NEWS: Amazon Music HD drops subscription charge for lossless audio

I have Amazon Music, but no HD options are yet showing for me. Anyone else?
 
It's like buses, wait for ages, then three all come at once (Apple, Amazon (and later in the year Spotify))!
 
I have Amazon Music, but no HD options are yet showing for me. Anyone else?

If you are not on a yearly discount - I suspect they are rolling it out but if you cancel and subscribe to Amazon Music HD you'd get it straight away...

 
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I just subscribed again and shows HD and streaming great on my ZX507 and to my KEF LS50WII speakers.
 
It’s great news but the compatibility of the Amazon HD service leaves much to be desired. My main streamer from Denon utilises HEOS which will do curated playlists from Amazon but not your own lists, so fairly pointless. I’m sticking to Qobuz and their hi-res output to all my devices works fine via the mconnectHD app even if a few quid more expensive.
 
So silly question time. I usually listen to Amazon Music streamed from my iPhone to non-Apple Bluetooth headphones, occasionally to my soundbar downstairs, and to a Bluetooth speaker.

Am I going to see any benefit from HD content?

(I can use Amazon Music on my laptop, less convenient, but is an alternative source.)
 
It’s great news but the compatibility of the Amazon HD service leaves much to be desired. My main streamer from Denon utilises HEOS which will do curated playlists from Amazon but not your own lists, so fairly pointless. I’m sticking to Qobuz and their hi-res output to all my devices works fine via the mconnectHD app even if a few quid more expensive.

Agreed about Amazon HD's compatibility. When I trialled it, I only had two ways that I could take advantage of the higher resolution audio. The first was the Firestick 4K which itself was capped at 48 khz IIRC.

The second way was using DTS Play Fi on my Anthem Audio Processor, which managed to achieve "full-fat" 192 khz.

I'm on Spotify just now but am tempted to jump onto Amazon HD (currently don't subscribe to any high-res service).

That said - I don't like that Atmos audio is restricted to their Echo devices. Hopefully they can support dedicated Atmos systems in the future.

So silly question time. I usually listen to Amazon Music streamed from my iPhone to non-Apple Bluetooth headphones, occasionally to my soundbar downstairs, and to a Bluetooth speaker.

Am I going to see any benefit from HD content?

(I can use Amazon Music on my laptop, less convenient, but is an alternative source.)

I'm guessing that any perceived difference between standard and high-res audio would be dependant on the quality of equipment and speakers/headphones. Plus in your case, Bluetooth codec used.

When I trialled Amazon HD, I couldn't notice a difference using my phone (Galaxy Note 8) and wired earphones.

However; I noticed a much bigger difference on my home audio setup and when I borrowed my friend's DAC and headphones at work.

It's a subjective topic but I think that choice of equipment will play a huge role in whether you notice a difference or not.
 
Agreed about Amazon HD's compatibility. When I trialled it, I only had two ways that I could take advantage of the higher resolution audio. The first was the Firestick 4K which itself was capped at 48 khz IIRC.

The second way was using DTS Play Fi on my Anthem Audio Processor, which managed to achieve "full-fat" 192 khz.

I'm on Spotify just now but am tempted to jump onto Amazon HD (currently don't subscribe to any high-res service).

That said - I don't like that Atmos audio is restricted to their Echo devices. Hopefully they can support dedicated Atmos systems in the future.



I'm guessing that any perceived difference between standard and high-res audio would be dependant on the quality of equipment and speakers/headphones. Plus in your case, Bluetooth codec used.

When I trialled Amazon HD, I couldn't notice a difference using my phone (Galaxy Note 8) and wired earphones.

However; I noticed a much bigger difference on my home audio setup and when I borrowed my friend's DAC and headphones at work.

It's a subjective topic but I think that choice of equipment will play a huge role in whether you notice a difference or not.
Had a wee listen to some Ultra HD tracks on my SoundPEATS in-ears (BT v.5.0). Everything sounded great, some of my fave tracks were better than I remembered.

