Here's what you need to know about lossless Amazon Music Unlimited HD
Amazon has introduced a new lossless audio streaming service titled "Amazon Music Unlimited HD" for those who want to experience their music at a higher quality.
Amazon's Music Unlimited HD gives Amazon customers the chance to stream their favorite songs in higher definition than they would be able to on other services. Currently, Amazon Music HD offers lossless audio on two quality ranges, HD and Ultra HD.
HD tracks are 16-bit audio with a sample rate of 44.1kHz, or CD-quality, and an average bit rate of 850 kilobits per second. Ultra HD tracks 24-bit audio with a sample rate of up to 192kHz, and an average bit rate of 3730 kilobits per second. As Amazon points out, most streaming services only offer standard definition quality music, which reduces some of the detail in order to save on file size.
Because the files are lossless, it should be noted that they are significantly larger. A standard song comes in at just around 9 megabytes, where as an HD song comes in at 50 megabytes. An Ultra HD song comes in at 153 megabytes, meaning that devices will be able to hold less music at higher qualities.
This also means that streaming HD and Ultra HD songs will use up more of your data plan, so it's advised that people with lower data caps listen to music via Wi-Fi or download the music for offline listening later.
Additionally, the quality of the music is going to be heavily dependent on how you're listening to it as well. Playing the music through low-quality speakers is going to render a low-quality result.
Alexa-enabled Echo devices from the second generation and onward, Fire TVs, and Fire Tablets support HD quality audio.
Most iPhones and iPads released since 2014 support HD/Ultra HD playback. Apple AirPlay also supports HD quality playback. Any Mac from 2013 or later can support HD and Ultra HD, as well.
The service $5-$7 more expensive than the standard Amazon Music Unlimited, which costs $7.99, depending whether or not a customer also has Amazon Prime.
You can get a three month free trial when you sign up, and costs $12.99 a month for Amazon Prime members, and $14.99 for everyone else. Amazon Music Unlimited family plan subscribers can upgrade to Amazon Music HD for an additional $5/month.
Amazon's Music Unlimited HD gives Amazon customers the chance to stream their favorite songs in higher definition than they would be able to on other services. Currently, Amazon Music HD offers lossless audio on two quality ranges, HD and Ultra HD.
HD tracks are 16-bit audio with a sample rate of 44.1kHz, or CD-quality, and an average bit rate of 850 kilobits per second. Ultra HD tracks 24-bit audio with a sample rate of up to 192kHz, and an average bit rate of 3730 kilobits per second. As Amazon points out, most streaming services only offer standard definition quality music, which reduces some of the detail in order to save on file size.
Because the files are lossless, it should be noted that they are significantly larger. A standard song comes in at just around 9 megabytes, where as an HD song comes in at 50 megabytes. An Ultra HD song comes in at 153 megabytes, meaning that devices will be able to hold less music at higher qualities.
This also means that streaming HD and Ultra HD songs will use up more of your data plan, so it's advised that people with lower data caps listen to music via Wi-Fi or download the music for offline listening later.
Additionally, the quality of the music is going to be heavily dependent on how you're listening to it as well. Playing the music through low-quality speakers is going to render a low-quality result.
Alexa-enabled Echo devices from the second generation and onward, Fire TVs, and Fire Tablets support HD quality audio.
Most iPhones and iPads released since 2014 support HD/Ultra HD playback. Apple AirPlay also supports HD quality playback. Any Mac from 2013 or later can support HD and Ultra HD, as well.
The service $5-$7 more expensive than the standard Amazon Music Unlimited, which costs $7.99, depending whether or not a customer also has Amazon Prime.
You can get a three month free trial when you sign up, and costs $12.99 a month for Amazon Prime members, and $14.99 for everyone else. Amazon Music Unlimited family plan subscribers can upgrade to Amazon Music HD for an additional $5/month.
Comments
the biggest question is how good the software is when searching. Never used Amazon’s service.
I get why there's an increasing attention being paid to bit tech. They can do things for little to no profit, already wealthy beyond all need and cash to burn in the short term in order to corner all the profit in a market and reap benefits later. As a consumer I love it, who wouldn't get great stuff cheap.
..but competition by new entrants is going to be increasingly difficult and "breakthroughs" tougher to bring to market IMO. Almost feels like a cartel developing. Hate to believe that regulators would have to step in but they may.
I have good headphones and monitors and a good audio interface, and unlimited internet, so no issues here.
It makes sense Amazon got here first (vs Apple/Google). Amazon’s strength is in the home.
Apple should bundle an Ultra HD service with the HomePod. That would have incredible sound...
Aside from lossless audio, there's also currently the niche market for music mixed in 5.1, 7.1 or Dolby Atmos. Right now, you have to buy those on physical media and play them on a Blu-Ray player. When they're done well, these multi-channel formats can be revelatory. There's a small but decent catalog of recordings already available in lossless 5.1 mixes. The recent Beatles reissues of Sgt. Pepper's and the White Album are available that way, and they're outstanding. Abbey Road comes out this month in Dolby Atmos, which is an object-oriented audio format that can use from seven to a bazillion speakers to place sounds in three-dimensional space, not only horizontally around you, but also vertically above you. These formats have been a really small niche market in the past, but were they available through things like Apple TV, which many people already have hooked up to surround sound setups, the market could expand.
Also, for things mixed in an object-oriented format like Dolby Atmos, I think it's possible to decode those into a binaural output, which creates the three dimensional field using earbuds or headphones. If I were to hazard a guess, that might be the thing that has others (like Amazon in this case) coming out with their "HD audio" offering first, before Apple comes out with something significantly better that you didn't know that you needed. Perhaps Apple may come out with lossless and surround formats available not just on the Apple TV, but also a binaural decoder built into your iPhone, making for something pretty remarkable. Add to that, if AirPods can be made to detect motion, you could have not just a binaural surround experience that places instruments in three-dimensional space around you using your earbuds, but it would be possible to actually move your head around within that environment, so that you could actually turn to face the guitar over on the right, or the piano at stage left, etc.
Lossless and/or high-def audio makes more sense when certain conditions come together. First of all are the listening conditions/hardware: you need very good speakers in a room with decent acoustics. Then you need the appropriate music that would benefit from an expanded dynamic range: classical, baroque, opera, some jazz. Then you need someone with a good set of ears who is really paying attention.
I've acquired high-def audio tracks which I've ripped to 256kbps AAC and yes, I can hear the difference if I am concentrating and listening to it on my big speakers, particularly in the pianissimo sections or in pieces with an extremely wide dynamic range (some symphonies, some operas). If I have the stereo blasting while I am in the kitchen, again it doesn't matter; I can't tell the difference.
Streaming lossless/high-def audio to a portable device is basically a big waste of bandwidth unless it's plugged into a $500 headphone amp and $1000 headphones.
If Amazon is offering it, it's probably an industry-wide move (to squeeze higher fees out of the same content), so I'm guessing we'll see something similar from Apple this Fall. Personally, I think Apple Music subscribers should get lossless music from their HomePods without an extra charge. (And should've been something they offered when they originally released it.)
And yeah, that's a lot of bandwidth for a mobile device.
Pretty pointless subscribing to it to listen through a portable speaker, Sonos, HomePod or whatever where frankly a fairly crappy stream is good enough, but awesome if you’re sticking it through a decent hifi.
The amount of worldwide hifi enthusiasts would say it’s not that limited a market...