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Ryan S
Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
September 17, 2019

Amazon Music HD Available on Sonos

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  • September 17, 2019
  • 111 replies
  • 51799 views

Amazon Music HD, Amazon’s new high-quality music tier for streaming in CD-quality is available today on Sonos in Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. You can now stream over 50 million tracks in CD-quality (16-bit HD) audio through the Sonos app.

 

Amazon Music HD is available as an add-on to Amazon Music Unlimited subscriptions for an additional $4.99 per month (on top of the noraml Amazon Music Unlimited subscription) or $50 per year. Check out the Amazon Music HD page here on Amazon for more details.

 

After subscribing, to use Amazon Music HD on Sonos, just update your Sonos app then add Amazon Music as a music service. That’s all it takes to be streaming Amazon Music’s catalog of CD-quality audio on Sonos.


Find out more about Amazon Music HD on Sonos here.

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    111 replies

    getjams
    getjams
    Avid Contributor II
    September 17, 2019
    According to a comment on this thread, Alexa-initiated playback is not streaming in HD. Is that correct?

    https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/amazon-music-hd-6830054
    getjams
    getjams
    Avid Contributor II
    September 17, 2019
    The FAQ says:

    Which Amazon devices support Amazon Music HD?

    Alexa-enabled Echo devices (2nd generation and later), Fire TVs and Fire Tablets all support HD quality audio.

    What about Sonos speakers with Alexa built in? Will they play music in HD via voice commands?
    Ryan S
    Ryan SAuthor
    Retired Sonos Staff
    September 17, 2019
    Hi getjams, the team is working on bringing Amazon Unlimited HD streams to Sonos using voice control with Alexa, more to come soon and we’ll share here when it’s available.
    Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
      Ken_40
      Contributor I
      September 18, 2019
      Will "access" to Amazon's Ultra HD music content allow me to play it via my Sonos setup - or will the output be similar to my Deezer content?
        adam2434
        Avid Contributor I
        September 18, 2019
        Ryan S,

        Could you please explain "just update your Sonos app"?

        Apparently, I already have the latest Android controller version, which was released on Sept 10.

        Since the Amazon Music app within Sonos does not have the "SD/HD/Ultra HD" indicator found in the native Amazon Music app, how does one know what stream resolution/bitrate is being played through Sonos?

        Will Sonos always play the highest quality stream, up to and including a 16/44.1 FLAC stream?

        For music in Ultra HD 24/96 in the native app, does Sonos get a HD 16/44.1 downsampled version?

        I realize that Sonos can only handle 16/44.1, so I'm trying to verify exactly what resolution/bitrate Sonos is getting with the new Amazon Music HD service.
          AgentWhite
          Contributor I
          September 18, 2019
          I'd also like to know how we can confirm if HD tracks are playing through Sonos Connect when using the latest iOS controller app. I had to re-install both the Amazon music iOS app & Windows desktop app to see HD tracks (as advised by Amazon support) so I'm skeptical it will just start working through Sonos. Should there be a HD or UltraHD badge in the Sonos app when playing Amazon HD tracks?
            Ryan S
            Ryan SAuthor
            Retired Sonos Staff
            September 18, 2019
            Will "access" to Amazon's Ultra HD music content allow me to play it via my Sonos setup - or will the output be similar to my Deezer content?
            The output will be the CD quality HD content, similar to Deezer's highest quality streams.

            Ryan S,

            Could you please explain "just update your Sonos app"?

            Apparently, I already have the latest Android controller version, which was released on Sept 10.
            It's just going into the Sonos app and under settings checking for updates. Though a new update may not show up if you're on the latest build, that act also triggers a fresh music service listing download for Sonos players. So while the app doesn't change, some of the software may.

            Since the Amazon Music app within Sonos does not have the "SD/HD/Ultra HD" indicator found in the native Amazon Music app, how does one know what stream resolution/bitrate is being played through Sonos?

            Will Sonos always play the highest quality stream, up to and including a 16/44.1 FLAC stream?

            For music in Ultra HD 24/96 in the native app, does Sonos get a HD 16/44.1 downsampled version?

            I realize that Sonos can only handle 16/44.1, so I'm trying to verify exactly what resolution/bitrate Sonos is getting with the new Amazon Music HD service.

            In the Sonos app, it'll show the format the stream is playing so you can check if you're getting FLAC. And yes, it'll play the highest quality possible automatically. Amazon Music HD on Sonos is the 16-bit (CD quality) audio streams, and I believe Amazon has the same library in most formats, and will serve to Sonos the HD 16-bit streams.

            EDIT: I crossed off the above. Sorry, I was incorrectly remembering this. I'll make sure to let the team know it's being requested.
            Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
              adam2434
              Avid Contributor I
              September 18, 2019


              In the Sonos app, it'll show the format the stream is playing so you can check if you're getting FLAC. And yes, it'll play the highest quality possible automatically. Amazon Music HD on Sonos is the 16-bit (CD quality) audio streams, and I believe Amazon has the same library in most formats, and will serve to Sonos the HD 16-bit streams.

              Where in the app does it show the stream format for a song playing?

              I've tried every tapping everywhere and can't find it.
                ratty
                ratty
                September 18, 2019
                Where in the app does it show the stream format for a song playing?

                I've tried every tapping everywhere and can't find it.
                Me neither. Logically one would expect to find it in the same place as with Deezer HiFi, i.e. the info or '...' menu.

                In fact the more I poke around, the more I find functional deficiencies compared to Deezer HiFi, for example no means to 'favourite' a track or album into My Music. Basically it's a read-only client.
                chicks
                chicks
                September 18, 2019
                @Ryan S , is this an upcoming feature? Doesn’t appear to exist currently.
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