I have been intrigued by the Amazon HD music service - and finally did get motivated to pay for streaming when Amazon entered the game. First impressions: sounds far better than the free services I have been tolerating for years. I have not run into a situation where I couldn't find something I was looking for. I do wish their playlists or recommendations were a bit more intelligent like Spotify, but I imagine things like this will get ironed out.
Does it sound better than Tidal or Qobuz? A challenge difficult to abx objectively without the right gear in place.
My biggest gripe? I can't use the android app to control the playback in hi-res formats ( per tech support ) when playing through AV gear... it only plays aac quality files. So if I want to hear hi-res in all its glory - you have to use the desktop app ( or a native app in a streamer ). Or use the app with some headphones plugged in.
I am not sure this is the case with other services mobile apps.
So, my immediate work around was to use HEOS on my Marantz AV7704 - but honestly the HEOS app sucks balls -- BUT -- it does allow me to play back content in hi-res. At least it worked. I am hoping that bubbleupnp or something like it - gains support for the Amazon Music service. There has got to be something better than HEOS.
I am eager to see if Roon or others will support Amazon Music integration - when that happens I think Tidal and others will be put on notice to up their game further.
The Amazon desktop app works, its stable - looks good, and is functional.
On a side note: What is the best way to connect my laptop/desktop to my preamp for streaming?... usb vs hdmi vs spdif?
Does it sound better than Tidal or Qobuz? A challenge difficult to abx objectively without the right gear in place.
My biggest gripe? I can't use the android app to control the playback in hi-res formats ( per tech support ) when playing through AV gear... it only plays aac quality files. So if I want to hear hi-res in all its glory - you have to use the desktop app ( or a native app in a streamer ). Or use the app with some headphones plugged in.
I am not sure this is the case with other services mobile apps.
So, my immediate work around was to use HEOS on my Marantz AV7704 - but honestly the HEOS app sucks balls -- BUT -- it does allow me to play back content in hi-res. At least it worked. I am hoping that bubbleupnp or something like it - gains support for the Amazon Music service. There has got to be something better than HEOS.
I am eager to see if Roon or others will support Amazon Music integration - when that happens I think Tidal and others will be put on notice to up their game further.
The Amazon desktop app works, its stable - looks good, and is functional.
On a side note: What is the best way to connect my laptop/desktop to my preamp for streaming?... usb vs hdmi vs spdif?