[rsbrsvp]

I am no expert on this bit perfect stuff- but I want to share something I have found in my experience. I use Tidal through Audrivana and Amazon through the Amazon App.

I have a very very transparent system which reveals everything. When I play Tidal on Audrivana- to my ears it sounds more correct than Amazon HD. However, Tidal does not allow downloads where Amazon does. Now, when I download my Amazon music to my NAS and play from there- Amazon in exclusive mode sounds clearly better than Tidal in Audrivana even when playing in Kernal Streaming mode. I have done many many comparisons of the same recordings over a period of many months- and this is my conclusion- to my surprise. I think the bit perfect aspect is not as important as getting a good feed into my PC. I am guessing based on my results that Amazons streaming delivery is poorer than Tidal or Qobuz which results in slightly damaged sonics, but that can be circumvented by downloading Amazon songs to my NAS or direct to my PC. The difference in the downloaded file vs the direct stream from Amazon is IMHO pretty substantial- and I am very very happy with the results.

Truth is, downloaded amazon music is SUPERB- world class. My only two issues left is I do not like how my downloaded songs disappear when I sign out- requiring me to redownload them, and also I do not like the Amazon interface very much. I really prefer the Apple Music interface much more... and if Apple ever gets exclusive mode- that is where I am going. Spotify Hi Fi is supposed to have exclusive mode as well and also allow downloads- so awaiting that as well.

 

[rkw]

Spotify Hi Fi is supposed to have exclusive mode as well

Where did you see this? I haven't seen such a statement from Spotify.

 

[rsbrsvp]

Where did you see this? I haven't seen such a statement from Spotify.

I don't remember....

 

[originalsnuffy]

I am no expert on this bit perfect stuff- but I want to share something I have found in my experience. I use Tidal through Audrivana and Amazon through the Amazon App.

I have a very very transparent system which reveals everything. When I play Tidal on Audrivana- to my ears it sounds more correct than Amazon HD. However, Tidal does not allow downloads where Amazon does. Now, when I download my Amazon music to my NAS and play from there- Amazon in exclusive mode sounds clearly better than Tidal in Audrivana even when playing in Kernal Streaming mode. I have done many many comparisons of the same recordings over a period of many months- and this is my conclusion- to my surprise. I think the bit perfect aspect is not as important as getting a good feed into my PC. I am guessing based on my results that Amazons streaming delivery is poorer than Tidal or Qobuz which results in slightly damaged sonics, but that can be circumvented by downloading Amazon songs to my NAS or direct to my PC. The difference in the downloaded file vs the direct stream from Amazon is IMHO pretty substantial- and I am very very happy with the results.

Truth is, downloaded amazon music is SUPERB- world class. My only two issues left is I do not like how my downloaded songs disappear when I sign out- requiring me to redownload them, and also I do not like the Amazon interface very much. I really prefer the Apple Music interface much more... and if Apple ever gets exclusive mode- that is where I am going. Spotify Hi Fi is supposed to have exclusive mode as well and also allow downloads- so awaiting that as well.

I know that music can be downloaded from Amazon HD to PCs,
android DAP units, and iphones. I am not too sure what happens on a NAS.

Why are you signing out by the way?

I personally think we are all getting too hung up on exclusive mode. What matters is how the music sounds.

I did an A/B with a friend a year ago of Amazon HD vs Tidal. He thought Tidal sounded better, I just think it sounded different but not necessarily better. Apple Lossless sounds about the same to me as Amazon HD. Frankly I suspect that all the uncompressed sources sound about the same.

For the sake of this discussion I will treat Tidal as uncompressed, although in reality Tidal MQA does feature mild compression. I know that this information upsets Tidal users but if one researches the matter that is correct. MQA has a very efficient compression algorithm and does in fact have the capability to present audio above 20 khz. That doesn't mean MQA does not sound good by the way, just stating some truths about what is under the covers.

 

[rsbrsvp]

I know that music can be downloaded from Amazon HD to PCs,
android DAP units, and iphones. I am not too sure what happens on a NAS.

Why are you signing out by the way?

I personally think we are all getting too hung up on exclusive mode. What matters is how the music sounds.

I did an A/B with a friend a year ago of Amazon HD vs Tidal. He thought Tidal sounded better, I just think it sounded different but not necessarily better. Apple Lossless sounds about the same to me as Amazon HD. Frankly I suspect that all the uncompressed sources sound about the same.

For the sake of this discussion I will treat Tidal as uncompressed, although in reality Tidal MQA does feature mild compression. I know that this information upsets Tidal users but if one researches the matter that is correct. MQA has a very efficient compression algorithm and does in fact have the capability to present audio above 20 khz. That doesn't mean MQA does not sound good by the way, just stating some truths about what is under the covers.

Yeh. Truth is I do not have a NAS. I was using the term loosely. I have a second PC with a 2tb SSD which is connected to my router and I store my songs on this second PC (like I would a NAS) and then play the music through my primary PC. The music coming from my second PC passes two Etheregen's with linear PS and external 10MHZ Mutec clocks.

