Automatically select highest quality on Amazon Music

[ScozzeseColante]

Hello!

Accessing to Amazon Music from WiiM Home App, when I select an album this will be initially reproduced in SD quality. To listen in highest quality, I have to click on the menu of anyone of its tracks and select the option to display the full album: in this way I can access the music in the highest quality disposable.

I'm not sure of the cause of this issue, but I think it could eventully be related to the Amazon autorip feature: I noticed this occurs when accessing to music I bought as physical CDs, and automatically received (and so stored in my library) also in mp3 format. But I'm not sure, as I wrote...

So, my request is: could be possible add WiiM Home App the option to automatically select the highest quality version of the same track/album, if it's present in multiple versions of different quality? I know that a simple solution would be using with Amazon Music app, but I find it a lot more bulky, slow and prone to crash than WiiM Home App, that instead works flawlessy.

Thank you so much!

 

[ABAstroUK]

So, my request is: could be possible add WiiM Home App the option to automatically select the highest quality version of the same track/album, if it's present in multiple versions of different quality? I know that a simple solution would be using with Amazon Music app, but I find it a lot more bulky, slow and prone to crash than WiiM Home App, that instead works flawlessy.

Thank you so much!

This is already available under the Amazon Music settings in the WiiM Home App. This HD/UHD setting allows the highest quality version of the track to be streamed...

 

[ScozzeseColante]

This is already available under the Amazon Music settings in the WiiM Home App. This HD/UHD setting allows the highest quality version of the track to be streamed...
View attachment 9620

Thank you for replying! I forgot to write that I have already set that option on, but with albums collected in the library as auto-rip - and then in mp3 format - the WiiM Home App seems to consider the SD format as the first choice. I can successively switch to HD and UltraHD, but I'd like to getting there in a more direct way, if possible.

 

[ABAstroUK]

Thank you for replying! I forgot to write that I have already set that option on, but with albums collected in the library as auto-rip - and then in mp3 format - the WiiM Home App seems to consider the SD format as the first choice. I can successively switch to HD and UltraHD, but I'd like to getting there in a more direct way, if possible.

OK. I'm not familiar with auto-rip to MP3. Where do these get stored? If you mean albums downloaded locally then how would WiiM know to find the hires version in the cloud?

 

[ScozzeseColante]

OK. I'm not familiar with auto-rip to MP3. Where do these get stored? If you mean albums downloaded locally then how would WiiM know to find the hires version in the cloud?

No, all the music is stored online, in the same library used by Amazon Music. Indeed, the Prime account includes the access to the basic version of Amazon Music (as well as Amazon Prime Video, Photo and other services). Subscribing to Amazon Music Unlimited, in you library you'll find all the music previously received as auto-rip: but listening from the Amazon Music app the quality is automatically set to the higher level available, while in WiiM Home App obtaining the same result requires an extra step. Nothing terrible, naturally, but a bit tricky: it's a pity, because the WiiM app has the ability to manage large albums and collections (as the ones published by most classical music labels, devoted to the complete works of a composer, an interpreter and so on) with stunning fluidity.
Thank you for the reply!

 

[ABAstroUK]

No, all the music is stored online, in the same library used by Amazon Music. Indeed, the Prime account includes the access to the basic version of Amazon Music (as well as Amazon Prime Video, Photo and other services). Subscribing to Amazon Music Unlimited, in you library you'll find all the music previously received as auto-rip: but listening from the Amazon Music app the quality is automatically set to the higher level available, while in WiiM Home App obtaining the same result requires an extra step. Nothing terrible, naturally, but a bit tricky: it's a pity, because the WiiM app has the ability to manage large albums and collections (as the ones published by most classical music labels, devoted to the complete works of a composer, an interpreter and so on) with stunning fluidity.
Thank you for the reply!

Ah OK, I've only ever used an unlimited account so I don't have any SD albums in my account. Can you not replace them in your library with the HD/UHD versions?

 

[harkpabst]

I'm also not an Amazon Music HD subscriber but I don't think you can replace the content created by AutoRip. You can remove it from your library, which might be a workaround, depending on the number of albums. But you would probably lose access to that content should you decide to no longer use Music HD, but stick with a standard Prime account.

To counteract this you'd have to also download and store all those MP3 files, making it even more of a hassle.

