A sampling rate of 192kHz provides a frequency response that reaches up to over 90kHz, while the human hearing range tops off nearly two octaves below, at about 20kHz. 24-bit digital audio provides 144dB of dynamic range, though no analog system can reproduce anywhere near that. The HD and Ultra HD formats provide up to 24-bit, 192kHz audio. Traditional analog audio systems like tape and vinyl provide a maximum of about 70- 80dB of dynamic range. The dynamic range of classical music rarely goes beyond 60dB while pop music may have as little as 12dB of dynamic range. Dynamic range is simply the difference in the volume of the softest to loudest musical moments. This format provides 96dB of dynamic range and covers the frequency range of 20Hz – 20kHz- basically matching the range of human hearing. Both lossless and lossy formats may include metadata, such as artist and song names, artwork and lyrics.Ī little background-since the 1980s, the reference standard has been the audio CD, which uses 16-bit, 44.1kHz audio.
In short, lossy formats will never sound as good as an original source file, while lossless files will sound the same as the original file. Lossless files can be decompressed into an identical copy of the original audio data-and will, therefore, sound identical to the original file. Lossless encoding results in files that are larger than lossy files, but perhaps half the size of the original file. Lossless audio files, such as FLAC and ALAC, reduce the file size by using a kind of digital encoding shorthand, like simplifying (abbreviating) the representation of repeating audio patterns and discarding non-audio data. Lossy compression results in very small files that sound approximately like the original source audio. This compression discards audio that may be masked by other, more important, audio information. Lossy compression, as used in mp3 and AAC encoding, is the most common and uses data compression to reduce the amount of bandwidth that is needed to serve the audio. There are two broad categories of digital audio files: lossy and lossless files. Most companies only mention this in their fine print, but streaming quality depends on many factors, including network speed and the specific streaming/playback device.
Also, each streaming service may lower the quality of audio that is delivered to a specific device. When comparing streaming services (or any digital audio files), it is important to have some basic understanding of the audio qualities and anomalies to expect from each file type. Amazon and Tidal currently promote 24-bit, high-sample-rate audio, but much of the buzz around this high-resolution movement may just come down to marketing hype. Further, as explained below, high-bitrate and wide-frequency-response audio may provide subtle audio benefits, or it may be a hollow promise.
This quality improvement requires more streaming bandwidth, so any user who would like to try out HD audio will need to first verify that their network and phone (or computer) is capable of receiving and playing these high-bitrate audio streams. We are all familiar with the low or variable quality of most audio streaming services, so HD audio promises to provide near-perfect audio. The question for many customers may be whether or not they can actually hear the difference between Amazon’s standard streaming quality and the more costly HD streaming options. Amazon hopes to increase its market share by offering listeners millions of songs at CD quality, or better. Amazon has recently debuted its upgraded Amazon Music HD and Ultra HD Streaming services.
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