In my opinion- the exclusive mode on Amazon HD has some value; definitely sounds better to me than without.- but the "bit-perfect" ranting- I think has less value. Bottom line- Amazon played from files downloaded to my SSD sound better than Tidal streamed from Audrivana in Kernal Streaming mode.

I don't sign out of Amazon almost ever- but nevertheless I ask- why erase my downloads when I do sign out? Apple does not do this.

 

[PlantsmanTX]

Yeh. Truth is I do not have a NAS. I was using the term loosely. I have a second PC with a 2tb SSD which is connected to my router and I store my songs on this second PC (like I would a NAS) and then play the music through my primary PC. The music coming from my second PC passes two Etheregen's with linear PS and external 10MHZ Mutec clocks.

In my opinion- the exclusive mode on Amazon HD has some value; definitely sounds better to me than without.- but the "bit-perfect" ranting- I think has less value. Bottom line- Amazon played from files downloaded to my SSD sound better than Tidal streamed from Audrivana in Kernal Streaming mode.

I don't sign out of Amazon almost ever- but nevertheless I ask- why erase my downloads when I do sign out? Apple does not do this.

How do you play a downloaded song with something other than the Amazon HD Windows app?

 

[originalsnuffy]

How do you play a downloaded song with something other than the Amazon HD Windows app?

You can't

 

[originalsnuffy]

Yeh. Truth is I do not have a NAS. I was using the term loosely. I have a second PC with a 2tb SSD which is connected to my router and I store my songs on this second PC (like I would a NAS) and then play the music through my primary PC. The music coming from my second PC passes two Etheregen's with linear PS and external 10MHZ Mutec clocks.

In my opinion- the exclusive mode on Amazon HD has some value; definitely sounds better to me than without.- but the "bit-perfect" ranting- I think has less value. Bottom line- Amazon played from files downloaded to my SSD sound better than Tidal streamed from Audrivana in Kernal Streaming mode.

I don't sign out of Amazon almost ever- but nevertheless I ask- why erase my downloads when I do sign out? Apple does not do this.

I never really sign out of the app on purpose. Once I had to reauthorize myself. None of my downloads were gone.

I suspect that the App is seeing your "server" as an unauthorized PC or something along those lines. I never have issues with downloading directly to my PCs.

No doubt that by most definitions the Amazon app is not bit perfect. But on the other hand I can stream from my iphone to an external DAC. That implies that whatever transmogriphications of the bits might be going on, those manipulations are not messing up the ability to output to a DAC.

Most of the time I just play back via my DAP unit (HiBy R5) from downloaded music. I have also been messing a bit with Apple's equivalent but can't say I detect any difference. Which is a good thing; as that implies both apps are doing a good job.

 

[PlantsmanTX]

You can't

Got it.

 

[rsbrsvp]

How do you play a downloaded song with something other than the Amazon HD Windows app?

I use the Amazon app. on the Source PC to instruct the download, but I direct the download to my second PC which is also connected to the same router, but on the other side of the room. The following video instructed me how to do this. Then I play music from Amazon desktop program on my source PC- but the music is being fetched from the hard drive of my fanless second PC where I originally placed the download which is connected to the same network. In other words, my second PC is being uses as a NAS. The results are both fuller and more analogue sound, and noticeably better detail than when streaming direct.

 

[PlantsmanTX]

I use the Amazon app. on the Source PC to instruct the download, but I direct the download to my second PC which is also connected to the same router, but on the other side of the room. The following video instructed me how to do this. Then I play music from Amazon desktop program on my source PC- but the music is being fetched from the hard drive of my fanless second PC where I originally placed the download which is connected to the same network. In other words, my second PC is being uses as a NAS. The results are both fuller and more analogue sound, and noticeably better detail than when streaming direct.

I see, thank you. I don't have a second PC, but I do have an extra ssd installed that I don't really use.

 

[rsbrsvp]

Try going to your settings and changing the playback mode from "HD" to "Standard". I'm not joking... I preferred Tidal in Kernal Streaming mode from Audrivana over Amazon until I switched to "Standard Mode". Now Amazon is at least equal sonically....

Standard playback mode must be technically inferior but to my ears it is such an improvement. It is less bright, and more focused than "HD" mode. Tonally I prefer it and detail is exactly the same as HD mode IMHO.

 

[3Putter]

What did Yoda say when he saw himself on 4K? Duh! HDMI, LOL...

 

[dilbertprogrammer]

I've been enjoying Amazon Music. What I find frustrating is that if I "Follow" an artist (by clicking the heart icon) it doesn't seem to accomplish anything.

Does anyone know of a way to view the artists one has "Follow"ed?

As I understand it, Amazon will suggest similar artists/music to you based on who you follow, but it sure would be nice to be able to actually pull up a list of those one has chosen to follow.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

I believe that was broken from the very beginning and was never fixed, shows how much amazon cares.
You need to follow album of the artist to show up in followed list.