[kdphan]

Yes, am getting the same issue on my A&K Sp1000. No issues with the iphone.

so it seems to be a problem across all platforms and not use android.
amazon issue, that is.

 

[Amberlamps]

Subscribed, 5 minutes later I cancelled.

PC app needs exclusive mode, either that or we need to change the sample rate in windows, which is a no no.

Qobuz will do for just now.

 

[Left Channel]

Many of the above impressions may be improved if loudness normalization is turned off. But the Amazon app also does not get around various kinds of system resampling even when an external DAC or the LG internal Quad DAC is available. The specifics are different across Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS, but in all or most situations the result in resampling, sometimes upsampling but in other cases downsampling.

On phones this includes resampling of the signal sent to external DACs and even high-end internal DACs, and no third-party apps yet have access to the Amazon API to help us find a way around this problem. On desktops the apps don't allow you to select anything but the main system audio, so no options like ASIO or exclusive, and there's no integration with third-party player apps possible there yet either.

This only makes sense when one considers that Amazon's main competitors in this space are Apple Music and Spotify. Many say it sounds better than those services. But it appears most Qobuz and Tidal users remain unimpressed.

 

[tomwoo]

Right... If I wanted EQ, I'd do it myself. I think this is amateur stuff for them to be doing. Sounds like they are misleading their customers in more ways than one. I'm also hearing from a peer that there are tracks that will down sample Ultra HD to 16 bit / 44.1 while still displaying Ultra HD (obviously this should just be regular HD). I don't think this thing should've been rolled out with so many bugs & issues.

I'm sure they will blame record companies for that. Because they will claim they got the files directly from record companies and didn't alter them in any way.

 

[SamuelLBronkowitz]

Forgive my ignorance: How do I find and listen to Amazon HD and Amazon UHD tracks? I have the Amazon Music app (I didn't see any Amazon Music HD app) and tried out a few tracks, some of which I know are available in MQA on Tidal (e.g., Fleetwood Mac) and others which aren't (e.g., Van Halen). Using my iPhone X and iOS 13, my Dragonfly Black held the same pink-ish color across all tracks I tried (i.e., not the bright purple/pink I get with MQA on Tidal). As well, each song didn't say "HD" or "UHD". How do I access the lossless files so I can do some A/B comparisons? Using V-Moda M-100 Master's and a variety of B&W's.

 

[kdphan]

Forgive my ignorance: How do I find and listen to Amazon HD and Amazon UHD tracks? I have the Amazon Music app (I didn't see any Amazon Music HD app) and tried out a few tracks, some of which I know are available in MQA on Tidal (e.g., Fleetwood Mac) and others which aren't (e.g., Van Halen). Using my iPhone X and iOS 13, my Dragonfly Black held the same pink-ish color across all tracks I tried (i.e., not the bright purple/pink I get with MQA on Tidal). As well, each song didn't say "HD" or "UHD". How do I access the lossless files so I can do some A/B comparisons? Using V-Moda M-100 Master's and a variety of B&W's.

whichever device you're using, you'll need to update to latest version of the app.

 

[joshnor713]

Forgive my ignorance: How do I find and listen to Amazon HD and Amazon UHD tracks? I have the Amazon Music app (I didn't see any Amazon Music HD app) and tried out a few tracks, some of which I know are available in MQA on Tidal (e.g., Fleetwood Mac) and others which aren't (e.g., Van Halen). Using my iPhone X and iOS 13, my Dragonfly Black held the same pink-ish color across all tracks I tried (i.e., not the bright purple/pink I get with MQA on Tidal). As well, each song didn't say "HD" or "UHD". How do I access the lossless files so I can do some A/B comparisons? Using V-Moda M-100 Master's and a variety of B&W's.

Might need to go in Settings and say to stream in that highest quality.

 

[SamuelLBronkowitz]

I figured out the problem - I needed to update/upgrade my subscription on my computer, then everything was good to go on my iPhone. Lots of testing tonight...

 

[AudibleLegend]

I figured out the problem - I needed to update/upgrade my subscription on my computer, then everything was good to go on my iPhone. Lots of testing tonight...

So, you're saying the problem is that you didn't subscribe to a service feature that you expected to get without subscribing...I can understand the confusion though.

I'm agreeing with a lot of the other posters that there's a lot of drawbacks here. For every amazing feature (offline downloads, ease of knowing the quality of the tracks, etc.) there's plenty of others that are not up to snuff. They really need better apps, and meanwhile, my iPhone is basically useless to connecting to my upstairs speaker setup which basically eliminates most of the appeal for me. I want to listen upstairs and all I'm left with is the option to BlueTooth from my phone. Bleh.


EDIT: FINALLY got it working. Using A/V in-line on my television (passthrough to Sony Soundbase). Didn't think the line would work if it wasn't video, but I guess it does. Major hassle though. Major.

