4/10/2023 0 Comments Amazon music![]() It is supported by NAD/Lembrook’s excellent BluOS operating system (and the big row of brands at the foot of the promo page suggest that more are coming). At this very early stage in its life, Amazon is nowhere near this level of ubiquity. Along with Spotify, TIDAL is perhaps the most consistently encountered service on network audio players. Where TIDAL has always excelled (and where Qobuz has also been strong in the last year or so) is the level of third party integration on offer. Neither is this the only current limitation. This is something I don’t have to do with TIDAL or Qobuz and at the moment, it places Amazon at a disadvantage. ![]() In the case of my computer, it seems determined to lock everything to 24/96 which means that a degree of faffing is needed to ensure it is playing the files in question at the correct sample rate and not one it feels like. Unlike Qobuz or TIDAL, the Amazon desktop app will not allow you set a direct USB connection between it and your DAC which leaves you at the mercy of your computer’s audio management. The proviso to this is that this will happen if your DAC and your PC are getting on correctly. This means that, unlike TIDAL, so long as you have hardware that can handle the sample rate, you will get what is on Amazon. What is also noteworthy is that Amazon has decided that there is no requirement to use any additional ‘packing’ on the Hi-Res res files so there is no use of MQA on the Hi-Res service. In a slightly cringeworthy move, Amazon has elected to call lossless content ‘HD’ and Hi-Res ‘Ultra HD’ which makes little sense but is one of many kickbacks of companies telling customers for years that 320kbps MP3 was as good as it gets. The crucial aspect of the new service is the entirety of this library is available in either 16/44.1kHz lossless FLAC or in higher resolutions up to 24/192 (although, at the time of writing I have not located a 192kHz file). Now we exist in an age where most people’s internet cares not whether the file coming down the pipe is 320kbps MP3 or 24/96 FLAC, is this the point where convenience and quality dovetail again to the benefit of everyone? It demonstrated that for decades, the vast majority of people are not concerned by audio quality an issue masked by the highest performing format often being the most convenient. As someone first and foremost concerned with the reproduction of music in two channels in the best quality possible, the last fifteen years have been pretty tough. Amazon clearly feels that after the best part of twenty years, audio quality is a mainstream argument and this effort is pointed firmly at more mainstream rivals.įrom my personal perspective, before we go any further, it almost doesn’t matter if this review is positive or not. This is not a company that has decided to launch a service like this to make TIDAL and Qobuz’s life difficult. In fact, it is possible to argue that their risk aversion has at times cost them in the face of more dynamic opposition. Amazon does not, and never has, chased niches. What is new is that this is Amazon, a massive, infinitely funded leviathan of a company that exists to compete in the mainstream. What Amazon is offering (for now at least - more of that in a bit) is not new. We’ve tested three lossless services prior to this and two of those also offer high resolution material too (although, for accuracy’s sake, TIDAL didn’t when we reviewed it). ![]() On the face of it, this is not an especially remarkable thing. ![]() Amazon Music HD is an on-demand lossless and Hi-Res streaming service. ![]()
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