intrigued by Bluesound, but a little hesitant about the sound quality..... The Bluesound Vault might be the answer, but wonder if I should wait for a NAD version (Thinking NAD is better quality than Bluesound) and better yet an Innuos Mini version. Is the Roon streamer compliant with Amazon? For what it’s worth, I'm really enjoying the Node 2i. I use it with an external DAC. While there may not be a list of specific devices, Amazon does provide a listing of “preferred brands” that might help narrow your search a bit: https://www.amazon.com/music/unlimited/why-hd#hd-edu-brands it’s also worth noting that the Node 2i has a USB port on the back of the unit, and can read music files from a flash drive plugged into that port. So, here's something to consider: First, you'd need to rip copies of your CD's, and save them in a file format that's easy for the device - in this case the Node 2i - to read. Might take some time, and you'd probably look to a program like dbPowerAmp or similar to help make the ripping process easy. Next, you'd want to copy/store the files in a safe place, maybe a couple of places like an external drive for backups. You probably wouldn't to have to go through the effort of ripping those CD's again if something happened to the drive that stores all your ripped CD's. Finally, get a flash drive large enough to hold all your ripped CD's. I suspect a 150 or so GB USB flash drive would be sufficient for 350 CD's ripped to FLAC, but you might get something a bit bigger in case you want to add more ripped CD's to your collection later on. Something like this might suffice: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-ultra-256gb-usb-3-0-type-a-flash-drive-black/9208267.p?skuId=9208267&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=DWA&ds_rl=1260402&gclid=CjwKCAiAtej9BRAvEiwA0UAWXqX-U55X9V45Y9Vv0N8iHQb9w4TXwDcd0KCOZsVPdQcSnmaAUdU_lBoCUlAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Then, plug the flash drive into your Node 2i, follow the instructions to have the Node 2i play music from the flash drive, and enjoy. Link to comment
whell Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 @JPK Note that Bluesound and NAD are sister companies under Lenbrook Industries. The products from NAD and Bluesound share technology, i.e., the BluOS software. https://lenbrook.com/#aboutus Link to comment
whell Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 On 12/13/2020 at 5:02 PM, Daren F said: I had one and returned it. I used it only as a transport connected to my DAC. I found that there was large volume fluctuations between some tracks and the first fraction of a second was cut off when tracks would change. This was using it with Tidal. Tidal Masters would be approx. 5dB or more louder than HiFi. Even when set to HiFi only, the beginning of the tracks was cut off. Maybe a compatibility issue with the DAC or defective Node, I don't know. Edit: Just wanted to add that I have a LG V30 as a dedicated remote control point. It's in airplane mode with WiFi enabled. All sounds are muted. There is some delay when advancing tracks but it seems to work pretty good. It is very similar to using BubbleUPnP and qobuz with JRiver as renderer. Interesting. I’m using the Node 2i as a transport as well. I do notice the variation in track volume, but I elected to keep replay gain turned off. I suspect turning on the replay gain feature would address the volume disparity between tracks. I do not experience the issue of the first moment or two of a track being cut off. Link to comment
whell Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 7 hours ago, Daren F said: I've given up trying to find a solution to get bit perfect Amazon Music HD for now and have also dropped Tidal in favor of qobuz. I'll just have to buck up and pay the higher price for qobuz and Roon for now. Agreed. The more I learn about AmazonHD, and while it might be a great fit for a subset of folks looks to stream music, the more I'm convinced it’s little more than a vehicle for Amazon to score incremental revenue off the sale of their playback hardware. Daren F 1 Link to comment
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