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Amazon HD streaming service ...

As you probably know, Amazon has a HD streaming service, which sends High Quality Audio files, as opposed to their standard service, which I understand is Mpeg3.    Has anyone tried it and if so, any comments? 

We are currently on Spotify Premium with AAC files, since my daughter set it up and had a couple thousand songs on various playlists she moved to our account.   The playlists are great but I would like to get better sound quality and, frankly, since I am a Prime member, it is also $3 less a month.   $3 less and better sound quality, what is not to like?

Also, does anyone have any idea how to transfer the playlists to a new service?   

Thanks,

Robert
128x128spatialking
mike_in_nc
1,155 posts
 
I tried Amazon HD but dropped it. It would not let me get best-quality output on my PC, nor would it send output to a network renderer (streamer). If you look around, you will find those complaints repeated by many. That makes Amazon HD a great solution for listening on a smartphone, but not flexible enough for me to integrate with my hi-fi.


I kept my Qobuz subscription.
mattmiller's avatar
mattmiller
1,497 posts
 
"user interface for Amazon has some serious flaws" This is a killer for me! No thank you Amazon.PLUS...
If I were you I would NOT transfer/copy anything from one thing to anywhere, because you can get BANNED for life for doing stuff like that with UTUBE or GMAIL or GOOGLE or any major online business they will label you a SPAM BOTTER and freeze your account. They do not like things being copied and pasted from one place to another in my experience.
spatialking's avatar
spatialking OP
610 posts
 
Very interesting comments, thank-you all.    Think I will stick with Spotify for now.   

Spotify Premium runs AAC, which they claim has a 320 kbps rate.   Amazon claims true high def at a 12,738 kbps rate.  So, 856 kbps is far below the 12k but higher than 320 kbps.   

Regarding copying playlists - getting banned for moving your playlist over, now that is pretty amazing.

Robert
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 
I suppose I'm a bit confused — because the deals keep changing.

My understanding was that Amazon was $13/month for Prime members and Qobuz (for high res) was $22/month. So…that's not true anymore? I see that Qobuz is available for much less — but is that at high res or mostly CD quality?

Also, does anyone know the depth of the high res catalog, Amazon vs. Qobuz?

Your answers may help me decide whether to quit my service, so thank you in advance for any current information.

P.S. Here are some facts about Amazon:

It's $13/ month for Prime members
"Amazon Music HD offers lossless audio in two quality ranges: HD and Ultra HD. HD tracks are 16-bit audio, with a minimum sample rate of 44.1 kHz (16/44.1 is also referred to as CD-quality), and an average bitrate of 850 kbps. Ultra HD tracks have a bit depth of 24 bits, with sample rates ranging from 44.1 kHz up to 192 kHz, and an average bitrate of 3730 kbps."
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cleeds
5,960 posts
 
hilde45
... Qobuz (for high res) was $22/month. So…that's not true anymore? I see that Qobuz is available for much less — but is that at high res or mostly CD quality?
Qobuz is $15/month or $150/year in the US for unlimited access. It has a lot of hi-res content.
Also, does anyone know the depth of the high res catalog, Amazon vs. Qobuz?
Qobuz offers a free 30-day trial. Why not try it for yourself?
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