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Post by jandl100 on Sept 18, 2019 7:52:58 GMT
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Post by zippy on Sept 18, 2019 8:27:15 GMT
As far as I can see from the publicity, Amazon just refer to 'double/10 times bit rate' or 'ultra HD'.
Have you seen anything that says the actual specs?
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Post by zippy on Sept 18, 2019 8:31:34 GMT
Sorry - I was too quick off the mark, and I've now found the details:
'HD' = 16/44
'UHD' = 24/192
Note the proviso they say '...up to..' above speeds so not everything may be so wonderful.
I used to use the free-with-prime Amazon Music and it was OK, but very limited content.
Like many people I already have a 12 month subscription elsewhere (Qobuz) so Amazon are too late for me..
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 18, 2019 8:51:27 GMT
The more I look for (classical) music there, the more gaps I find.
So I've cancelled my sub commitment there - quite happy atm with Qobuz which has a much fuller catalogue.
Currently listening to a familiar album with Amazon CD Quality and it sounds good - previously the Amazon streamed sound was rubbish imo, way inferior to Spotify Premium.
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Post by MartinT on Sept 18, 2019 9:18:12 GMT
LOL - nothing like a bit of redefinition. I would set 16/44 (Red Book CD) as the median. Anything less is generally compressed. Anything greater is hi-res. |
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Post by Stratmangler on Sept 18, 2019 10:21:52 GMT
I would set 16/44 (Red Book CD) as the median I agree  |
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Post by daytona600 on Sept 18, 2019 15:46:57 GMT
Looks like a great choice for consumers
Amazon webservices
In 2018 reaching $32.4 billion, up from $24.7 billion in 2017 with Amazon Web Services (AWS) once again being the top vendor, owning nearly half of the overall public-cloud infrastructure
Amazon Web Services
Through Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s cloud computing service introduced in 2006, companies can create scalable big data applications and secure them without using hardware or maintaining infrastructure. Big data applications like clickstream analytics, data warehousing, recommendation engines, fraud detection, event-driven ETL, and Internet-of-Things (IoT) processing are through cloud-based computing. Companies benefit from Amazon Web Services by using them to analyze customer demographics, spending habits, and other pertinent information to more effectively cross-sell company products in ways similar to Amazon. In other words, these retailers can use Amazon to stalk you, as well.
Why Vivendi Is Selling 50% of Universal Music Group
UMC control almost 50% of the global music market This really sets the cat amongst the pigeons. Following months of rumours that suggested French media giant Vivendi would spin off UMG into a separate entity via an IPO, the Bollore owned company have instead announced they will be selling off 50% of the company within the next 18 months. major parties are amazon
How low prices could make for an antitrust case against Amazon
- A theory of ‘predatory pricing’
In the late 2000s, diapers.com and its parent company Quidsi had built a limited but successful e-commerce business selling on amazon — until Jeff Bezos called them in for a meeting. As reported in Brad Stone’s 2013 book, The Everything Store, Bezos tried to buy the company — and when they refused, began rapidly dropping Amazon’s diaper prices, including under a newly launched Amazon Mom product. The new venture was a disaster for diapers.com. As Quidsi saw it, the only way to sustain those low prices was by selling diapers at a loss, which Quidsi estimated to be as high as $100 million every three months. Quidsi’s customer base plummeted and, after a bidding war with Walmart, the company finally sold out to Amazon. As Stone suggests, the sale was made “largely out of fear” that Amazon would drop prices further
A new report claims that seven Amazon workers have died on or near the job since 2013. The report was compiled by National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a private nonprofit worker advocacy group, which named it as one of their "dirty dozen" companies. The labor can be so grueling at Amazon that one worker in Kentucky said she needs four pain meds just to get through the workday.
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Post by SteveC on Sept 19, 2019 19:52:18 GMT
As an Amazon Prime customer, I activated the 90 day free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited HD and have been listening to loads of content today.
I like the interface (via my iPad) and it was simple to get up and running, via Apple Airplay to stream music to my dCS Vivaldi Upsampler.
HD content is "CD Quality" and Ultra HD equates to Hi-Rez!
I haven't failed to find anything I've searched for yet and for £12.99/month after the expiration of the 90 day free trial, I may well sign up for this streaming service.
After trying the alternatives, I think Amazon may be on to a winner at the price!
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Post by MikeMusic on Sept 20, 2019 10:10:24 GMT
Surely Spotty beats it at £9.99 ?
Quality noticeably better ?
