Good way to stream Amazon Music HD to DAC

[marco80]

Hi there!

So far Amazon Music HD is the streaming service where I can find the best value for what they charge for their HD service. They really have pretty much any album I can think of and the quality seems really good too.

The only problem I have with it is how to stream it as they don't have an open API. Usually I use a Raspberry Pi where I run volumio. Right now I'm using a HifiBerry DAC+ but I've just ordered a Topping E30 DAC which hopefully will arrive soon.

Currently the only way I can stream is from my iPhone/iPad or Mac to the raspberry via Airplay. Or from the Mac via USB of course but that's not what I want to do usually because where the DAC is placed isn't where my Mac is. And I'm lazy so being able to select the next album with the iPhone over a convenient interface while sitting on the couch would be nice!

Is there a good solution to this yet? The only stuff I've seen are commercial solutions like Bluesound node 2i but that's not where I want to go. I mean maybe Airplay isn't the worst solution but I think the higher bitrates won't make it there but at least CD quality should be fine? I'm just worried there's too much stuff going on in between that might impact sound quality :/

Thanks for any ideas!

Marco

 

[BDWoody]

I always suggest the humble, discontinued Chromecast Audio puck using optical... They are going for @$50 or so...

Gives great flexibility.

 

[marco80]

I always suggest the humble, discontinued Chromecast Audio puck using optical... They are going for @$50 or so...

Gives great flexibility.

Interesting option! But I'd probably need some android tablet/phone to stream Amazon Music HD to the Chromecast Audio puck and then from that to the DAC right? I'm currently all Apple on phones and tablets.

Also I did a quick google search and https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=14070322011 says that "At this time Amazon Music HD is not supported on Chromecast."?

 

[Certainkindoffool]

Interesting option! But I'd probably need some android tablet/phone to stream Amazon Music HD to the Chromecast Audio puck and then from that to the DAC right? I'm currently all Apple on phones and tablets.

Also I did a quick google search and https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=14070322011 says that "At this time Amazon Music HD is not supported on Chromecast."?

I can confirm that Amazon HD does work with chromecast audio.

I do know there are ways to stream from Apple products to chromecast. But, I've never had reason to try it.

 

[pjug]

Is there a good solution to this yet? The only stuff I've seen are commercial solutions like Bluesound node 2i but that's not where I want to go.

I don't know if you are dead set against Bluesound but you can get the old Node pretty cheap and it will do Amazon HD. Not the nicest looking device but you can easily hide it - that's what I do. I bailed on Amazon HD though.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bluesound-...535860&hash=item3b1784bba4:g:BK4AAOSwwsZbZkZL

 

[Glasvegas]

I can confirm that Amazon HD does work with chromecast audio.

I do know there are ways to stream from Apple products to chromecast. But, I've never had reason to try it.

I regularly stream Tidal to CCA from an iPad. Haven’t tried Amazon.

 

[Certainkindoffool]

I almost exclusively use tidal as well. But, I did check Amazon just to be sure before posting.

Amazon is only used in the truck to listen to Metallica and a few other exclusives. My wife hates that stuff, so I rarely use it at home.

 

[marco80]

Thanks @Certainkindoffool @Glasvegas @BDWoody for the suggestion towards chromecast audio. The advantage of
Amazon Music HD -> iPhone -> Chromecast Audio via Chromecast -> Topping E30 via S/PDIF vs
Amazon Music HD -> iPhone -> Raspberry Pi via Airplay -> Topping E30 via USB
would be that Chromecast support higher bitrates right?

Will I run into the issue mentioned on the https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-chromecast-audio-digital-output.4544/ review regarding "1. The CAST audio functionality of Google Chrome is horrid." is that something different from what I'd do from my phone to Chromecast Audio?

