Amazon starts high resolution streaming service
"On Tuesday, the company introduced a new subscription level of its streaming music service, offering millions of songs at high resolution — the first time a major streaming outlet has delved into a market long considered an audiophile niche.
"Even the price of the new subscription tier, Amazon Music HD, is a statement. It costs $15 a month, or $13 for members of Amazon’s Prime program — less than the $20 to $25 a month that is the norm from smaller outlets like Tidal, Deezer and Qobuz.
"Amazon HD customers have access to some 50 million songs in what the company calls HD audio, or the equivalent of CD quality — 16-bit files with sampling rates of 44.1 kilohertz. A subset of “millions” of those songs, Mr. Boom said, are available at the “Ultra HD” level — up to 24-bit and 192 kHz, the highest resolution files that record companies typically produce."
and...
"Neil Young, a
longtime critic of digital music’s quality, said Amazon’s upgrade of its
song catalog “will be the biggest thing to happen to music since the
introduction of digital audio 40 years ago."
I suspect the high-resolution material will largely be pop/hip hop/rap, etc, not the jazz and classical material I favor. However, the article also notes that the music streaming service appeals to "older people and families", so maybe the hi res stuff will be more encyclopedic than I anticipate it to be. Anyway, I’ll give the "free trial" a trial but what’s your collective opinion on this?
KAC