HDCD Question....

HDCD discs should be compatible with all players. If a player is equipped with an HDCD digital filter all the better. HDCD is a process whereby recordings are laid down in 20bit vs 16. It's still PCM.
SACD uses DSD (Direct Stream Digital)to capture the waveform in an unfiltered 1-bit 64x over-sampled form.

So 2 different animals. PCM with a lot of filtering vs SACD with virtually none.

HDCD discs sound wonderful, in my opinion. I use an Arcam FMJ-CD23, which is HDCD ready. A red indicator light comes on when a HDCD disc is loaded into player. I'm surprised how many CD's are encoded with the HDCD process without any codes or notification on the jewel box info or on the disc itself. Arcam's lower priced model has HDCD playback also. I wish there would be more publicity and consumer awareness about the HDCD process. SACD may not be the format to go to if HDCD is so good. Check out any Reference Recording's HDCD discs. They are great. Keb Mo, k.d Lang and Patricia Barber discs are sometimes HDCD availible also.

Almost all of your questions seem to have been answered except, maybe, which SACD machines are HDCD-equipped when in their CD playback mode. The Sony's are not but the Classe Omega is, and I understand that the Lindemann D-680 is also.

1 correction T Bone...Microsoft bought HDCD technology. Never heard why they did, but maybe to phase it out in favor of their proprietary Windows Media Files. I would not count on HDCD being around for too much longer...not that it every really "took off."

Mgottlieb is right, most of your questions have been answered. IMO, the above responses are dead on. The HDCD product IS clearly a step up from 16-bit redbook.

The only point worthy of further consideration or awareness is a sense of where HDCD may be going in the future, with all of the format wars now going on. T_bone is correct, the HDCD format was developed by Pacific Microsonics. However, Pacific Microsonics was purchased........by Microsoft. It seems reasonable to think that we will hear more about HDCD from their obviously successful marketing machine.