Amazon Music HD...anyone trying it out?

[josh358]

Let me know if you find any. Only thing I could find were some measurements on Archimagos blog. But the differences were at very high frequency, so detection might prove difficult with music, worse with age. Until I see demonstrable audible evidence, I'll make no asumptions of SQ differences.

As I understand it, reconstruction filters have been successfully ABX'd. So has high res vs. 44.1, although most of the difference that people hear on commercial mixes is apparently due to better mixes on the high res releases rather than the sampling rate. It's important to keep that last in mind when comparing resolutions on the streaming services. At one point, I compared the 44.1 and MQA version of an album on Tidal, and the channels were reversed! (Still not sure which was right, LOL.)

 

[adeyfk]

No. They only thing a claimant for audible differences has to do, is a valid controlled listening test demonstrating said differences.
Others being unable to do so due to computer setttings, setup, hearing, etc, etc, etc. is irrelevant.

It's not irrelevant at all. all music, no matter what quality of source is, will sound terrible on an AM radio, so you would never be able to decern a difference between mp3 and CD.

you will be able to hear major differences between the two on a high quality DAC driven audio system. You will hear fingers on frets of guitars, the artist talking a breath before singing, a bum note in a symphony, etc.

these are the artifacts which are lost as the file quality drops. they are lost to noise, bitrate reduction and a whole host of other factors involved in the reproduction of the analog signal from the digital file.

to say that the system upon which you are relying to reproduce the music is irrelevant in this comparison is foolhardy at best.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

It's not irrelevant at all.

to say that the system upon which you are relying to reproduce the music is irrelevant in this comparison is foolhardy at best.

That isn't what I said. I said someone else being unable to hear a claim is irrelevant to the claim. What is relevant to the claim, is the claimant providing vaild evidence. Hand waving isn't valid evidence.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

I have the proof you seek, how do I send it?

You don't have any proof of your claim since you don't actaully understand digital audio. Hearing a difference between 2 different media with different mastering isn't proof of your noise floor claim. Billy Joel exposing the limits of 16 bit dynamic range is laughable.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

After that you're correct listening is the only correct way.

We are on the same page then.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

Most of the songs on this album are ANALOGUE recordings mastered on analogue tape machines.
The maximum dynamic range of the best studio tape machine is 77 dB. There is more than plenty room on a CD to hold all that information in all finesse!
Both use the original master tape or at least the first digital copy of those recordings no doubt. But when you put it in red on front of the cover instead of small print on the back people believe you.

So why does the second sound "better"? Better is to say it sounds different and better to my ears.
Because they pumped it up. They use expanders and different digital gimmicks to make it sound better. On the original master there is no more information to reveal.
That's the only way they can make you pay ridiculous prices again for music you already own. $ 50,00 thank you very much for sponsoring our company.
Music industry is doing this over and over and over again.

Bingo!
Thanks for saving me the effort, though many cannot understand these explanations, since they have gross misconceptions (or none) of basic sampling theory.

 

[josh358]

Update. I'm learning things every day.
In the latest Windows 10 version no WASAPI driver is needed any more because it is integrated in the OS now. It is called UAC-2 compliancy. This means that USB 2.0 audio (not the same as USB-2) drivers are not needed any more.

USB Audio 2.0 drivers - Windows drivers

A USB Audio 2.0 driver is shipped with Windows. This driver provides basic audio over USB functionality.

docs.microsoft.com

Apple and Linux (Apple OS is a Linux version) already supported this feature for a long time.
That means that if used on a suitable PC (with the latest Windos 10 OS), Mac or Linux computer Amazon Music HD will have the same sound quality as on older Windows OS with external drivers.
That means that Amazon Music HD can have the same sound quality as Tidal or Qobuz if the aforementioned criteria are met.
Hope this helps. Enjoy your music.

Interesting. Not useful for me, unfortunately, since I biamp and implement the crossover digitally on the computer, but should be of use to most.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

As I understand it, reconstruction filters have been successfully ABX'd.

Not really, unless you are referring to BStuarts "Typical filter" paper, which was a pathelogical case using sub optimal dither, among other things. His follow up paper "Further investigation of the audibility of typical digital audio filters in a high-fidelity playback system", submitted many years ago and the central paper to Dr Reiss's infamous "Meta Analysis of Hirez" (bandied about by the believers as "proof"), never emerged from AES peer review.
That should tell one all they need to know about its viability.

So has high res vs. 44.1, although most of the difference that people hear on commercial mixes is apparently due to better mixes on the high res releases rather than the sampling rate

The fact that "Hirez" has been around for decades...and yet cannot produce any definitive "proof", is telling.
Dynamic range beyond 16 bits and bandwidth beyond 22k, for (mostly > 20 something male ears) end user domestic playback, is not a limitation to fidelity. 2 channels of direct plane waves, however...

cheers

 

[Sonnie]

This happened with me... Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason original release on CD vs the Discovery series remastered version. They spiced it up a bit... sounds a lot better to me on the Discovery CD. Glad they did it myself since it sounds better to me. lol... I suppose others may like the first CD... dunno.

I simply was not impressed with Tidal, playing thru my Apple 4K player... just did not sound right on some music, and several of the songs on my USB thumb drive sound better. I suspect it is simply because of the recordings... probably older recordings vs remastered pumped up versions that sound better to me. I have not listened thru the NAD BlueOS yet. Plan to try out Amazon HD as well... just curious.

 

[Sonnie]

Has anyone been able to get Amazon Music Unlimited to play via the BlueOS Controller? I'm not having any luck.

 

[tesseract]

I'm gonna have to give Amazon HD a try (man, I hate giving them my money, though), as I have been waiting for its inevitable arrival for years, now. Hopefully I can easily import my 5-6 years-worth of Tidal catalog.

 

[Sonnie]

I finally got setup... compared a few songs to Tidal... swapping back and fort, but not able to tell a difference on regular music CD. As for the HD/HR vs MQA... have not found any duplicates on each site to compare those.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I finally got setup... compared a few songs to Tidal... swapping back and fort, but not able to tell a difference on regular music CD. As for the HD/HR vs MQA... have not found any duplicates on each site to compare those.

You tried A/B between Tidal and Amazon HD and couldn't tell a difference?

 

[Sonnie]

I could not tell a difference on the regular CD quality version when swapping back and forth. This was not HD/HR/MQA.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

You tried A/B between Tidal and Amazon HD and couldn't tell a difference?

Level matched precisely, there shouldn't be a difference unless it's an MQA re-eq'd/remaster...and even then there may be some "difficulty" http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=19396

 

[Sonnie]

Shouldn't be ... agree... and doesn't seem to be, so both are doing what they intended to do.

Those re-eq'd/remastered versions are the ones that are missing on Tidal for some of my favorites, but I have not check Amazon yet.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

Those re-eq'd/remastered versions are the ones that are missing on Tidal

No sir, it's the only place they exist - the "MQA" versions. Re-eq/remaster is part and parcel of what MQA is. Tidal is the only streaming service for that.
Non MQA tracks vs Amazon should be the same.

 

[Sonnie]

The only place the ones I am looking for exist is in my CD library. Tidal does not have them. I can find the CD quality... but I dont care to listen to those. I am hopeful Amazon will have them in their HD catalog. Namely the Pink Floyd Discovery series.