 

[Griff]

No, all the music is stored online, in the same library used by Amazon Music. Indeed, the Prime account includes the access to the basic version of Amazon Music (as well as Amazon Prime Video, Photo and other services). Subscribing to Amazon Music Unlimited, in you library you'll find all the music previously received as auto-rip: but listening from the Amazon Music app the quality is automatically set to the higher level available, while in WiiM Home App obtaining the same result requires an extra step. Nothing terrible, naturally, but a bit tricky: it's a pity, because the WiiM app has the ability to manage large albums and collections (as the ones published by most classical music labels, devoted to the complete works of a composer, an interpreter and so on) with stunning fluidity.
Thank you for the reply!

You could try unchecking the 'play downloads first' option in the AMHD app itself. As the queue for Amazon is cloud based this could be in 'play'. I know when using the amazon app this will play the download even if its of lower quality than the available cloud copy.

 

[harkpabst]

You could try unchecking the 'play downloads first' option in the AMHD app itself. As the queue for Amazon is cloud based this could be in 'play'. I know when using the amazon app this will play the download even if its of lower quality than the available cloud copy.

But would the WiiM Home app have access to content downloaded by the Amazon music app?

 

[Burnside]

But would the WiiM Home app have access to content downloaded by the Amazon music app?

I wouldn’t think so - that “play downloads first” option refers to offline drm-protected tracks only accessible by the Amazon Music app and is entirely separate from the autoripped tracks which you could have downloaded anywhere on your PC.

I think it’s an Amazon Music service bug/glitch and may well relate to purchased/autoripped tracks.

For example, if I try a search on my Amazon Music app for the Kate Bush album “50 Words for Snow” which I bought from Amazon on CD and filter the results to my Library, then play a track (say Snowflake) I get the lossy SD version. However, if I don’t filter the search to my library and choose the same track I get the lossless UHD version.

If on the other hand, I search for an album I know I don’t have on CD, like Springsteen’s Western Stars which I have also added to my music/library, even if I choose it from a filtered library search I get the lossless UHD version as expected.

As a follow up test, I removed the above Kate Bush track from my library and now only have the option to play the lossy UHD track which is good. However, I can’t remember if removing a track from your library also removes it from any playlist it’s in, as I seem to recall adding a track to a playlist adds it to your library. I’ll need to do some more testing to refresh my memory and see if that’s the case.

While I think this is an Amazon issue, I’d still bug report it to WiiM as they have a much better chance of escalating it to Amazon whose front line support won’t even understand the issue and wash their hands of it if you mention a third party device like your WiiM.

 

[harkpabst]

That makes a lot of sense and shows that @ScozzeseColante has probably been on the right track right from the beginning.

 

[ScozzeseColante]

Ah OK, I've only ever used an unlimited account so I don't have any SD albums in my account. Can you not replace them in your library with the HD/UHD versions?

In principle, yes - or so I think. But over the last 20 years I bought a lot of CDs, eventually accumulating a collection of a few thousands of pieces! Therefore, that solution becomes rather impracticable for me.
But thank you for the suggestion!

Maybe, more than setting up the WiiM I should worry about this tendency to compulsive buying...

 

[ScozzeseColante]

That makes a lot of sense and shows that @ScozzeseColante has probably been on the right track right from the beginning.

I wouldn’t think so - that “play downloads first” option refers to offline drm-protected tracks only accessible by the Amazon Music app and is entirely separate from the autoripped tracks which you could have downloaded anywhere on your PC.

I think it’s an Amazon Music service bug/glitch and may well relate to purchased/autoripped tracks.

For example, if I try a search on my Amazon Music app for the Kate Bush album “50 Words for Snow” which I bought from Amazon on CD and filter the results to my Library, then play a track (say Snowflake) I get the lossy SD version. However, if I don’t filter the search to my library and choose the same track I get the lossless UHD version.

If on the other hand, I search for an album I know I don’t have on CD, like Springsteen’s Western Stars which I have also added to my music/library, even if I choose it from a filtered library search I get the lossless UHD version as expected.

As a follow up test, I removed the above Kate Bush track from my library and now only have the option to play the lossy UHD track which is good. However, I can’t remember if removing a track from your library also removes it from any playlist it’s in, as I seem to recall adding a track to a playlist adds it to your library. I’ll need to do some more testing to refresh my memory and see if that’s the case.

While I think this is an Amazon issue, I’d still bug report it to WiiM as they have a much better chance of escalating it to Amazon whose front line support won’t even understand the issue and wash their hands of it if you mention a third party device like your WiiM.

So I believe too. Do you think I should open a ticket?
Thanks!

That makes a lot of sense and shows that @ScozzeseColante has probably been on the right track right from the beginning.

'Track' is the word! Sigh...