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Post by Stratmangler on Sept 20, 2019 10:17:38 GMT
Surely Spotty beats it at £9.99 ? Quality noticeably better ? Spotify is not CD quality. Amazon is if you use the new service.
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Post by MikeMusic on Sept 20, 2019 10:38:51 GMT
Surely Spotty beats it at £9.99 ? Quality noticeably better ? Spotify is not CD quality. Amazon is if you use the new service.
Confused MartinT please explain as you outed CD for Spotty and others |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2019 10:46:58 GMT
Spotify premium is 1.411mps Chris
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Post by Stratmangler on Sept 20, 2019 10:50:36 GMT
Spotify is not CD quality. Amazon is if you use the new service.
Confused MartinT please explain as you outed CD for Spotty and others Martin uses Qobuz in preference to Spotify now IIRC. Spotify streams @320kbps, and no matter how clever the compression method is it's impossible to fold lossless data into such a narrow bandwidth carrier. Spotify stream lossy data, and sounds very good for what it is. It never has been CD quality, and Spotify isn't looking to up its game anytime soon. |
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Post by Stratmangler on Sept 20, 2019 10:51:32 GMT
Spotify premium is 1.411mps Chris As of when? What date did it come into effect?
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Post by MartinT on Sept 20, 2019 11:02:35 GMT
Spotify premium is 1.411mps Chris After decompression maybe, but it's streamed at 320k Ogg Vorbis format. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2019 11:11:03 GMT
Chris
Seems I have been mis-informaed, you are correct it is 320Kps my apologies I was wrong
That said Quboz and Tidal may sound 'better' in a polished contrived hi end way, but spotify still maintains the inner dynamics of the music.
Preference is down to the person paying the subscription, some equipment is been designed to maximize streaming services over FBA mediums.
These services are great for exploring new music and band/composer time lines but real playback sorry they are quite a way off quality FBA.
We have a dozen or so various streaming devices various price pints upto five figures here and without exception local based files sound superior.
Again apologies for the the incorrect information
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Post by Stratmangler on Sept 20, 2019 11:52:55 GMT
No need for apologies Tony.
Your comment about Tidal and Qobuz sounding 'better' in a polished contrived hi end way is interesting.
I have just picked a track that is recent, most certainly doesn't have mass appeal, and that I have the CD of, and compared the ripped file from it to the Tidal equivalent. The thing will have had one production mastering, and no more, so there are no mastering variants.
If one were more polished than the other it would be easy to discern. I do not hear any difference in sound quality. Tidal has to be streaming the same data as I'm streaming off my local library.
When I did the same comparison with Spotify there was a subtle difference between the two, and it was the CD rip that sounded slightly better. Slightly is the operative word. Spotify can and does sound very good. Nearly as good as the ripped files from CD. Nearly, but not quite. In isolation you wouldn't know what was missing.
My experience tells me that Tidal gives me CD quality music, where Spotify doesn't quite manage it. It is a close call.
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Post by MartinT on Sept 20, 2019 11:58:57 GMT
My experience tells me that Tidal gives me CD quality music, where Spotify doesn't quite manage it.
Yes, I agree. It's people who dismiss Spotify as not listenable who have a problem with their playback equipment. And I agree, in isolation Spotify almost always sounds very good. I would say it's massed vocals, such as choral music, where the codec loses bit capacity to make a decent fist of it. As for Tidal, I can't comment but Qobuz Studio to my ears always seems to outperform either CD playback or files ripped from CD. Qobuz hi-res, of course, starts to pull away depending on the calibre of the mastering. |
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Post by SteveC on Sept 20, 2019 14:32:58 GMT
I'm really liking the new Amazon Music HD service!
A nice little touch is being able to turn the lyrics on and sing along with the track (and seeing what words you've misheard over the years!)!
The interface is really good and having played for two whole days, I haven't managed to "not find' anyting I've searched for!
I didn't like Tidal, Spotify was okay and good value, but I couldn't get on with my free trial of Qobuz Studio. I thought some of the "High Res" remasters sounded not quite right! For me, £24.99/month was too expensive!
At the end of the Amazon 90-day free trial, I will cough up my £12.99 (as a Prime member) for the HD service!
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Post by MikeMusic on Sept 20, 2019 15:44:29 GMT
Have you compared the Amazon sound to Spotty Steve ? How about compared to CD ? Do you find the interface that much better ? Singing long with the tracks may be, er a mixed blessing for others in the household |
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