SACD & DVD-A

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I don't have any experience with SACD but I do have a DVD-A player and love it. Unfortunately, I don't think either format will make it. I give these formats another year or two and they will fade.

JSE

Dude! You get the wrong wrong bad answer award for this day. First, all of the large music companies have supported both formats. Secondly they have spend HUGE sums of money upgrading facilities to high resolution 5.1 I know many a engineer that has had to go back to mixing school(figure of speech by the way) to learn how to mix in 5.1.

I do not think anyone within the music industry expected DVD-A and SACD to take off like a rocket. I also do not think they did a very good job of rolling out the hardware, and coodinating the roll out with manufacturers(i.e lack of bass management and digital output)

You know, they said the same thing about Dts, and look what has happened ten years later.

[Smokey]

I also do not think they did a very good job of rolling out the hardware, and coodinating the roll out with manufacturers(i.e lack of bass management and digital output).

Hey TT

I believe that is where the torn lies within flower. It all comes down to compatibility and convenience.

IMO, DVD-audio will eventually take over SACD for average consumers and SACD will only be targeted toward high end audio. This trend already have started by DVD players being able to play DVD-audio also, and it is selling for dirt cheap....which again goes back to the issue of being more convenience for consumers

BTW, I don't appreciate being paired with "Bose-basher" (Wooch) and "grasshopper" (Q) as The Three Stooges

[kexodusc]

I have an SACD player with a few titles, but I've recently been turned on to DVD-A since receiving a few for christmas. Comparing audio quality, I can't tell any difference if one does exist, but if you search yahoo or google for scientific comparisons, you'll find most agree DVD-A is theoretically better. However, both haven't reached their full potential yet.

I seriously doubt that DVD-A will fade. More manufacturers are starting to produce compatible players. Most major music manufacturers have also identified DVD-A in their annual reports to shareholders as being the largest opportunity for growth in the music industry in the next 5 years due to improved quality and increased protection against piracy. If their willing to dump millions into these formats and promote them, I'm sure they'll be available for awhile.

We should keep in mind that both these formats are still in their introductory stage and have yet to progress to the growth stage, though I feel that will likely occur in the next year or two.
We all know Sony (boo) is going to fight to keep SACD alive.

I love the fact that there are "universal" players that support both formats.

I also love the fact that SACD's have CD audio tracks to play in standard CD players, and similar for DVD-A where the Dolby Digital or DTS tracks are a nice plus.
In the last year I've found the price in both drop substantially too, so this is a good sign.

I do agree that one day, a superior sounding internet based digital product will be available for consumers, but I doubt the world will make a complete switch...at least not soon.
MP3's have already started to decline in popularity, I think this coincides with SACD, DVD-A, and DVD video music titles increasing in popularity, as well as piracy litigation fears. Lots of people just love the packaged good, album art, liner notes and all...something a computer file will not be able to offer as well.

But, I'm open to the possibility another format will emerge soon that will replace both, creating the next laser disc phenomenon, leaving us all wondering, "what if?"

[JSE]

Sir,

"Dude! You get the wrong wrong bad answer award for this day. First, all of the large music companies have supported both formats. Secondly they have spend HUGE sums of money upgrading facilities to high resolution 5.1 I know many a engineer that has had to go back to mixing school(figure of speech by the way) to learn how to mix in 5.1. "

I hope your right. I understand how the industry is supporting DVD-A and SACD, but none of that will matter if there is a more convenient, same quality alternative that the majority of average consumers will use. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but if I were a betting man I would not bet on these formats in the long run. Next 2 to 5 years? Sure. After that? No way.

Oh, bye the way. Where's my award?!?!

JSE

[46minaudio]

I would buy either.I just waiting for a player that will house 5 discs, do bass management for both sacd and dvda, with distance settings and I would like this player to be priced under $300..When this happens Im in..I know its unaudiophile like but I love my DD,DTS music DVDs and cant wait for 5.1 DVDa SACDs...

[Woochifer]

BTW, I don't appreciate being paired with "Bose-basher" (Wooch) and "grasshopper" (Q) as The Three Stooges

Hey Smoke, what makes you think that T was referring to "Stooges" rather than "Stogies"? And besides, why am I am Bosebasher? I'm merely a truthseeker! Does that make me an angry person? Just don't ever invite me over with that Wave music system infomercial on the tube ... I'm liable to ... uh ... permanently reshape some material items around the living room if that happens.

