Headliner I

Answered

S2 High Res HD Amazon Your Assessment Please Before & After

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
January 20, 2021
20 replies
654 views

Evening all.

I’ve now upgraded all my old gear and gone full S2.

Not greatly worried by the value/promises/what’s to come debate BUT, would love to hear your audio assessment before any after of going Amazon HD on S2 please.

All my boxes ( Connect Amp’s and a Port & several SW’s) are linked to B&W CCM 684’s and 682’s and are hard wired RJ45..

Simple question …. can you tell the difference? Before Amazon HD and after going Amazon HD on an S2 system? And how big of an improvement is it?

Thanks

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Best answer by ratty

@attacama40 I sense that you may have a bit of a Fear Of Missing Out on some form of music nirvana. You needn’t feel that way. The numbers game is relentlessly exploited by those in the industry anxious to encourage consumers to buy more equipment and to replace their music collection with so-called ‘hi-res’ versions (some of which have been exposed as nothing more than 16/44 content in a ‘hi-res’ container).

Here are some articles that might interest you:

What Data Compression Does To Your Music (and why lossless is worthwhile)

Researching HD-Audio: The Truth (‘Hi-Res’ has no perceptible fidelity improvement over CD Red Book)

and follow the links in

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Quality_Authenticated#Criticism

K

Kumar

You do know that all that Amazon HD offers is CD quality streams, right?

Belly M

You do know that all that Amazon HD offers is CD quality streams, right?

No this is incorrect, an Amazon HD subscription includes UltraHD (their term) although some is not playable through Sonos hardware.

“HD tracks have a bit depth of 16-bits, a minimum sample rate of 44.1 kHz (also referred to as CD-quality), and an average bitrate of 850 kbps. Ultra HD tracks have a bit depth of 24 bits, sample rates ranging from 44.1 kHz up to 192 kHz, and an average bitrate of 3730 kbps.”

K

Kumar

Sure. But that is called Ultra HD. Amazon has on their own redefined HD to include CD quality streams is my point, and it would be fun to find people that find it to be superior, being HD. Even when and where it works, as it must on even Sonos S1.

N

nik9669a

Senior Virtuoso

@attacama40, Have you tried it yourself? Whether others can or can’t hear a difference, they don’t have your setup, your unique room acoustics or your ears. It’s what you hear, or think you hear, that matters. Then decide if the extra cost is worth it.

A

attacama40Author

Headliner I

@attacama40, Have you tried it yourself? Whether others can or can’t hear a difference, they don’t have your setup, your unique room acoustics or your ears. It’s what you hear, or think you hear, that matters. Then decide if the extra cost is worth it.

For sure but was wandering if anyone out there had the before and after and could make a judgement.

It struck me as the sort of the variable that folks may have a strong opinion on .. good or bad.

I read a lot that says Hi Res Audio is an interesting notion but practically not noticable and wandered if people really can tell the difference and if it was worthwhile….within the Sonos infrastructure.

For sure take your point that it will depend on room etc.

A

attacama40Author

Headliner I

Sure. But that is called Ultra HD. Amazon has on their own redefined HD to include CD quality streams is my point, and it would be fun to find people that find it to be superior, being HD. Even when and where it works, as it must on even Sonos S1.

And to be honest Kumar this is where I get bogged down … in the technical nomenclature etc. I just want to know is it any thing that can be really heard? Or come to that Tidal or any other ‘better quality’ offering.

If it really can be heard then I will take it. I just want to know if it's that defined and also I guess, which service to buy to add onto my now S2 system that will make sound better.

ratty

While it would be amusing to sit back and read comments extolling the “night and day” differences between Amazon Music HD’s performance on S2 vs S1 there aren’t any, at least in terms of the supported bit depth and sampling rate. It was 16/44 before, and it’s still 16/44.

(That said, Sonos continues to tweak the acoustic performance of speakers if there’s an improvement to be made, one of the benefits of software-driven equipment. Such enhancements would be expected in S2 only.)

As for which service to subscribe to, well, try them and see which you prefer. Amazon HD, Deezer HiFi, Qobuz and Tidal all stream to Sonos in CD quality. Many would argue that Tidal’s MQA actually degrades the sound so personally I would steer clear of that at all costs.

A

attacama40Author

Headliner I

While it would be amusing to sit back and read comments extolling the “night and day” differences between Amazon Music HD’s performance on S2 vs S1 there aren’t any, at least in terms of the supported bit depth and sampling rate. It was 16/44 before, and it’s still 16/44.

(That said, Sonos continues to tweak the acoustic performance of speakers if there’s an improvement to be made, one of the benefits of software-driven equipment. Such enhancements would be expected in S2 only.)

As for which service to subscribe to, well, try them and see which you prefer. Amazon HD, Deezer HiFi, Qobuz and Tidal all stream to Sonos in CD quality. Many would argue that Tidal’s MQA actually degrades the sound so personally I would steer clear of that at all costs.

So you see no or limited difference Ratty? That’s what I’m looking for … some guidance without the numbers to be honest.

So not really worth the time or cost?

Can I ask what sources and formats you use for your music listening?

ratty

So you see no or limited difference Ratty? That’s what I’m looking for … some guidance without the numbers to be honest.

So not really worth the time or cost?

Of what? You’ve already updated to S2, which is fine. I’m happy to pay for a lossless music service because, for the kind of ‘critical’ listening I do in some situations -- Fives+Sub in a quiet room, or on premium headphones -- I believe it makes sense.

Can I ask what sources and formats you use for your music listening?

Deezer HiFi (16/44 FLAC), and of course a 13+ year old local FLAC library. Oh, and Radio Paradise FLAC.

A

attacama40Author

Headliner I

So you see no or limited difference Ratty? That’s what I’m looking for … some guidance without the numbers to be honest.

So not really worth the time or cost?

Of what? You’ve already updated to S2, which is fine. I’m happy to pay for a lossless music service because, for the kind of ‘critical’ listening I do in some situations -- Fives+Sub in a quiet room, or on premium headphones -- I believe it makes sense.

Can I ask what sources and formats you use for your music listening?

Deezer HiFi (16/44 FLAC), and of course a 13+ year old local FLAC library. Oh, and Radio Paradise FLAC.

I’m happy to pay as well but I want to get some subjective opinion is all.

FLAC I also have on my NAS. And Deezer gives you better audio source than say … Spotify?

I guess it’s like working out if a pair jeans from Hugo Boss is worth the extra over Tesco is all I’m looking for direction on. Understand of course that you have to ‘try them on’ to totally understand if it’s for you or not but asking those who went through the process surely has merit?

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