Fraunhofer IIS, primary developer of the xHE-AAC audio codec, is pleased to announce that Amazon’s recently launched Echo and Fire TV products support the world’s most efficient audio format right out of the box.
At Amazon’s 2025 September hardware event in Manhattan, the company unveiled a wide range of new products, of which all with audio capabilities now natively support Fraunhofer’s xHE-AAC audio codec. This includes devices powered by Amazon’s new Vega OS as well as products running their Fire TV operating system: Echo Dot Max, Echo Studio, Echo Show 8 & 11, Fire TV Stick 4K Select, Fire TV Omni QLED Series, Fire TV 4-Series and the Fire TV 2-Series.
This integration enables xHE-AAC service providers to deliver improved audio streaming quality with increased bitrate efficiency. This performance enhancement is based on xHE-AAC’s top-notch encoding performance and seamless bitrate switching capabilities. Dynamic range and loudness control adapt the audio levels automatically to a device’s playback capabilities. This can, for example, significantly improve the intelligibility of narrators, dialog, and other voices especially for highly dynamic content.
“The continued inclusion of xHE-AAC into Amazon’s operating systems expands the reach of the latest AAC standard, enabling more consumer products to play audio and AV content with superior quality ,” says Marc Gayer, Head of the Business Department at Fraunhofer IIS. “Subscribers to streaming services using the xHE-AAC audio codec will directly benefit from the enhanced audio quality.”
xHE-AAC playback is already natively supported in billions of consumer playback devices and platforms including Microsoft Windows 11 as well as in the operating systems of Amazon, Apple, and Google. Audible, Netflix, Facebook, Instragram and other service providers are delivering billions of hours of xHE-AAC content each month.
*xHE-AAC is a registered trademark of Fraunhofer in Germany, the United States, and other countries.
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