Audio

Amazon Music HD drops to $10 per month

Amazon Music is reducing the price of its high-fidelity audio service just as Apple announced today that it's bringing lossless audio to Apple Music subscribers at no extra charge.

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Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers get HD audio for free. High-fidelity streaming used to be a $14.99 per month option. Amazon Music Unlimited is priced at $9.99 per month. Prime members can get it for just $7.99 per month.

Amazon Music HD drops to $10 per month

Apple announced today that all Apple Music subscribers will be able to enjoy Dolby Atmos spatial audio in lossless quality at no additional charge beginning next month. Ahead of Apple's announcement, Amazon had lowered the price of its high-fidelity offering.

Steve Boom, Amazon Music's Vice President:

It’s something we’ve all we’ve been wanting to do for a long time. When we launched, we already broke the mold by taking a service that had been $19.99—and really just for the audiophile at that price point—and brought it down to something that was much more mass-market at $14.99.

According to Billboard, the high-fidelity service is now available to all Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no additional cost. Before the change, Amazon Music HD was a $14.99 per month value, or $12.99 per month for Prime members.

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Family plans are eligible for Amazon Music HD at no extra charge.

What is Amazon Music Unlimited?

Amazon Music Unlimited is currently available in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The service is priced at $9.99 per month, just like the individual Apple Music subscription. However, Amazon Music Unlimited is available to Amazon Prime members in exchange for a lower price of just $7.99 per month.

Streaming heavyweights going in on lossless audio

Amazon Music HD debuted in September 2019.

The service brings more than 70 million songs in CD quality (16 bit at 44.1 kHz). Out of that number, some seven million tracks are available in ultra HD quality which exceeds CD quality (24 bit at 48kHz, 96 kHz and 192 kHz). Apple Music also offers a hi-resolution Lossless tier all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.

→ How to watch Apple Music TV on all your devices

HD streaming is also offered by the likes of Deezer and Tidal, with Tidal continuing to charge $19.99 per month for the service. Spotify is apparently working on a similar offering of its own.

Apple has worked with artists to record tracks in Dolby Atmos with spatial audio. Apple's offering will be ready for public consumption next month, with thousands of spatial audio tracks available at launch and more to come later.

How to improve Bluetooth audio on Mac

Bose headphones kept on top of a closed MacBook

Bluetooth audio on Mac can be finicky, as macOS uses a standard audio codec for all kinds of headphones. This can make the audio sound bad on Bluetooth headphones. Most headphones come with support for advanced audio codecs such as AAC and aptX. However, they will end up using the SBC codec when connected to a Mac.

We're not sure why this happens, but some headphones do switch to AAC codec with modern Macs. In this post, we're going to show you how you can force macOS to use AAC or aptX codecs with supported Bluetooth headphones. This will ensure that you get the best Bluetooth audio on your Mac.

How to disable the click sounds on your Apple TV

Apple TV Siri Remote in hand

As an Apple TV owner, you know that you receive audio feedback as you navigate the screen and apps. You hear those click sounds with every action you take using your Siri remote. But not everyone is fond of that click, click, click. Did you know you can turn those sounds off?

With the simple flip of a setting you can disable the click sounds on your Apple TV, here’s how.