Coming from iPhone it’s going to be SBC I’m hearing, presumably (16-bit, 44.1khz).

I had temporary issues with my internet while streaming, so the app chopped me down to standard quality (Opus) before returning back to FLAC. Definitely noticed the difference.

Hey, it’s a free upgrade, can’t complain!
 
Over to Spotify... They've already announced a price hike, so they'd better include their Hi-Res offerings at no extra charge given what the competition are doing.
 
Over to Spotify... They've already announced a price hike, so they'd better include their Hi-Res offerings at no extra charge given what the competition are doing.
Is what Spotify propose HD? I thought that they'd announced that they would be providing a higher resolution option that equates to CD quality? Would this be truly HD or even comparable to the HD options now being offered by other streaming services?
 
This is good news for peole who want to listen to Flac or better streaming. I'm signed up for another trial to Amazon but if I can't get it to work with my streamer (Allo Boss2) and LMS then I'll stick with Qobuz until we know what's happening with Spotify. My family all use a Spotify Premium family account but I pay extra to get Flac and Hi-Res via Qobuz right now.
 
You won't unless Amazon provide an API to developers, like Qobuz do, for independent access to their music streams. Fat chance given how anal the big players are about hardware/software control, transparency, etc!
 
Over to Spotify... They've already announced a price hike, so they'd better include their Hi-Res offerings at no extra charge given what the competition are doing.
Is what Spotify propose HD? I thought that they'd announced that they would be providing a higher resolution option that equates to CD quality? Would this be truly HD or even comparable to the HD options now being offered by other streaming services?

Peeps, can we please stick to not only properly using audio terms, but also not substituting them for marketing terms (especially when the marketing terms are also used incorrectly)?

Hi-Res - high resolution audio, ie, higher audio resolution than standard audio at 16bit/44.1kHz (eg red book audio CD) and 16bit/48kHz (eg standard audio in broadcast/streamed video);

HD - Amazon marketing term for standard CD quality audio at 16bit/44.1kHz;

UHD - Amazon marketing term for hi-res audio.
 
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You won't unless Amazon provide an API to developers, like Qobuz do, for independent access to their music streams. Fat chance given how anal the big players are about hardware/software control, transparency, etc!
Yes, I can't see it happening either, which will stop me being an Amazon Music customer. Good news for Qobuz, perhaps until Spotify sort CD quality streaming which is what I want to use.
 
I'd suspect the only reason why Amazon would decide to drop the additional fees that were otherwise required in oder to access HD (CD quality music) is that Apple have announced that it will be including accessto true HD encoded audio with its basic subscription plan:



Apple's offering is as would be expected limited to Apple Lossless format, but still qualifies as trueHD as opposed to CD quality being passed off as HD.

There will be three separate options to suit a variety of connection situations such as cellular, Wi-Fi or download. Starting at 16 bit / 44.1 kHz CD quality for slower connections, the quality increases to 24 bit /48 kHz, which is playable natively on Apple devices, before topping out at Hi-Res 24 bit / 192 kHz, which will need the largest bandwidth and requires external devices such as a USB-DAC.
Apple joins Amazon Music HD, Qobuz and Tidal in providing a lossless audio option though it is the first to do so at no extra charge to its subscribers.

In response to Apple’s announcement Amazon reacted by dropping the charge for Amazon Music HD, instead making it free to Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers.
The article on which this dioscussion is based basically iterates this and also suggest that Amazon are simply reacting to what Apple are doing:


I'd also suggest Apple's Atmos offering will surpass Amazon's?
 
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I did the ”free” upgrade but was told it was a free trial until 16 August 2021 after which it would be £5 a month extra. So how is it free?

I got an email today offering a free upgrade to my Amazon Music Unlimited to HD. I clicked on the link to upgrade.

