[originalsnuffy]

My biggest issue with Amazon is that there is no reliable way to get feedback to the development team about various issues. If they peruse their forums or this forum they certainly are not letting on to it.

It may well be that Tidal or Qobuz sounds a bit better but I think the sound is pretty good.

My main complain right now is that the app can take a while to play a song from a downloaded library the first time the app is fired up. Also sometimes songs are glitchy but that can be fixed usually by deleting the song and downloading it again. Some tunes are missing from the library but I presume that will improve over time.

 

[Guidostrunk]

Have to agree with you. I'm extremely happy with HD. Every once in a while you'll run into HDUltra and 3D formats. Definitely prefer it to Tidal and Qbuzz.

Wow, I am a bit shocked how good the Amazon Music HD sound quality is! I just tried it with my Chord DAVE and Meze Empyreans and it's really good, with a nice spacious sound and good deep defined bass. It is sort of up there with my ripped CDs in Jriver, and some songs that were disappointing in sound quality from my rips are even better. I spent a long time last night hunting and gathering songs and actually found a lot of rare live stuff and interesting re-mastered versions. So a big thumbs up.

The negatives were that the browser is sort of primitive for finding albums, and I'm not sure how to save albums. You kind of have to know what you are looking for by asking for a specific song or artist, but once you do, you can find more great hidden stuff.
And playlist creation is a bit clunky.

But the sound quality of HD is just superb to my ears.

 

[Pro-Jules]

Have to agree with you. I'm extremely happy with HD. Every once in a while you'll run into HDUltra and 3D formats. Definitely prefer it to Tidal and Qbuzz.

DITTO

AND THE SCROLLING LYRICS A BONUS!

 

[Marlowe]

Although the price was right since I am a Prime member, I ditched Amazon HD as soon as the free trial was up. While the sound was OK (with very critical A/B comparisons, I thought it was roughly equal to Tidal on most material but that Tidal was very slightly better on some songs, but that could have been bias), I didn't find the vaunted Amazon catalog to be any real improvement for me over Tidal (almost every major hole in Tidal's catalog remained a hole in Amazon's, which was missing a few great albums that are on Tidal), and to call Amazon's UI a train wreck is unfair to train wrecks--I found it virtually unusable.

 

[buonassi]

Having used Quboz, Tidal, and Amazon HD extensively I found QB the best in sound but lacking for my titles

Qobuz does have the edge to me and is most like my ripped CDs. I too have spent time with all three. Qobuz was also lacking in my preferred genre of progressive rock/metal.

I found Amazon to sound mediocre due to lack of 'exclusive mode' or bit-perfect mode.

no doubt.

 

[tmb821]

While I haven’t used any of the others. I have no issues with hd. Works for my whole family to have one service. We can all share music, discover new stuff, enjoy together. I’m the only audio nerd, the rest of the family could care less about hd or otherwise. So, bonus for me.

 

[Soundizer]

Just checking here. Has Amazon Music HD introduced Exclusive mode or bit perfect yet?

 

[jambaj0e]

Just checking here. Has Amazon Music HD introduced Exclusive mode or bit perfect yet?

Woke up this morning and Amazon Music HD now has that speaker button to enable Exclusive Mode. So naturally I turn it on. While it DEFINITELY takes it to Exclusive Mode (I turned on Tidal, but it says that "device is in use by a different user, device or service". I can't even playback Youtube on Chrome when Exclusive Mode is on.

Strangely, I'm still not sure if bit-perfect is happening, since the color indicator of my Chord Qutest doesn't change from where file-quality to file-quality.

Hopefully they will get bit-perfect sorted out, but man, finally! Exclusive Mode!

 

[Soundizer]

Whoa! I got it! But it's not actually changing into Exclusive Mode and bit-perfect on my Chord Qutest:

When did Amazon add this functionality? I might subscribe again.

 

[jambaj0e]

When did Amazon add this functionality? I might subscribe again.

Just happened today!

 

[tmb821]

Is this on pc only? Don’t see those options on iPhone...

 

[jambaj0e]

Is this on pc only? Don’t see those options on iPhone...

Yes, it's only for desktops. I have it for Windows 10, it should be available for Mac, too.

 

[tmb821]

Yes, it's only for desktops. I have it for Windows 10, it should be available for Mac, too.

Ok, cool. Will have to okay around with it when I get home this weekend.

 

[rgs9200m]

Thanks for the info, but I don't have the speaker button on the app on my Windows 10 machine. Should I delete the app and reinstall it? I don't see anything about Update Available in the app. Thx.

 

[jambaj0e]

Thanks for the info, but I don't have the speaker button on the app on my Windows 10 machine. Should I delete the app and reinstall it? I don't see anything about Update Available in the app. Thx.

I didn't have to install or uninstall. Last night, I definitely did not have the new 7.11.3.2198 version with the Exclusive Mode, but when I turned on my computer this morning, it has it. Funny thing, it didn't asked me to upgrade. It just has it available.