Amazon Music HD..... Not For Audiophiles


Interesting article....

If you want a streaming service primarily for your smartphone or tablet, Amazon Music HD will work fine, because those are the platforms it was designed for.

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/amazon-music-hd-wants-you-but-do-you-want-amazon-music-hd?...

Happy New Year!
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Unrelated but Radio Paradise is bundled into my NAD streamer. Free, 320kbs. Their 'world' station knocks me out daily, it's so good. Not highrez but sounds like CD quality, good enough for me to turn on and enjoy the content without sweating the micro rez yadda. 
Amazon HD is just fine , they just need more high end streaming platforms. Through my Marantz 8805 it sounds very good only quibble is lack of playlist import through Heos.
Interesting read.  But if time in the digital realm has taught us anything, just wait 5 minutes and it will change.
Straight from the Amazon website.
What audio quality does Amazon Music HD support?

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.

In comparison, most standard streaming services currently offer Standard Definition (SD) with a bitrate up to 320 kbps. These audio files use lossy compression, where details of the original audio are removed in order to reduce the file size. By contrast, Amazon Music HD preserves the original recording information to deliver the highest quality sound available, more than 2x the bitrate in HD and more than 10x the bitrate at the highest Ultra HD bitrate. Amazon Music HD will always play the highest quality content available, based on network, device capability and your selected settings.