Amazon HD

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32 comments

  • Official comment
    Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    As you say… nothing to be done.

    Saying that… if you have an existing subscription and upgraded you may have to log out of Bluesound and back in again as it may not have an immediate effect otherwise…depends on  how the Amazon servers are feeling 😀

  • David

    Thanks Seppi - much appreciated

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  • Piers Rawson

    Hi - I preordered and then just received new Bluesound Node; installed via LAN and controlled by Mac desktop via LAN (and Android phone app version). The unit upgraded its firmware automatically and the BluOS controller apps are all latest versions.

    Can it be right that the unit will not play Amazon HD FLAC files at full resolution? After selecting and registering the app to my account at Amazon music from the music services menu, the 'now playing' tag shows 'HR' by some albums I know stream at 192 K, but the optical input on my Audiolab MDAC+ shows only 48 K. This same MDAC+ unit displays 192 K from Audiolab 6000N streamer controlled by DTS-Play app playing the same Amazon HD material. The Bluesound App is certainly streaming the RadioParadise stream at 88 K so there is not a problem with the Bluesound to MDAC+ compatibility.

    At the very least, Amazon HD needs to be added to the list of available music services. The BluOS homepage at https://bluos.net/ definitively represents the Amazon HD logo under the banner 'Listen to all the music ever recorded.'

    I'm sure there is no intention to misrepresent the BluOS service offer, but as I bought the Node expressly for the MacOS desktop control facility (not available for the DTS-Play control system) to play the Amazon HD Hi-Res material, it would be unacceptable if this could not be accessed, as claimed on the BluOS website https://bluos.net/2019/09/bluos-among-first-to-integrate-amazon-music-hd/

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    Bluesound plays back Amazon HD FLAC files at full resolution, quite a bit of confusion is caused by Amazon and their poor choice of acronyms to identify what resolution tracks are.

    Amazon HD tracks are CD QUALITY The Tracks with HR are the 24bit ones.

     

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  • Piers Rawson

    Amazon HD tracks are CD QUALITY The Tracks with HR are the 24bit ones.

    Thanks for response Seppi, but the fact remains that the precise same track from Amazon hits my Audiolab MDAC+ at 48 K via the BluOS app/new Blusound Node just purchased, and 192 K via DTS-Play/Audiolab 6000N.

    I've been using my Amazon HD streaming service for a few months now, so I'm fairly familiar with the different naming/streaming protocols. The attached image shows an Amazon HR track I know streams at high resolution, it's playing currently via BluOS with a HR tag as you can see, but it's only registering 47.9 K at the optical input of the MDAC...

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  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Hi Piers

    Please select Help, Send Support Request in the BluOS App to escalate to our Support Crew. This will send a Player Event Log and we can take a closer look.

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    Try another optical lead or a coaxial cable, also check the Audio settings in the Bluesound app.

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  • Piers Rawson

    The audioquest optical cable is fine, is currently streaming higher-res 88 K from the Radio Paradise stream in the BluOS app, so not basic connectivity issue; was working fine with the Audiolab 6000N to MDAC+ hookup giving 192 K from Amazon HD 'ULTRA HD' files.

    Can you kindly suggest which Bluesound settings may influence the streaming quality/resolution? (n.b. the only manual available to download as at yesterday is a 4 page basic layout guide);

    I also have reset the Node factory settings and uninstalled/reinstalled the control Apps (MACOS 10.14.6 and latest iteration of Android smartphone app, Samsung S10), re-registered to the Amazon selection in the Bluesound music services menu - no change discernible...

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  • Piers Rawson

    Tony W suggests escalating support crew via this this comment

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    Ensure you have not enabled external MQA DAC in the Bluesound app.

    Edit: while you wait for support…

    Do try the coaxial lead, whilst the Optical is working it may not work at 24/192

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  • Piers Rawson

    No, all controls are in basic default/reset status, the MQA DAC setting is greyed out and not available for change (see pic) - thanks for suggestions, but the fundamental thing is the Node is not passing-through a hi-res signal from the Amazon music service, although it is streaming at higher res from some other services available in the Bluesound app...

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  • Piers Rawson

    Thanks for the suggestion, Seppi, but I exchanged the toslink for a heavier duty Atlas model, no difference - do please note, a week ago, this same MDAC+ was connected with the same cable to the Audiolab 6000N and was successfully streaming 192 K from Amazon HD over the same LAN Network. I will try to source a coax lead...

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    Just trying to see if it’s anything obvious. For a quick analogue test lead just use one side of an RCA to RCA interconnect or Phono to Phono 😁

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  • Piers Rawson

    Found a basic digital coax cable at the back of a drawer, but the 48 K with HR material still the same readout on MDAC+; streaming higher-res 88 K from the Radio Paradise stream in the BluOS app. Am trying to sign for free trial Hi-Res Qobuz to check streaming set up...

