Just cancelled my Amazon Music HD free trial

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Gardenstater
Gardenstater Posts: 4,182
in The Clubhouse
Is it just me or is Amazon totally missing the boat by not having the ability to send the stream direct to our DAC's without going through the Windows Kernel Mixer? We need bitperfect ASIO or Wasapi! Until they get with it, the sound quality doesn't come close to that of TIDAL, in my opinion.
George / NJ

Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
Crown D150 amp
Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
iFi nano iDSD DAC
iPurifier3
iDefender w/ iPower PS
Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,182
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    Please delete <desperate attempt at getting responses lol
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Crown D150 amp
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,973
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    Why delete? I agree I am probably going to cancel mine as well no good way to integrate it into the system...
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es; Squeezebox Touch with Bolder Power Supply
    Game Room 5.1.4:     Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
    Bedroom 2.1    Cambridge Azur 551r; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer
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  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,060
    edited January 2020
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    Tidal is well worth the extra coin, your doing yourself a favor riding yourself of Amazon.
    Home Theater
    Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable

    2 Channel
    Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+

    Stuff for the Head
    JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365

    Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
    Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin B)
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  • Polkitup2
    Polkitup2 Posts: 1,619
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    It worked great on my Mac until one day they did an app update and then it never worked again and I canceled.
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,182
    edited January 2020
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    @rooftop59 just a joke because the "Please delete" thread got SO many responses.

    @gudnoyez I agree and I've been a TIDAL user for 2 or 3 years now. I liked that there were more high resolution selections on amazon, but as I said without bitperfect stream to the DAC the quality is poo poo and my system is now good enough that it most definitely noticed!

    Qobuz was OK, with the minor problem (pfft) that the app kept crashing under Windows 10 and I bent over backward with the French sending them detailed error reports from event viewer and they thanked me and then never fixed it!!!! (I was told by a rep at the NY Audio Show that they have now fixed it so I may try again with a different email identity to get another free trial). I know it wasn't just a problem with my computer because the same thing was happening to a friend. I still preferred the quality of TIDAL MQA however. There was something more sterile and non musical about the Qobuz stream that I could never quite put my finger on.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Crown D150 amp
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • TEAforONE
    TEAforONE Posts: 1,002
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    I dropped Amazon as well. I stream through a Bluesound Node 2. The worst interface on the planet. I'm not a very technically savvy person,but trying to navigate anything through the Amazon/Bluesound interface was painful. I cancelled after 3days. I use Qobuz,and for the ease of use,sound quality and price,I'm happy enough.
    See my profile for list of gear.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,794
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    MQA removes music content and replaces it with noise.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • Navy_Goat
    Navy_Goat Posts: 375
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    I have been streaming amazon through the HEOS function of my reciever. It seems to be working well and I like the interface (android app) well enough. I cna hear the difference between the regular and HQ amazon stream, but my equipment may just be the reason I am happy with the sound. I do use my laptop (FLAC HDMI to my receiver) when I want to listen to HQ stuff. I will likely also cancel as I will not be home for significant periods over the next 18 months. Maybe things will improve during that time...
    SDA SRS 2.3tl, SDA 1C, SDA 2B (TL mod), Reserve 200
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,314
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    F1nut wrote: »
    MQA removes music content and replaces it with noise.

    Eh, if you have a standard Node 2 or similar? It sounds "better". With that said, conversations are abound by the plenty as to how, why and blah, blah, blah.

    The end result if you have a lower end DAC/NAP? MQA could be the "bomb". Still wasn't enough for me, TBT.

    Upgrade anything and MQA is exactly as you describe.

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,794
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    https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/mqa-a-review-of-controversies-concerns-and-cautions-r701/
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,314
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    treitz3 wrote: »
    With that said, conversations are abound by the plenty as to how, why and blah, blah, blah.
    I did not say I agreed with them. I was simply giving "real world", layman's terms observations.

    I could add 2 or 3 more threads that go on until the sun set 300 more times.

    I don't get into that type of thing. The only thing I care about is the end result as to what hits these ears.

    BTW, I called you to wish you a Happy New Year's. You must have been on top of another redhead. Rock on man. Happy belated!

    Tom

    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,314
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    https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/mqa-discussion.23788/

    Here is one of the ones I was talking about...

    (ad nauseum)

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,029
    edited January 2020
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    The MQA thing is, I think, representative of another, modern round of the psychoacoustics of distortion (or, perhaps, nonfidelity or infidelity of the output signal relative to the input signal).

    The fact is, there are forms of distortion (or other signal manipulation) that are euphonic -- that sound good.

    Second harmonic distortion is a 'textbook' example. Because the second harmonic is exactly an octave above the fundamental -- second harmonic distortion sounds good... and most folks can tolerate (for lack of a better word) signals with large amounts of second harmonic distortion. Conversely, we (humans) tend to be far less tolerant of even very low levels of odd harmonic distortion (some components more than others). They are not euphonic.

    A classic and specific example of euphonic harmonic distortion is the 'fuzztone' guitar (e.g., The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction). A broken amplifier was responsible for what's generally taken as the "invention" of fuzztone (bass} guitar on a Marty Robbins track in the early 1960s. Rather than fix the amp, it was decided that the distortion sounded good -- and the rest is history. :)

    https://www.wideopencountry.com/how-marty-robbins-accidentally-pioneered-guitar-fuzz-effects/

    https://youtu.be/Q2WBBcH6OPU

    My guess is that MQA tackled the devil's bargain of adding 'chain of custody' protection to encoded files while manipulating the signal in ways that were objectively determined to sound "good". I have a philosophical problem with both of those objectives -- others don't. It's not my place to make a value judgment about that for anyone but myself.

    This is nothing new -- most of us are old enough, and were paying enough attention, I expect, to remember some of the popular studio tricks (beyond just EQ and compression) used to sweeten audio recordings in the 1970s and 80s. Two that spring to mind, e.g., are the BBE Sonic Maximizer and the Aphex Aural Exciter. Use of the latter in album production was, as I remember it, the subject of the same kind of passionate disagreement in the late '70s as was MQA a few years back. :|

    FWIW, I think MQA has pretty much run its course (at least to the extent that it's no longer the talk of the digital hifi forums or 'magazines' like it was a couple of years ago).
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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
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    Jay-z and Madona and now Amazon won't be getting anymore of my money the former because who they are and the latter because they have become too big to care. I am fine using Spotify to check out different stuff but I have well over a thousand cd's that I like that I am content to listen to. I will be dead pretty soon so I should just enjoy what I already have. Eff Amazon.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,029
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    afterburnt wrote: »
    ... I will be dead pretty soon so I should just enjoy what I already have. Eff Amazon.

    well there's a cheery thought!

    :/

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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
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    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    afterburnt wrote: »
    ... I will be dead pretty soon so I should just enjoy what I already have. Eff Amazon.

    well there's a cheery thought!

    :/

    Statistically, I am like 75% dead, I am not looking to beat the odds either. The roids ain't getting any better.
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