Tunes sound great though. A lot "fuller" sounding for the same album that I was just listening to in MP3 streaming via the television app.

 

[Gus141]

But it appears most Qobuz and Tidal users remain unimpressed.

I’m very unimpressed as a Qobuz Sublime+ and TIDAL subscriber. But I’m also very on-the-fence. Amazon could be the last service standing, so do I duplicate my library in Amazon Music HD and hope their apps improve and they figure out bit-perfect playback on desktop and mobile+DAC setups?

Decisions, decisions. The Bluesound app isn’t bad for TIDAL and Qobuz but it is terrible for Amazon Music right now. The native Amazon apps are really messing up the bit-perfect concept on mobil by upsampling/downsampling everything to max capability of the DAC attached (or internal DAC if nothing attached). And no exclusive mode on desktop!! What?! How could they launch this without that capability?

Anywho, I’m probably going to do the year sub and reevaluate at the end of the year; just like I’m doing with Qobuz. We’ll see who wins out, but right now Qobuz is doing better on the bit-perfect lossless (and Non-MQA!) end, and TIDAL is great for depth of catalogue and music discovery (I like the My Mix playlists and I add the songs I like to Qobuz).

I do hope this is the death of MQA though; however, Sony just announced new DAPs with native MQA-streaming support. I guess competition is good

 

[purk]

I enrolled on a free trail as well. Hope all issues will get sort out soon.

 

[CANiSLAYu]

Highly intrigued by this option due to the price, high res without MQA, and integration with Amazon/Alexa. Currently a Tidal subscriber. Haven't even bothered with Qobuz because of the price and I'm happy with Tidal for now. Tried out Amazon Music today and here are my thoughts with various devices:

Google Pixel 3 > iBasso DC01 USB C to 2.5mm DAC/Amp dongle = Amazon Music HD - was capped at 24/48. Android limitation reared it's ugly head as the stated max resolution was 24/48. I use USB Audio Player Pro to get around that typically, but no Amazon integration there yet
iPhone XS > Apple CCK > USB A male to USB C female > iBasso DC01 = also capped at 24/48, but curiously it showed the device capability at 24/192 (device is actually capable up to 32/384)

I also have an Astell & Kern SR15 and KANN CUBE, but I have not tried the side loaded Amazon app yet. A&K players should bypass the 24/48 Android limitation to the max supported resolution, but A&K confirmed on the SR15 thread it is being limited to 24/48 and DAPs from other manufacturers have the same issue. Appears it is an issue on Amazon's side on their mobile app for both Android and iOS.

Tried the desktop app on Mac. Mac > Massdrop x Airist Audio R-2R. Appears to be playing at max resolution. Set the capability in Audio Midi Setup to 24/384 and it displays the capability on the Amazon Music app and it appears to be playing up to 24/192 fine. The DAC has no indicator lights and I can't validate the resolution, but when I click the details on the Amazon app it does show different resolutions depending on the track. As others have pointed out though, no exclusive mode. Annoying when an e-mail ding and the like chimes in.

Overall I think it's a nice start for something that just launched this week and sounds very nice. If this was another company people would probably be thrilled with this out of the gate, but since it's a tech giant like Amazon we set the bar much higher. Hopefully they fix the issue with the apps and allow for controlling the desktop app from a phone. Hoping for integration with UAPP for Android and with Roon. If that happens, I will probably drop Tidal. Otherwise, probably riding Tidal until the wheels fall off.

 

[Duncan]

Thanks - I couldn't find it in the app but found it on amazon co uk - It says 16th December so that's the 90 days.
Thing is - it says I'm a member of amazon music unlimited (not HD) and I'm going to be billed £14.99 on Dec 16th (I've signed up for the family membership on HD so I'd expect that to say £19.99)
Gremlins/ Teething issues abound.

The biggest one for me is apple car play - if I can't fix that I'm out for sure. Waiting for iOS13 to see what else goes wrong.

call them - mine was broken too, they fixed it whilst I was on the phone

 

[Tooros]

call them - mine was broken too, they fixed it whilst I was on the phone

I'm seeing HD on the desktop and phone app. I can play in UHD - I have the family plan running and three of us share the trial.
The only gremlin is that amazon thinks I'm owing 14.99 in december and not 19.99
I'm not sure I want to call them yet

 

[SilverEars]

Does anyone know when this will be available in Canada? (ie

That's weird. It's available for Duncan in the uk, but not you from CA in North America?

Anyway, what I like about Tidal is the depth of how the ui was setup for easy music discovery. I heard Spotify has a good interface as well. The caveat is the limited library, and I'm sure that's where Amazon shines, but if music discovery is gimped, that large library isn't easy to explore.

For me, one of the most important part of streaming service is how easy it is to discover new music. That's a big part of having immediate access to a huge library. I just luv the availability of streaming services these days, makes music discovery very easy.