New Lossless Streaming Contender

[seb]

Interesting news, Amazon today started a new tier of lossless streaming offerings (Amazon MusicHD and UltraHD) with aggressive pricing in select countries.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/17/20869...tify-apple

Will be interesting to see if and how Devialet will be supporting it. I fear however that Dialog will not be able to take advantage of it as an integrated service like Tidal and Qobuz.

[Gerronwithit]

The interesting question is if and when Amazon HD will be available via Roon.

[Music or sound]

I am excited that there will be a larger catalog of at least 16/44 available. I like the convenience of Spotify connect except for sound quality. I still prefer it to highres boring music but better resolution connects us much more to the music.
So how can I use Amazon HD if one does not want to connect a computer to my D250Pro (I got an Innuos Zenith for that).

[seb]

Now the big question is how to integrate Amazon Music HD into the chain? As of now there are no API for other manufacturers to integrate, nor are any remote functions available in their Desktop app.

It seems we have only two options for HiRes connection to Phantom. Please correct me if I am wrong.

A) A Desktop/Laptop with Amazon Music HD app. Connected to Phantom/Dialog via optical cable.
Pro: HiREs Audio
Con: No remote functionality, you have to sit in front of your computer.
Option: You can Remote Control your whole computer not just the App. It is maybe possible to pick up the lossless signal and route it to UPnP. That would get you rid of the cable, but you are still stuck with the “remote” challenge.

B) You buy an Amazon Echo Link which also has optical output (and should be able to output HiRes audio).
Pro: You can stream HiRes audio. You can also remote control it (that is my understanding) via any Amazon App (set the Echo Link as a device where the music should be delivered to). You can also use Alexa if you are eager to do so.
Con: One more piece of hardware.

Did I miss something?

[alandbush]

Now the big question is how to integrate Amazon Music HD into the chain? As of now there are no API for other manufacturers to integrate, nor are any remote functions available in their Desktop app.

It seems we have only two options for HiRes connection to Phantom. Please correct me if I am wrong.

A) A Desktop/Laptop with Amazon Music HD app. Connected to Phantom/Dialog via optical cable.
Pro: HiREs Audio
Con: No remote functionality, you have to sit in front of your computer.
Option: You can Remote Control your whole computer not just the App. It is maybe possible to pick up the lossless signal and route it to UPnP. That would get you rid of the cable, but you are still stuck with the “remote” challenge.

B) You buy an Amazon Echo Link which also has optical output (and should be able to output HiRes audio).
Pro: You can stream HiRes audio. You can also remote control it (that is my understanding) via any Amazon App (set the Echo Link as a device where the music should be delivered to). You can also use Alexa if you are eager to do so.
Con: One more piece of hardware.

Did I miss something?

Another option, similar to Microsoft Remote Desktop, but tuned for mobile/tablet usage and also available for Mac, is the Parallels Access software and iPad/android app.
I trialled this, on a Windows 10 pro and iPad Air, specifically to check its usefulness with Amazon Music HD and other software and I was happy to subsequently subscribe for a year.  Sometimes its more convenient to use the Amazon Music HD app to favourite new music but the Access apps’ responsiveness is excellent, for me at least, and the display resolution is also similarly good.  This is more than adequate for the time being.

Of course, this app also allows me to use the Tidal, Qobuz or a n other desktop apps should I decide to change.

Nb - there may be similar apps but I am unaware of them.