Amazon has announced the launch of a new high quality tier for its Music subscription service to compete with rival lossless audio streaming players including Tidal, Deezer and Qobuz. The new plan, dubbed Amazon Music HD, lets customers stream more than 50 million songs in High Definition (HD) audio and millions of songs in Ultra HD (UHD), described as the highest quality streaming audio available. HD audio is defined as 16-bit files with sample rates of 44.1kHz and above, while UHD has a depth of 24 bits and a sample rate of 96 kHz to 192 kHz.
Music HD will be available via the Amazon Music Unlimited app on Android, iOS and desktop platforms as well as the company’s Fire and Echo devices. It can initially be accessed in the US, UK, Germany and Japan at a cost of USD 12.99 a month for Amazon Prime members, rising to USD 14.99 for regular Amazon customers, or an extra USD 5 a month for existing Amazon Music subscribers. By way of a promotion, the company said new subscribers can apply for a free 90-day trial to Music HD.
In its statement, Amazon said the uncompressed recordings “reveal nuances that were once flattened in files compressed for digital streaming.” The company even sought the approval of legendary singer and high-res audio advocate Neil Young, who said “this will be the biggest thing to happen in music since the introduction of digital audio 40 years ago.”
Amazon added that the Music HD service is already compatible with many third-party devices, including most products from Denon and Marantz with HEOS Built-in, Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, Sonos, McIntosh, Sennheiser and others.
