[Soundizer]

I'm streaming Amazon HD via Node 2 into Chord Qutest and RNHP, Ether 2 headphones. I really don't think I can distinguish this stream from Qobuz.

The Amazon catalogue seems to be a little larger in places - more Van Morrison and Bob Seger, for example. The albums that are available in Hi Res are largely the same across both services. Presumably this is dictated by the labels?

The BluOS app doesn't yet tell you which Amazon albums are Hi Res (or 'Ultra HD' in Amazon silly speak) until you start playing them which is a bit annoying. I'm sure they'll eventually sort this out as they did with Qobuz.

I've 'favourited' a whole bunch of artists in the Amazon app but for the life of me I can't then find a list of these, either in the BlueOS or Amazon apps?

My three month Amazon trial runs until January and I'd say they (and Bluesound) still have some improvements to make to keep me as a paying customer. I should add that I'd really rather not do business with Amazon if it can be avoided following a very poor user experience after my account was fraudulently hacked into a while back, and concerns about their tax practices and treatment of staff.

Have you tried TIDAL Masters on Bluesound Node 2? I understand BlueOS can play Tidal MQA.

 

[Steve Wilcox]

Have you tried TIDAL Masters on Bluesound Node 2? I understand BlueOS can play Tidal MQA.

Yes. I thought the MQA streams sounded very good, but not quite as good as the Qobuz Hi Res streams and I have a good cable broadband connection so bandwidth isn't an issue for me.

I ditched Tidal for Qobuz largely because the latter's musical tastes and presentation are more in tune with mine.

 

[Soundizer]

Yes. I thought the MQA streams sounded very good, but not quite as good as the Qobuz Hi Res streams and I have a good cable broadband connection so bandwidth isn't an issue for me.

I ditched Tidal for Qobuz largely because the latter's musical tastes and presentation are more in tune with mine.

Do you think Amazon ULTRA HD - 24/192 is on par with Qobuz HI Res?

i am thinking about getting Powernode2i myself.

 

[originalsnuffy]

That's interesting. I wonder why the trial lengths are different between us.

In my case I did a trial of the service a long time ago and at the time it was the same quality as spotify and I was not impressed. When the HD came out, I took a trial and was only offered one month free and one more month at the regular, non HD rate. So it may depend on whether you have trialed or used the service in the past. I can't really complain.

I can't say the ultra HD tracks sound that much different than the HD tracks, but it all sounds pretty good to me so I am keeping the service. Its really about convenience for me. I've already given in to Alexa so this is more of the same.

 

[runssical]

I may have had a previous trial of the lossy tier when it first was launched. So that makes sense.

Seems like an okay service but I'm sticking to downloads and rips. I'm convinced local playback sounds better than any streaming service.

 

[Steve Wilcox]

Do you think Amazon ULTRA HD - 24/192 is on par with Qobuz HI Res?

i am thinking about getting Powernode2i myself.

Through my Node 2 I really wouldn't be able to distinguish the Amazon an Qobuz streams at the same resolution. But if you can access the 3 month free Amazon trial that should be plenty of time to decide for yourself.

I've been very pleased with the Node 2 as a streamer but don't use the internal DAC, though it's good, and the DACs in the 2i range are a step up from mine. I've been thinking of upgrading my streamer to something DACless but not at all sure how better it can get? Maybe a Moon Neo Mind?

 

[Soundizer]

Through my Node 2 I really wouldn't be able to distinguish the Amazon an Qobuz streams at the same resolution. But if you can access the 3 month free Amazon trial that should be plenty of time to decide for yourself.

I've been very pleased with the Node 2 as a streamer but don't use the internal DAC, though it's good, and the DACs in the 2i range are a step up from mine. I've been thinking of upgrading my streamer to something DACless but not at all sure how better it can get? Maybe a Moon Neo Mind?

NAD M10

 

[Left Channel]

What was the quality on Amazon? Was it at least 24/96?
Amazon is really screwing it, they are calling anything with more than 16bit Ultra HD...

Amazon and their competitors are getting away with this because it's been an evolving standard. Common usage is to define "Hi-Res" as anything higher than 16 bits or higher than 44.1 sample rate. The Amazon "Ultra HD" tier is based on that definition.

The audio hardware industry in Japan started out in 2014 defining their Hi-Res Audio standard as 24/44.1, 24/48, or 24/96 (or higher I suppose), and that was followed the next year by the recording industry in the US defining their Hi-Res Music standard as "greater than CD quality" (which they stated was 20/48 or greater).

As I understand it, within the last couple of years the Japanese have narrowed the Hi-Res Audio standard to 24/96 or higher. However, at this point most marketers worldwide are ignoring them.

 

[originalsnuffy]

I think the 24 bit distinction matters the most. I do think the experience of feeling like the air is lifted around the recording starts around 24 - 88. On the other hand, I have some Beatles from 2009 or so that are 24 bit but only 44 khz and they sound better to me than the standard 16 bit redbook.

 

[loplop]

I signed up for a trial a few weeks ago and found Amazon music fatiguing. It seemed volume-compensated (even with that feature off) and bright. It also wouldn't stream HD to DAPs, not recognizing their DACs and resampling everything to 16/44.1 via Android.

That said, I tried it again last night on a whim, and it's now reporting the DAP can stream at 24/176.4* (whereas before it was 24/44.1), and is now streaming up to whatever the track quality is set at. Initial listening showed much improvement, so I compared it vs Tidal HiFi this morning; through FiiO M11 Pro, I find no difference between Tidal and Amazon Music HD sound quality. Where I thought I heard a slight difference, Amazon Music HD seemed to come out on top today. Previously, there was no contest: I preferred Tidal.

I still far prefer Tidal's app, but for SQ, I'm now liking Amazon Music HD.

*I need to try this on my Cayin N6ii to see if it is also recognized as a full-bitrate streamer.

 

[435279]

*I need to try this on my Cayin N6ii to see if it is also recognized as a full-bitrate streamer.

Its not on my N6ii 24/44.1 only.

 

[loplop]

Its not on my N6ii 24/44.1 only.

Darn. Must be a FiiO thing, then? Maybe Cayin can help...

I should add to my post above: I currently don’t have a DAP that does full Tidal MQA unfold, so Tidal is operating at a slight disadvantage in my quick comparison.

 

[kdbur]

Bit off topic but I wondered if there is a considered view whether listening with BT headphones/BT reciever is any better or worse if you are streaming the track initially from 16/44 vs 320kbps?

Hope my Q makes sense!

 

[VZWDJ]

How is the quality?

 

[Left Channel]

How is the quality?

Short answer: audiophiles are not happy with it.

Long answer: many Apple and Spotify subscribers like it, most Tidal and Qobuz subscribers do not. The Amazon apps allow all sorts of resampling that audiophiles cannot abide.