advertisement


Amazon launch HiRes streaming.

Hmmm, after a long sesh listening to the ultra hi-def selections I'm finding it a tad bright sounding from the desktop app/mac-a flip back to the iTunes files and everything sounds balanced as it should.....
 
just had a go. Quite a few of the albums I listened to were available in a lower quality than advertised but I think this is due to my internet connection (settings had been adjusted by me to get max quality available). Seemed louder than Spotify (both are set up to not normalise volume in my settings) that was my main first impression.

I use Spotify to hear stuff and then buy what I like best on CD so better quality streaming is not a deal-breaker for me. Not sure how much better it is to be fair, but I've not spent ages on it.

As with these services it's often about what you are used to and I'm used to sorting out my music into playlists and playlist folders on Spotify.

Tried out the mobile and desktop versions. Don't seem to be able to work with both at the same time as you can via Spotify Connect, but I could have missed that.

Best wishes, Peter
 
Going to try this as it seems cheaper than Tidal. I don't see any downsides. If you are still using MP3 quality please leave this hifi forum!
 
For naim streaming, is Tidal the best quality in terms of sound.

Just assumed this with Naim giving 90 days free trial.

Regards Malcolm.
 
I'll probably try 90 days free and that's it.. paid streaming will get cheaper, it's mainstream.. I'll rather continue my downloads; when the streaming is over I'll have thousands of albums to play and maybe my son will enjoy them too.
 
Cause it sounds great !

Sure, but a lot of people feel mp3 done with a competent encoder and a sufficient bit rate sounds great too - and objectively more accurate. I assume that you are aware that BBC FM for a very long time used a lossy encoding that was inferior to mp3, and they still use a lossy digital encoding for their FM backbone.
 
Hi just signed up for their hires service, how do I know what bit rate is playing.
Played a few albums that I know is 24/192, my dac is not showing 24/192.
 
Hi just signed up for their hires service, how do I know what bit rate is playing.
Played a few albums that I know is 24/192, my dac is not showing 24/192.

Are you using Windows? If so I think the settings for your sound driver will override whatever amazon is trying to do. It does not seem to have the facility to select a driver such as ASIO or WASAPI exclusive mode like most players.
 
I have been a long time amazon music family member and have just upgraded to the hd service. Painless update, works brilliantly on my iPhone iPad echo devices shows info on streaming quality and is a lot cheaper than tidal family £19.99 vs £30 a month I think it’s a game changer for a mainstream provider to offer this and perhaps Spotify and Apple Music will now have to follow
 
Coming back to Amazon after a while, and having added a fair few albums to "My Music" last time around, it's striking how many are no longer available. Ultimately it's this that makes streaming a non-starter for me, except as a cheap extra. I'll stick with Spotify Family one the trial's over.
 
Are you using Windows? If so I think the settings for your sound driver will override whatever amazon is trying to do. It does not seem to have the facility to select a driver such as ASIO or WASAPI exclusive mode like most players.
I bet that half the people who are going to try out Amazon 'hi-res' will try it via a means that doesn't actually support hi-res (as AndyU hints) and will go away thinking that it's not very good.

p.s. for those who've taken the free trial - don't forget to cancel it !
 
I bet that half the people who are going to try out Amazon 'hi-res' will try it via a means that doesn't actually support hi-res (as AndyU hints) and will go away thinking that it's not very good.

Just out of curiosity, have you done any double-blind ABX tests of "hi-res" vs. "CD quality"?
 
Sure, but a lot of people feel mp3 done with a competent encoder and a sufficient bit rate sounds great too - and objectively more accurate. I assume that you are aware that BBC FM for a very long time used a lossy encoding that was inferior to mp3, and they still use a lossy digital encoding for their FM backbone.

Erm... The BBC continue to use NICAM for their distribution to FM transmitters.

And the deciding if it is better/worse than mp3 would probably depend on the case - e.g. choice of mp3 encoding rate, settings, etc. However it is worth noting that for low level audio NICAM doesn't lose any bits that would come though using LPCM. And stations like R3 spend a fair portion of the time at low modulation.
 
Any ideas of how I can stream this to my Squeezebox Touch (using LMS, Windows 10 laptop hard wired to router/SBT) please?
Currently using Tidal...
 


advertisement


Back
Top