 

[Jimbob54]

Thanks @Certainkindoffool @Glasvegas @BDWoody for the suggestion towards chromecast audio. The advantage of
Amazon Music HD -> iPhone -> Chromecast Audio via Chromecast -> Topping E30 via S/PDIF vs
Amazon Music HD -> iPhone -> Raspberry Pi via Airplay -> Topping E30 via USB
would be that Chromecast support higher bitrates right?

Will I run into the issue mentioned on the https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-chromecast-audio-digital-output.4544/ review regarding "1. The CAST audio functionality of Google Chrome is horrid." is that something different from what I'd do from my phone to Chromecast Audio?

Depends how the app maker sets it up. I think if well implemented, subsequent investigations found no probs. This was casting from chrome browser.

 

[Standing in the rain]

Amazon HD will only stream 320kbps mp3 to Chromecast audio.

 

[Jimbob54]

Amazon HD will only stream 320kbps mp3 to Chromecast audio.

Wow- some good application right there. Presume that applies to casting to any device Or just the CCA. As a defunct product (I think before amazon HD launched) I could kind of understand, but if you can only cast to anything in 320 , shocking!

 

[marco80]

Oh boy then maybe using Airplay might be better, at least in theory could get lossless CD-quality then which I could live with.

 

[jae]

Get a cheap used android phone and connect it directly to your DAC.

 

[marco80]

Get a cheap used android phone and connect it directly to your DAC.

Can I then somehow stream over that phone without physically being there? With some kind of remote control maybe?

 

[marco80]

I wonder why Amazon makes it so hard to actually use their service properly. I mean what's the point of Amazon HD if it's so hard to really fully utilize it?

 

[Jimbob54]

Can I then somehow stream over that phone without physically being there? With some kind of remote control maybe?

If you deploy Bubble UPNP app (android), and run on both phones, yes I believe so. Roon will do similar. Will be others

 

[Glasvegas]

Interesting alternative to the CCA.

So, does the cheap used Android phone just act as a streamer for Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon HD etc ?

 

[jae]

One suggest may be to use the screen cast settings of android or some kind of VNC/screen sharing app to cast the screen of your phone attached to the DAC onto another phone, smart tv etc, and control it from there depending on your setup. If if weren't for the streaming services, you could just very easily use upnp to stream your files, but I don't think the amazon music app supports upnp unless someone else can confirm?

As you mentioned amazon music HD doesn't have an public API which is why integration with apps doesn't really exist at this time. I'm sure it will come in the future if they want to be competitive with Tidal/Qobuz. Have you done a trial of tidal/qobuz to compare their selection?

 

[Bamyasi]

Amazon HD will only stream 320kbps mp3 to Chromecast audio.

It will actually cast 256 kbps AAC in most cases but that's no big difference.

 

[Bamyasi]

Interesting alternative to the CCA.
So, does the cheap used Android phone just act as a streamer for Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon HD etc ?

Yes but you are unlikely to get more than 16/44.1 resolution with them and in most cases digital audio gets routed through Android audio stack before going to external USB DAC. Hence no bitperfect playback; the stream gets resampled to a fixed sampling rate instead (16/48 by default but configurable in some cases).

Amazon own devices like Fire tablets run modified Android OS called Fire OS. Legally, this is not considered Android and this version has somewhat extended support for things like Alexa cast protocol and sample rate detection. Still no Ultra HD support (max out at 16/44.1 aka HD) and I doubt it provides a true bitperfect playback. However gapless playback works pretty well and the sound quality is fine. Alexa remote casting is also a boon, i.e., you can run AMHD app on your Android phone and cast tracks and playlists to your Fire tablet. The advantage over CCA is that Alexa casting does support HD (16/44.1) playback on Alexa devices.

You can have Fire 7 tablet for less than $30 occasionally from Amazon. It works just fine as a network player but unfortunately does not support show mode, which means after 30 minutes max the screen locks out and the playback can no longer be controlled from remote Alexa devices. This is most annoying when casting but less of a big deal if you run AMHD app on the tablet itself.

Fire HD 8 & HD 10 tablets both support show mode but they are more expensive, so less attractive option.