
Apple Music has its spatial audio option, which is based on Dolby Atmos and can create a digital 3D effect even in headphones.

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When it comes to 360-degree sound, both Apple Music and Amazon Music diverge. Our guide on how to play Hi-Res music on iPhone can help you find and set one up. Just remember that on mobile devices, you’ll likely need an external DAC for the best possible quality. Both Apple Music lossless and Amazon Music HD (which, remember, is now part of Amazon Music Unlimited) offer a choice between CD-quality 16-bit/44.1kHz and Hi-Res 24-bit/192kHz formats. It’s a dead heat for their respective lossless formats, too.

Speaking of which, your choice of playback device will have a much greater impact on sound quality than bitrates and sample rates, so if you’re just going to listen to standard-quality tracks, Apple Music and Amazon Music are essentially even. Amazon Music, meanwhile, streams using a 320 kbps format.įrankly, you’d struggle to tell the difference even if you listening with a pair of the very best headphones. Amazon Music: Music qualityĪpple has always stayed hush about the technical qualities of its streaming, though we know that songs you save for offline listening are 256 kbps AAC files. Platform-exclusive releases are largely a thing of the past, too, so don’t worry about missing out on new launches you're likely to find the same songs whichever you pick. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can upgrade to the Amazon Music Prime tier for no extra cost, while also getting rid of ads and gaining offline playback - but the library is limited to 2 million songs, compared to the 75 million-plus of Amazon Music Unlimited.Īs mentioned, paying for Amazon Music Unlimited expands the library of available songs from a sorry 2 million to over 75 million, not to mention Amazon’s healthy supply of podcasts.Īpple also offers over 75 million songs, as well as its own podcast stable. However, it’s heavily restricted: you can only access Amazon’s “top playlists,” can’t use offline playback, and need to sit through ads interrupting your music.

Unlike Apple Music, Amazon Music has a free tier, so you can sign up and start listening without paying a single penny. Our picks of the best Bluetooth speakers.Premium: Find out if it's worth paying for more Amazon Music face-off we’ll compare the features, availability and value of each service to find out which is more deserving of your listening time. These music apps are therefore much better deals than from a few weeks ago, but which one is better? In this Apple Music vs.
