[ashirin]

I was really excited to hear about Amazon HD Music. It's great to have such a big player in the market. Their family pricing is excellent as well. $20 for 6 people is the dream. Tidal charges $30 for a family plan and I don't think Qobuz even offers one.

My family is already subscribed to Apple Music, and that will never change. I pay for a personal subscription to Tidal because it sounds much better to me and I can get it for $10 a month with student pricing. If Apple were to implement the same functionality as Amazon, that would be great. I could switch my family over to that and we'd all get lossless streaming for less money overall!

I've always wanted to try Qobuz because I believe that it sounds better than the other services, but the higher price makes it a no-go for me. The inclusion of native hi-res streaming on Amazon is pretty awesome as well. Finger's crossed that Apple is paying attention.

 

[Ableza]

I will stay with Qobuz until they go dark. SQ is king.

 

[RickB]

I will stay with Qobuz until they go dark. SQ is king.

If you listen to indie and alternative (and I think you do), there is a lot that Qobuz is missing.

 

[Ableza]

If you listen to indie and alternative (and I think you do), there is a lot that Qobuz is missing.

True. I don’t use it as a primary source just to augment my library. It’s cool what comes up when listening to Roon Radio after starting it with something interesting.

 

[Vtsailor]

How is the Amazon catalogue for classical music? I listen mostly to baroque and early romantic with some folk and bluegrass thrown in for variety.

Thanks

 

[Roy G. Biv]

I will stay with Qobuz until they go dark. SQ is king.

Agreed. My biggest concern is that Amazon will make it hard for Qobuz and Tidal (and by extension, Spotify, Deezer et. al) to stay in business.
If Qobuz & Tidal can't be viable long-term then Roon also becomes a victim.

I don't think that Roon can survive without partnering with at least one streaming service. I don't like how this is playing out.

 

[Ableza]

Roon does not rely on streaming.

 

[rkw]

How is the Amazon catalogue for classical music? I listen mostly to baroque and early romantic with some folk and bluegrass thrown in for variety.

Their classical catalog is very large and extensive (similar to the other major streaming services).

 

[nerone]

Agreed. My biggest concern is that Amazon will make it hard for Qobuz and Tidal (and by extension, Spotify, Deezer et. al) to stay in business.
If Qobuz & Tidal can't be viable long-term then Roon also becomes a victim.

I don't think that Roon can survive without partnering with at least one streaming service. I don't like how this is playing out.

If there is no streaming services available for roon, then I'll be back on buying lots of downloadable music and CDs to rip.

 

[Roy G. Biv]

Roon does not rely on streaming.

You and I are on the same side. Roon has immense value to those of us who have extensive collections of files that we own and have available on HDD/NAS. I say that as a recent Roon convert, meaning that I've had Roon for less than a year. The impetus for me purchasing Roon for a year was Qobuz integration.

My concern is that Amazon will kill off Tidal (maybe) and/or Qobuz (almost certainly). If that happens, the value proposition of having Roon integrate local files with a streaming service will be negated for many of us. I love Roon and Qobuz, but if Roon can't integrate with at least one remaining streaming service then I'm out. To me, Roon is too expensive of a program to just manage local files. If too many of us bail from Roon because of lack of integration then I'm afraid that Roon may die.

I want to be wrong here. Like you, I'll hold on to Qobuz until they go dark. They're just too good of a service not to. And I'll hold on to Roon until the bitter end as well but I don't think that a lifetime subscription is a good bet unless they're able to integrate with Spotify, Amazon or, heaven forbid, Apple Music.

 

[Roy G. Biv]

FWIW, the new Amazon Music app will integrate with local files so long as they are .mp3, m4a, or .aiff. FLAC doesn't seem to be supported.

Pity there can't be some kind of a consistent standard. I use Plex for movies, tv, and music but they don't support .aiff. Go figure.

 

[earnmyturns]

If there is no streaming services available for roon, then I'll be back on buying lots of downloadable music and CDs to rip.

Exactly. That's what I was doing before Qobuz. I still buy a lot from Bandcamp, I prefer to support independent artists more directly.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

I will stay with Qobuz until they go dark. SQ is king.

If they go dark I hope it's in the US only.

 

[Byronb]

If they go dark I hope it's in the US only.

Why would you wish that?

 

[wout31]

Amazon music HD availability: US, UK, Germany, Japan only (for now)
Tried signing on through a VPN, but that won't work if you don't have a bank account or credit card registered in that country
As long as the sound bits go through Windows mixer (BARF) and there is no WASAPI and/or ASIO integration there in no sound quality that compares to Qobuz
Been a Qobuz user since day one, but I'm afraid that the streaming field will change rapidly as parties of the size of Amazon get involved.
Maybe Amazon is just interested in the masses and not in the more serious audio enthusiast that wants to pay for quality.
Can a real CD and above quality be offered for this price? Or is this just a teaser for further steps with other prices? Time will tell.