[GaToy]

My biggest gripe is the lack of newer music for either of the formats. If the music companies have dumped this much money into something you would think they would make more music to support it. I don't want to hear the Beatles in 5.1. Nor do I listen to classical music. Why can't they put out music that appeals more to the younger generations. They are 90% of all music sells. I think this is one of the key factors that is killing both formats. The same thing happened to Mini Disk. Noone wanted to get Top Gun on Mini Disk they wanted newer music. And they didn't want to have to order it.

~C.C.~

[Geoffcin]

My biggest gripe is the lack of newer music for either of the formats. If the music companies have dumped this much money into something you would think they would make more music to support it. I don't want to hear the Beatles in 5.1. Nor do I listen to classical music. Why can't they put out music that appeals more to the younger generations. They are 90% of all music sells. I think this is one of the key factors that is killing both formats. The same thing happened to Mini Disk. Noone wanted to get Top Gun on Mini Disk they wanted newer music. And they didn't want to have to order it.

~C.C.~

I've got a couple of DVD-Audio disks from newer groups and they are the ones that suck. It was a waste of bandwith in my opinion. The worst part is I cant even listen to them in the car, the one place where there lack of fidelity woudlnt matter!

[kexodusc]

I've got to agree with the earlier post about the titles that are being remixed into SACD or DVD-A. They seem to be older albums that I already have...and while I appreciate the higher resolution, it'd be nice to see more selection.
At the same time, there's only a half dozen albums that were purchase worthy last year, and probably none of these artists or their labels could afford investing in a newer format.
I really hope the universal players that are becoming more accessible solve this problem and encourage progression.
Good reference to MiniDisc, hopefully Sony's learned from that mistake...premium pricing, and poor marketing destroyed an extremely innovative product (though there has been a recent surge in the portable media area).
If anyone's wondering, I've found that Europe seems to be ahead of North America in terms of SACD and DVD-A selection, including several popular releases by American artists. Unfortunately, the cost of shipping and currency conversion destroys most of the incentive to purchase these.

[jamison]

My biggest gripe is the lack of newer music for either of the formats. If the music companies have dumped this much money into something you would think they would make more music to support it. I don't want to hear the Beatles in 5.1. Nor do I listen to classical music. Why can't they put out music that appeals more to the younger generations. They are 90% of all music sells. I think this is one of the key factors that is killing both formats. The same thing happened to Mini Disk. Noone wanted to get Top Gun on Mini Disk they wanted newer music. And they didn't want to have to order it.

~C.C.~

Personally, i would love to hear some of the beatle music in 5.1 sacd or dvda
sgt peppers or abby road would be killer, my biggest complaint is the quality of music these days, most new artists are producing material that is only worth the bandwidth of mp3 let alone cd or sacd or dvda.
i grew up on seventies and eighties music and i say now WHERES THE BEEF!
lets start putting out music worthy of these new formats. i was an avid rock and roller and very few albums sound unique these days, everything seems to have a grunge sound to it/
thank god my musical taste has expanded quite a bit. i now enjoy jazz classical, blues, pop and easy listening.

[kexodusc]

Personally, i would love to hear some of the beatle music in 5.1 sacd or dvda
sgt peppers or abby road would be killer, my biggest complaint is the quality of music these days, most new artists are producing material that is only worth the bandwidth of mp3 let alone cd or sacd or dvda.

Hear, Hear!!! Amen to that...as a musician, I have to agree with this statement wholeheartedly...too much crap is being produced because too many people are buying albums for 1 song.
But to be fair there are still a few good artists out there...personally I can't wait for Norah Jones' new album, and I think Rush is working on something new as well. Pearl Jam's still putting out quality material.
Speaking of Pearl Jam, what the hell is this Creed nonesense all about? Who the hell buys their albums, why have they sold millions? I don't know anyone who owns one.

Lots of good music in the vaults, it'd be real nice if we could see some more SACD/DVD-A releases!!!

[GaToy]

I don't have to like what you like and if it was still popular thats what they would still be making. Most all of those people are dead. That was music from your generation. This is music from mine. I personally would love to see some of Michell Branch's stuff on SACD. Oh and by the way, I love the grunge stuff you hate so much. Its kind of funny you would mention the Beatles. Didn't they change the face of music much the same way Nervanna did. I can't believe you could even try to throw the eighties in there. Most of the music from the eighties was crap. Don't get me wrong. There was alot of good artists then too. It's just a shame you can fit ever good song in those ten years on a ten disk set. Which brings me to your other statement. One hit wounders, the seventies and eighties are ruled in this department. Like I said, if you don't get newer music out there for these formats they will be put on the shelf just like Mini Disk. So sit in your basements and cuddle your Rio Speed Wagon and Gratefull Dead albums all you want. Change is iminnent.

~C.C.~