Amazon has unmasked its new Music streaming subscription service, called Amazon Music HD. Available now, the new service will upgrade your listening experience, drawing on a bank of some 50 million high definition and ultra-high definition tracks and albums so you can hear the music “as it was originally recorded.”
The new service has received an endorsement from rock legend Neil Young, who said: “Earth will be changed forever when Amazon introduces high-quality streaming to the masses.” Then again, he did also believe the Pono MP3 player would change the world, and it demonstrably didn't.
From a practical perspective, Amazon Music HD is a new tier of subscription that sits on top of the standard Amazon Music service. It reportedly offers 50 million tracks with a bit depth of 16 bits and a sample rate of 44.1kHz - commonly regarded as CD quality - as well as unspecified “millions” of ultra-high-definition tracks with a bit depth of 24 bits and a sample rate of 192kHz.
This places Amazon Music HD on a level with the likes of Tidal and Qobuz, both of whom offer a similar high-def, uncompressed audio experience. In addition, the service uses FLAC, an open-source lossless file format designed to be more accessible than the proprietary MQA format used by Tidal.
Audiophiles who are suitably impressed by those stats will have to pay £14.99/mth for the Music HD subscription. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, that price comes down to £12.99/mth; existing Amazon Music customers, meanwhile, can add the HD subscription for an extra £5.99/mth.
Prospective customers should probably be aware that, although Amazon Music HD will play songs at a higher audio quality than the standard subscription, playback is heavily dependent upon network conditions - in other words, if you’re connected to rubbish Wi-Fi, don’t expect ultra HD audio.
New and current Amazon Music subscribers will be granted a 90-day Music HD trial period at no extra cost. The service is available now in the UK, US, Germany, Austria and Japan, and is compatible with most Amazon Music-enabled devices (smart speakers, smartphones, tablets and so forth). To find out more, visit the Amazon Music HD website via the link below.
Try Amazon Music HD now
