Sonos is rolling out support for Amazon Music Unlimited's catalogue of hi-res and Dolby Atmos music, following its landmark support of Qobuz's hi-res audio library in March.
That means Amazon Music subscribers can now stream the service's "Ultra HD" (24-bit) tracks, as well as its increasing number of songs available in immersive Dolby Atmos technology. While Amazon's hi-res catalogue goes all the way to 24-bit/192kHz audio quality, Sonos's compatible products have a maximum sample rate limit of 48kHz so will stream up to 24-bit/48kHz. Previously, playback support was limited to 16-bit.
Sonos products that are capable of playing hi-res audio from Amazon are the Roam, Move, One, One SL, Five and Play:5 (Gen 2) wireless speakers; the Arc and Beam (Gen 1 and Gen 2) soundbars; and the Sub (all generations), Port, Amp, Connect (Gen 2) and Connect:Amp (Gen 2) components. The IKEA Symfonisk Bookshelf and Symfonisk Lamp speakers are also compatible. Compatibility for Amazon Music's Dolby Atmos music is understandably limited to the Sonos products that support the technology from a hardware point of view – the Beam Gen 2 and Arc.
As Amazon made its lossless and hi-res audio tracks free for all Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers in May (as a response to Apple Music's similar move), any owner of a compatible product who subscribes to Amazon can take advantage of this new support. So long as the Sonos product's software is up to date, subscribers should see a badge in the 'Now Playing' screen in the Sonos app indicating whether they're listening to "HD" (16-bit ), "Ultra HD" (24-bit) or Dolby Atmos.
Qobuz became the first hi-res music streaming service to be supported on Sonos earlier this year, and now, nine months later, Amazon becomes the second. Hope is not lost for Sonos-owning Tidal or Apple Music subscribers, mind, as Sonos has used this announcement to remind customers of its open stance regarding hi-res audio.
Its latest blog post reads: "If you prefer another streaming service that offers hi-res audio not currently available on Sonos, know that we look forward to introducing more high-resolution experiences in the future... your options for listening to hi-res audio will continue to evolve. And so will we."
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