Then I sought clarification of what I had done. It seems all I have done is to get a free trial for 3 months. This message followed my enquiry.


Amazon.co.uk
Message From Customer Service
Hello

This is Anthea from the Amazon support team. Thank you for your patience while I assisted you today.

I sincerely apologise that you were having trouble with upgrading to the Music HD Plan.

I'm very happy that the issue has been successfully resolved after the steps we took.

As discussed during our chat conversation the free trial period runs from Tuesday, 18 May 2021 - Monday, 16 August 2021.

Please see below link for the terms and conditions of the free trial:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/b?node=22941666031

You are welcome to contact us anytime before 16 August to cancel the free trial for you.

I have also forwarded your feedback to the relevant team in order to make the free trials more clearer.

Please feel free to contact us again should you have any further questions.

Customer Service can be reached by phone, e-mail and chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using the link below:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/contact-us

Thank you for taking time to contact Amazon. Have a great day.
Warmest regards,
Anthea P
Amazon.co.uk
 
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— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
I did the ”free” upgrade but was told it was a free trial until 16 August 2021 after which it would be £5 a month extra. So how is it free?

I got an email today offering a free upgrade to my Amazon Music Unlimited to HD. I clicked on the link to upgrade.

Then I sought clarification of what I had done. It seems all I have done is to get a free trial for 3 months. This message followed my enquiry.


Amazon.co.uk
Message From Customer Service
Hello

This is Anthea from the Amazon support team. Thank you for your patience while I assisted you today.

I sincerely apologise that you were having trouble with upgrading to the Music HD Plan.

I'm very happy that the issue has been successfully resolved after the steps we took.

As discussed during our chat conversation the free trial period runs from Tuesday, 18 May 2021 - Monday, 16 August 2021.

Please see below link for the terms and conditions of the free trial:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/b?node=22941666031

You are welcome to contact us anytime before 16 August to cancel the free trial for you.

I have also forwarded your feedback to the relevant team in order to make the free trials more clearer.

Please feel free to contact us again should you have any further questions.

Customer Service can be reached by phone, e-mail and chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using the link below:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/contact-us

Thank you for taking time to contact Amazon. Have a great day.
Warmest regards,
Anthea P
Amazon.co.uk

They will just be uninformed Amazon peeps, along with some automated systems that no doubt need to updated.

The HD uplift is now free, confirmed via todays email:

Screenshot 2021-05-18 at 16.45.05.png
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
I have prime, so went into prime music (haven’t used it in donkeys), offered 3 month trial but on logging in it only gave 1 month (I guess I must have trialled some years ago). Anyway, I had to go into the browser to enable the free HD, so for those who haven’t got it, go through browser.
Their iPhone app shows UHD while on my NAD it’s showing HR, will compare against spotify over next few days ...
 
It’s great news but the compatibility of the Amazon HD service leaves much to be desired. My main streamer from Denon utilises HEOS which will do curated playlists from Amazon but not your own lists, so fairly pointless. I’m sticking to Qobuz and their hi-res output to all my devices works fine via the mconnectHD app even if a few quid more expensive.
hi, I use the Amazon Music app and select my Marantz amp from the "cast pictogram". I assume that streams in HD.
 
I remain confused. I will check just before my so called free trial ends on 16 August.
Mine didn’t automatically change, I had to log into account via browser and was then offered upgrade button.
 
hi, I use the Amazon Music app and select my Marantz amp from the "cast pictogram". I assume that streams in HD.
Correct in CD quality or what Amazon calls HD. But it won’t allow Hi-res/UHD by that method.

To be honest, ultimately to my ears there is not much of a difference but Amazon and the other services claim there is and Amazon then doesn‘t make it that easy to play it.
 
I agree, it’s very very subtle.
Im toggling between spotify connect and prime on my NAD and it does display sample rate on the Nad app, so I can see the difference, hear the difference is a little harder (had the same when comparing Tidal last year)
 

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