Finally took the plunge and took the Amazon HD 30 day free trial.
I’ve been a pretty avid Tidal user because I enjoy having the Roon integration and I like being able to at a whim via Roon explore artists etc. That being said it is the single biggest issue for me with Amazon, no integration for the Roon platform but that can change at any minute I’m sure. Nothing keeping it from happening other than contractual agreements and who squeezes who for the extra bit of digital cash.
From a technical standpoint, I am comparing apples to apples, both the Tidal PC client and the Amazon client. (both Windows 10 64 bit). This is actually a mixed bag because the search functionality on Amazon is more robust. Tidal is pretty shitty in that regards and you have to learn to make very granular searches to get some files.
The Amazon client however is abysmal. The exclusive mode sucks balls, it doesn’t play nice AT ALL with other open players and it doesn’t like to give up it’s exclusive mode even after you’ve shut the program down. Only on the Amazon client have I experienced this… and this is bad. After closing out the program the client remains ghosted in the system tray and you have to move your cursor over it to make it go away. It’s a workaround but it’s a PITA when you’re bouncing around with clients players etc.
On the HD availability from it clearly surpasses the amount of hi-resolution content. Not by much but I’d say appreciably, if Tidal is 10% MQA content, then Amazon is 15% ULTRAHD content. So a clear win for Amazon there however… befuddingly so, I’ve not once found a a song on Tidal that wasn’t Hi-Fi, Tidal’s equivalent to Amazon HD. On Amazon I’ve searched and encountered at least three times in the week I’ve had it that they didn’t have HD content for it, only MP3 which is suprising to say the least.
One very nice feature of Amazon HD is that it allows you to get HD files of songs that you’ve purchased through Amazon over the years. A nice touch and Kudos to them for that.
Lastly I know there’s been discussion of file quality; there are a lot of moving parts so that’s why I’m limiting my comparison to apples to apples. When I compare the Windows clients and I make sure to compare the same album, same song, same dates etc, there is no discernable difference for me on quality. I didn’t compare UltraHD content to Tidal MQA content because I don’t have an MQA decoding DAC, so it wouldn’t be a fair comparison using the half fold you get with the Tidal client to a full native Hi-Res Amazon equivalent.
I’d rather NOT have MQA, but I felt it pointless to make a comparison here given the technical limitations.
The other issue I have with Amazon HD is they have a nasty habit of labeling an album ULTRAHD when the reality is that only one or two tracks on the album are Hi-Res. Not a practice on Tidal, if an album is marked as MQA, it’s MQA. It’s misrepresenting their content to end users IMO.
What’s the conclusion? I’ll probably pull the plug on Amazon before the free trial runs out but at this point, given the lack of Roon integration and the niggling issues with the PC client and the fact that it’s a couple dollars more than the Tidal student discount of $9.99 a month I’m keeping the Tidal running. But for a piece of software that has about a half year of run time on it it’s not bad and a decent deal if you’re a Prime member already and don’t have a kid in college you can leverage for a student discount. 
