Amazon Music HD offers Spotify-beating sound quality
A new way for audiophiles to get their streaming fix
Amazon just gave its music streaming service a Spotify-beating shot in the arm. Amazon Music HD offers lossless music quality, perfect if you have a great pair of speakers or wireless headphones.
It costs just a few pounds more than a standard Amazon Music subscription, at £12.99 a month. However, you do need to be a Prime member to get that price, otherwise it costs £14.99.
Good news: you can get a 90 day free trial whether you’re new to Amazon Music or not. This offer ends on November 7.
What’s the fuss about lossless audio? Each track is packed with more information, which becomes important once you start listening to music through better equipment.
Amazon Music HD offers “millions” of 24-bit ultra-high quality tracks, and the rest of the entire 50-million-plus song library at 16 bit/44.1kHz, the same quality as the CDs most of us stopped listening to years ago.
Both of these are better than what Spotify and Apple Music offer. Spotify’s top streaming quality is 320kbps. Apple Music’s is 256kbps, and both use the AAC codec. These are great, but they’re not lossless.
In effect you get your favourite songs as their record producers intended.
Let’s run through the full Amazon Music HD price list. If you have a Prime membership, it costs £12.99 for the standard plan, or £14.99 a month if you don’t have Prime. The Family plan, which lets six people connect, is £19.99 a month.
- Sound up your street? Read about the best wireless headphones to make use of Amazon's new lossless audio streaming service.
