“In comparison, most standard streaming services currently offer Standard Definition (SD) with a bitrate up to 320 kbps. Ultra HD tracks have a bit depth of 24 bits, with sample rates ranging from 44.1 kHz up to 192 kHz and an average bitrate of 3730 kbps. HD tracks are 16-bit audio, with a minimum sample rate of 44.1 kHz (16/44.1 is also referred to as CD-quality) and an average bitrate of 850 kbps. Sales pitch, per Amazon Music HD: “Amazon Music HD offers lossless audio in two quality ranges: HD and Ultra HD. Price: $12.99/month for Amazon Prime members and $14.99 for non-Prime customers. Though light on editorial, the service taps into the company’s database to offer a bounty of playlists. As well, the platform has an ever-expanding bunch of albums given the “Ultra HD” treatment - 5 millions songs.

What: The high-definition tier of the mega-retailer’s Amazon Music service, Amazon Music HD offers CD-quality streams for 70 million songs. To start 2021, we’re focusing on Amazon Music HD, which the mega-retailer launched last year as an add-on to its Amazon Music streaming service. Which is to say, if you’re going to stream, the experience may as well sound as close to incredible as possible.Īt the end of 2020, we highlighted the French-born high-definition streaming service Qobuz, which launched in the U.S. Rather, we’re looking to bridge the seeming divide between vinyl-only enthusiasts and the format-neutral collectors who use streaming services as one tool in the endless quest to feed the musical beast. But artists make zero dollars from Discogs sales however rare, once a record gets on the secondary market the profit stream is dead for everyone except the seller.īut this isn’t an op-ed in favor of the streaming model, which seems fundamentally broken, at best. Yes, royalty payments to your favorite musicians are paltry at best, insulting at worst. It would behoove every listener-collector - vinyl freaks and Hi-Fi heads included - to consider subscribing to a streaming service, politics be damned.

Musichd