future of 2 channel CD sound

will be very interesting to see what happens in the
years ahead. i agree with others in that two channel
will be around long after all of us are.

FWIW, i did an extensive blind test with a Livingston Taylor
CD/DVDA -- "Ink". Not necessarily my preferred listening,
but very well mastered/cut, both, near as I can tell.
Was a total wash. The CD was 'equal to' the DVDA, 30
samplings later. The DVDA was fed from an Arcam 137,
the CD from a Mac Mini to Bel Canto DAC3 > M300s.

who knows? in any case, all this stuff is interesting.

( I'll still spend all my extra $ on speakers though. :-) )

The future of high end audio is on disk, not disc. Format wars are done as Bluray is the last physical media. Everything will be downloads or vinyl. Downloads are already available as 24 bit / 96 KHz files. More should follow.

Chris

Founder
ComputerAudiophile.com

have you compared the sound with regular CD, sacds?

I would say that there will not be one, at least not for now. The populus does not seem especially interested in better than CD sound. Add to that the fact that the music companies are going to try to hang DRM on any new format and I think new formats are not too likely. I stopped buying DVD-A's and non-hybrid SACD's because of the DRM. I am not going to spend a lot of money on something I can only listen to in my living room. Plus they weren't that much better. I remember the revolution CD's were over vinyl and cassettes, in many ways. It was obvious why they caught on. It is going to take lot to equal that.

With the progress in digital storage it is conceivable that very high def music may be so cheap to produce and store that the CD will just naturally die off as something that is hopelessly antiquated. But I just don't see the impetus driving this. Again, most people don't seem to care, and "most people" are the market.

I agree with Chris that BlueRay (BD) is likely to be the last physical media. However, now that the hi-def format war between HD-DVD and BlueRay is more or less sorted (BlueRay emerging victorious) there is a new development in the horizon.

The details are still sketchy, but it is the Profile 3.0 of BD which is supposed to be Audio only profile (If you need to learn more about differet BD Profles and their evolution please check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc#Player_profiles . And the best part is as of now there is no support for Java or Video and that means the Hardware players cicuitry will not be 'contaminated' by all these unnecessary additions.

Think of it as a plain two channel SACD with 10 times more capacity.

Once the profile is launched, I would assume music server manufacturers will provide software support for ripping the compatible BDs or for downloads.

Regards,