SACD and DVD-Audio, Doomed Formats?

[aec]

I got a great price on a Marantz DV8400 a few years ago. I was quite taken w/the analog sound of SACD and DVD-A and hoped to replace a number of my older discs. There are still many classical and jazz titles coming out on SACD and to a lesser extent DVD-A. But, the manufacturers and especially Sony, failed to promote the format in a way in which it would have mass adoption and encouraged studios to remaster and re-release many classic albums. The player still makes my older discs sound great in 2 channel direct, but listening to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Avalon, Tommy, Dark Side of the Moon, Kinda Blue, Time Out (to name a few) in SACD, in either their 5 ch/2 ch mix produces astounding sound. The current HDDVD/BR thing will probably not end up like the audio war that has become a niche for consumers like me. If I were you, I would probably not purchase a player that included SACD unless you can do so at a great price. BTW, I get a lot of my DVD-A and SACDs from www.acousticsounds.com, elusivedisc.com and even amazon.com carries them.

[sbell]

I am a strong proponent of DVD Audio. I know SACD's sound great, buy why just re-buy an album only when you can get the same great high processed sound on DVD-A PLUS get video extra's that are offered on DVD Audio discs.

Anyway, that's an eternal argument, which is basically wasted hot air because both formats are basically being abandoned.

However, what is the new next evolution of high resolution format audio? I see Dave Matthews just came out with his most recent CD offering in Blu-Ray. But if Blu-Ray or HD DVD is the next generation of high resolution format audio (with uncompressed audio), we STILL have a format war on our hands. We're in no better place with Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD than we were with SACD vs. DVD Audio !!

It seems like it always comes back to Sony wanting whatever format they're promoting to be a proprietary situation. This dates back to VHS vs. BETA. Why can't Sony play well with others?

[Mcintosh Man]

Originally Posted by David DelGrosso

I'm curious... are you enjoying these SACD discs in stereo, or in 5.1 surround?

And do you listen to these discs through the same audio system that your TV is connected to... or a dedicated music-only system?

Depending upon your playback system and listening preferences, there might a win-win solution.

DD

My SACD Player is connected to my Home Theater system which is composed of a Yamaha RX-V1 Receiver, Paradigm Signature S8 v2 (front), C3 v2 (center), Studio ADP (Surround) and Servo-15 v2. The Signature's are an upgrade from Studio 100 v2 and I have them for about two weeks. Music has been playing 10 hours a day for 14 days since the speakers are in their break-in period.

I'm very pleased with the performance of the Signature S8 v2, C3 v2 and Servo-15 v2 so far.

[kennyt]

Mc Man,

I hear you on the Servo 15v2, I have one in my HT since I reviewed the Reference system from Paradigm, that is one monster sub!

KT

[pws442]

Ah, the Acura TL and its DVD-A player. I only have 20 or so discs, but the sound is truly fantastic. I will be sorry to see the disks disappear.

[David DelGrosso]

Originally Posted by pws442

Ah, the Acura TL and its DVD-A player. I only have 20 or so discs, but the sound is truly fantastic. I will be sorry to see the disks disappear.

Not to worry.

The reason why DVD-Audio was created, was to deliver music with better 5.1 sound than Dolby Digital or DTS... simply because these two existing DVD standards "compress" the Audio data files to leave lots of room for the enormous Video data files.

But both HD-DVD and Blu-ray have a lot more storage capacity... and can deliver Hi-Rez PCM UNCOMPRESSED audio... which can be identical to the original masters.

So all you have to do, is swap out your Acura player for a new HD or BD version, whenever they start releasing music-only discs... and your system will sound even better!!

PEACE

DD