You’ve probably already heard that Amazon Music has introduced Dolby Atmos as one of its features to offer you some of the highest quality streaming music available on the market today.
Yet that high quality will need high-quality instruments to be able to pick up all those instrumentals and vocals properly. That’s why you will be wanting to have a Denon Receiver to be able to hear music at its best, in the comfort of your own home.
Fortunately, Amazon and Denon realized this, and there are actually two primary ways that you can play Amazon Music through your Denon Receiver. However, there are several items to note in the beginning before continuing any further.
First of all, there are restrictions on where this is possible due to the Amazon Music licensing limitations. That means, for the most part, this will only work if you’re an Amazon Music subscriber in the United States, the UK, and several Western European countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Germany.
Another thing to note is what type of subscription you have. If you have Amazon Prime or Amazon Unlimited music, it may vary slightly than if you have Amazon HD. However, it is at the most an extra step here and there and shouldn’t be anything too complicated.
From the Denon Receiver side
First of all you will require a compatible Denon receiver. In this case, the newer model, the better, and it’s basically dependent on if the Denon receiver is compatible with the HEOS application.
You’ll need to check and confirm with Denon beforehand to ensure that this compatibility exists. This also may limit the possibility of using the other method mentioned later on if there’s no initial compatibility with the HEOS application.
With your Amazon HD subscription
Again, it’s as if the two were the perfect combination, between Amazon Music and Denon receivers. A built-in software update comes with the latest Denon receivers and the HEOS application.
That means all you need to do is go into the HEOS app – go to Amazon Music, and search for Ultra HD. That’s it, and as long as they’re all networked together, you should be able to control your Amazon music and Denon receiver through the HEOS app.
With your other Amazon Music subscriptions
Again – this is still a simple route, and you just have to go to your settings and look at musical sources. Then it’s as easy as going to online sources, and there should be options for Amazon Music.
You might have to log in again to confirm via your mobile phone, and then you’ll be able to use that mobile phone as a remote for your Amazon music and your Denon Receiver, turning you into a DJ with a surround sound system.
From the Alexa Cast side
Alexa has grown extensively from an Amazon virtual assistant and as a way to sync and manage networked devices across Amazon’s offerings, such as the Amazon Echo, and integrate with world-renowned receivers such as the Denon receiver. Here you’re going to do the casting from the Alexa app, but there’s some initial preparation first.
It’s still a great idea to have the HEOS application on your mobile phone separately. At the same time, you’ll want to make sure that the Alexa app has the HEOS Home Entertainment application directly added through searching on your Alexa app. It’s like an app within an app.
Once inside the HEOS sub-application in the Alex app, you will want to discover your Denon receiver devices and add them to the Alexa App. This is another reason you want to make sure that your Alexa devices, your mobile phone, and your Denon receivers are all connected to the same Wi-Fi, but that you have a Denon Receiver that is actually compatible with the Alexa App in the first place.
It’s a straightforward request from Denon, and they’re always providing updated lists of which of their receivers will work with the Alexa app, as they feel it’s a great combination of software and hardware. So now that you’re all synced up, you’ll be able to start casting your music.
We go into our Amazon music application and when we’re in playing a song, look at the bottom middle icon. This is your cast button, and simply press it. Once you press it, you’ll be able to see all the options that are tied through the Alexa application.
For example, all of your Denon AV receivers that you’ve added previously should easily be found, and you can simply click on one of them to start casting from that receiver.
When it comes to subscription types with the Alexa application and Amazon Music route, you’ll only need an Amazon Prime subscription at a bare minimum. Then, of course, you can simply have an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription as well.
Either subscription (even the Amazon Music HD) won’t matter because you’re basically casting the music from your mobile phone anyway, and there are no differences with the subscription models selected.
Troubleshooting your casting and AV Denon receiver
Without thinking about it, the first issue you may have is not having all of the necessary applications updated to their latest version and/or not being properly logged into your Amazon subscription.
This is a simple solution to remedy. While we’re here with simple solutions, and we’ve mentioned it previously, make sure that all the relevant hardware (including the smartphone as your point of control) are all also on the same Wi-Fi network.
There’s an unofficial ongoing partnership between Denon and Amazon, as the two see each other as complementary offerings, so you’re going to see a lot more integrations in the future.
This is currently shown by offering two routes to casting your Amazon Music through an AV Denon receiver, and eventually, we may even see one-click button functionality. Either way, with the quality of music from Amazon, you’ll be in for a pleasant treat through those AV Denon receivers.
