Amazon launches lossless high-res music service!

[digicidal]

Actually if they did vinyl rips I bet there would be loads of people that would prefer them... especially if you told them what they were before they listened.

 

[GrimSurfer]

What's wrong with the fidelity of streaming?

Nothing really. It's just that it offers nothing audibly better than that which is available in physical or download forms.

What streaming offers is for rent, not sale. Streaming is all about control and profit from the music industry perspective. You don't make as much if you give up control and cede ownership to individuals (read: "unauditable" customers).

 

[digicidal]

How about vinyl streamed by tube devices? That would be sublime, especially if the tubes glowed green.

I swear I'm gonna have to make an Ethernet "filter box" that has a couple tubes in it (powered and lit but completely disconnected from everything) and a nice copper or alu chassis... maybe with a little burlwood somewhere. It won't do anything other than make you use 2 cables rather than one, and will cost ~$800. I bet I could sell a few hundred at least, and at a profit of somewhere around $700 each even in those tiny volumes - might make a nice part time job of it.

 

[AudioSceptic]

I'm waiting for a vinyl streaming service, real gains only for these golden ears.

But no digits so we'll need an analogue internet.

 

[GrimSurfer]

I swear I'm gonna have to make an Ethernet "filter box" that has a couple tubes in it (powered and lit but completely disconnected from everything) and a nice copper or alu chassis... maybe with a little burlwood somewhere. It won't do anything other than make you use 2 cables rather than one, and will cost ~$800. I bet I could sell a few hundred at least, and at a profit of somewhere around $700 each even in those tiny volumes - might make a nice part time job of it.

You don't even need to list full specs, which takes up room better used for words like "warm" or "buttery".

The company front man could be a hobo with a fuzzy beard and retro clothes. No need to pay him/her. In fact, it would work better if you didn't because then you'd be seen as a real corporate player.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Simulated pops and clicks included in an optional overlay channel in the stream for those who like a more realistic retro listening experience

Why simulate something that's already there for real?

 

[day7a1]

These are arbitrary definitions.

I agree. "Standard" is popular consensus until there's a formal standard, which there is none for music. 128kbps MP3 was "standard" back in 2003, IIRC. We called CDs "redbook" to differentiate. Which is a standard, but for CDs, not music in general.

were said to be better. Then mp3s.

I don't recall anyone claiming that MP3s were "better". "Smaller", yes. "Indistinguishable by most people" maybe. "Better quality"? Nope.

Actually if they did vinyl rips I bet there would be loads of people that would prefer them

Only if they were marketed as 25 bit, 200khz. You know, "vinyl standard".

 

[Daverz]

Looks like the only way to integrate into my squeezebox ecosystem is to use airplay (via the ShairTunes2 plugin). This is limited to 16/44, at least that's what the Audio-Midi util on my macbook says. Anyway, I signed up for the 90-day trial, I'll have to remember to cancel before it's up.

Oh, and I have problems with nasty loud popping noises when starting play into an airplay "device" using Shairtunes2. I'll have to try to track that down.

 

[BDWoody]

But no digits so we'll need an analogue internet.

Rip it into 32/768 and sell it as ultra ultra hi res vinyl...

 

[GrimSurfer]

Rip it into 32/768 and sell it as ultra ultra hi res vinyl...

LOL. We're soon going to need a Cray supercomputer to decode this stuff.

 

[JoachimStrobel]

Does Amazon HD provide multichannel (4.0 or 5.x) streams? Does Tidal? Does anybody? And above AC3 type of compression?
.

 

[digicidal]

Rip it into 32/768 and sell it as ultra ultra hi res vinyl...

LOL. We're soon going to need a Cray supercomputer to decode this stuff.

Especially when you employ 8X oversampling... cuz 6.144MHz is where the really real sound is found. It's so buttery you think you're eating breakfast.

 

[Sal1950]

Don't want to be Tidal or Qobuz reading this news. Now what we (I) need is Roon integration to switch.

Awesome!!! Not good news for Spotify either, Redbook at near the same cost as Spotify Preminum. And if this puts the final nail in Tidal/JayZ's coffin, so much the better. .
Going to give it a trial and see what the catalog and UI is like.
What would be really great is if Amazon started looking at multich streaming, so far Qobuz's program is a bust. If they had a decent multich Classical catalog that might boost the numbers too.

 

[Drone/doom]

How long will it be when Apple/spotify go lossless?, More proof why lossy audio is dead beyond bandwidth limited areas.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Looks like the only way to integrate into my squeezebox ecosystem is to use airplay (via the ShairTunes2 plugin). This is limited to 16/44, at least that's what the Audio-Midi util on my macbook says. Anyway, I signed up for the 90-day trial, I'll have to remember to cancel before it's up.

Oh, and I have problems with nasty loud popping noises when starting play into an airplay "device" using Shairtunes2. I'll have to try to track that down.

But you can still play Amazon's "HD" (CD quality) so why cancel, unless you are just trying it out?

 

[Bamyasi]

They do have classical music but that's certainly not their strongest point.

I have just signed up for the 90-day free trial. Since I do not use Windows or Mac computers, the only way I can currently listen to Amazon HD on my system is via Chromecast Audio. It apparently is only capable of streaming Amazon HD in CD-quality, so no "Ultra HD" for me.

What can I say, the sound quality is very very good. Much better compared to Qobuz HiFi and at least on par or better than Tidal HiFi. In fact, this is for the first time I was unable to even pretend that I can hear any difference between a streaming service and the same tracks played back as FLAC files from my own collection on a local disk.

"Ultra HD", or Hi-Res, or MQA I do not care much about. But for good old CD/Redbook quality recordings this is a nobrainer. Especially for those of us already paying for the Amazon Prime.

 

[Bamyasi]

By the way, can someone please tell me which bitdepth is shown when your DAC plays back CCA streams via optical in? Display on mine is currently stuck at 44.1/24bit for optical for some reason. Incidentally, firmware on all my CCA devices has been automatically upgraded tonight overnight and it is now at v1.42.172094.

 

[Daverz]

But you can still play Amazon's "HD" (CD quality) so why cancel, unless you are just trying it out?

Mainly, I don't like playing audio from my laptop, which is the only I have to use this service. If someone creates an LMS plugin like the ones for Qobuz and Tidal, it would easily replace Tidal for me.

 

[AudioSceptic]

LOL. We're soon going to need a Cray supercomputer to decode this stuff.

Which one? You might be surprised how slow a Cray-1 is by modern standards.

 

[GrimSurfer]

By the way, can someone please tell me which bitdepth is shown when your DAC plays back CCA streams via optical in? Display on mine is currently stuck at 44.1/24bit for optical for some reason. Incidentally, firmware on all my CCA devices has been automatically upgraded tonight overnight and it is now at v1.42.172094.

The TOSLINK limit is 24/96.