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    All I can say now is wait for Bluesound to get in touch as they can see what the bitrate is at the digital outputs on the Node from the diagnostics.

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  • Piers Rawson

    OK, I am now listening to the track in the pic via qobuz - on both coaxial and optical it is showing 'pcm 192 K'... so now we know there is no problem in the physical set up of Bluesound > MDAC+ (only several hours spent on this...)

    I can only suggest there is an incompatibility Amazon HD > Bluesound app

     

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  • Piers Rawson

    ...and yes, I have checked by Amazon HD account is fully paid up... :-)

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  • Piers Rawson

    ...and thanks for your time too...

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    Great bit of troubleshooting there. Amazon did recently change subscription costs so wondering if that had anything to do with it and the wrong stream being sent? - just pure guessing here.

     

    Anyway… gives the Bluesound crew a head start.

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  • Piers Rawson

    Well, today the issue seems resolved... Whether there was a technical intervention via the diagnostics panel or a glitch has somehow ironed itself out, I don't know. Anyhow, thanks again for your support and time.

    Aside from this initial connection issue to Amazon HD, the Bluesound Node was straightforward to link to the LAN; the software user interface is better for Qobuz than Amazon, bundled music services seem comprehensive, the radio tuner is easy to use; the lack of a on/off control either physical or via control app was a little puzzling, as there is a 12V trigger facility - but 'always on' state ensure quick wake-up.

    And, while it's great to have a MacOS desktop BluOS control app, it's a little strange to have a constant status notification also displayed on my android smartphone (which  has the mobile app installed) when the Node player is actually being controlled by the desktop app - here's hoping it's not using too much background battery power on that account...

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  • Ernie Schmuntz

    Same issue with Amazon HD. I look at a track via the Amazon music app on my iPhone, the track shows “UltraHD”. When I play the same track through the node2i app, it’s hd/cd quality only. My preamp verified the bit rate as cd quality. This is consistent regardless of the artist/track. Really disappointed with the Node2i. Hard to see how it would be Amazon when their app shows the ultraHD. I have a scorching fast fiber connection. My Node2i is hardwired running the latest firmware. 

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    Not everything from Amazon is in hires, so if it shows HD that means it’s better than CD quality. As every music service use different terminology (very annoying) for their up to 24/192 tracks bundling all hires under a HD icon makes sense with a separate indicator for MQA.

    https://support1.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/articles/202076928-What-do-the-icons-represent-in-my-Library-tracks-and-Now-Playing-screen-

     

    Edit…Amazon do have some anomalies since they introduced Hires, I had to drop down to CD then back again for the streams to be correct, login out of Amazon in Bluesound and back in again is worth a try,

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  • Piers Rawson

    greetings Seppi, just a catch-up user report re: Amazon HD and the Node/Bluos -
    The app on Macos desktop and android phone works very well, is stable, quick on startup (LAN connection) - in this case I am getting HR icon for PCM 96K stream and above (as indicated by display on Audiolab MDAC+); MQA for tracks on Radio Paradise services, a great bundled bonus! Klara Continuo internet classical radio which is 16 bit 44K MP3 also sounds good...

    On the contrary, I use DTS play on another LAN based system with Audiolab 6000n streamer: here the interface is buggy and can tie itself in knots over direct control of unit by preset buttons, direct play via app, and transfer off device function (useful if you leave the wifi zone and don' want to lose stream...), best feature is the not always visible numeric readout of current bit depth/sample rate...

    (nb all software/firmware updated as per notifications via app)

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    Glad it’s not just me, I “played” with the DTS play also on the 6000N and it was hard work. The preset buttons are nice but the latest NODE and POWERNODE have hardware presets but I always grab the Bluesound RC1 remote control for quick tunes.

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  • Piers Rawson

    Also re Ernie comment earlier, There is a section in the Amazon settings which allows it to stream at variable qualities (perhaps to relieve Amazon bandwidth?), mine's set to prioritise  highest resolution...

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  • Ernie Schmuntz

    That’s how I have mine set as well. Strange the iPhone app shows a track as
    Ultra HD, but the Node2i shows HD only. Their both pulling from the same file source.

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  • Ernie Schmuntz

    I’m basing my Amazon high res issues on my Rotel preamp DAC. I’ve got high res content running on a local media tank. When playing, I can see the display at 192k as expected. When viewing an Ultra HD track from Amazon via their iPhone app, I play the track on the node 2i and the preamp reports 44.1 cd quality. I see the same on both the Node2i DAC and the preamp DAC. Other high res services I’ve tried work as expected.

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    Bluesound shows everything 24/48 and over as HD, but plays up to 24/192

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  • Ernie Schmuntz

    If only we had a bloody log file so we could troubleshoot our own issues. But I’m not bitter……much 

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  • Seppi Evans
    Hi-Res

    x.x.x.x:11000/Status

     

    replace x.x.x.x with a Bluesound players IP address 

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