HDCD VS SACD

Amazon is not the last word in availability for SACD but they have a lot. The prices are always high for items out of print. I also hardly ever buy from amazon directly. I buy from the resellers that are selling through amazon. I also buy some of mine from yourmusic.com for 6.99. Although their supply is dwindling they have all of the Elton Johns and the Carpenters Greatest Hits is 6.99 as opposed to amazon who has it for 35.00. They also have classical. There's also deepdiscount.com and cduniverse.com.
So most SACDs can be purchased at the same or close to the price of a regular CD. And the CD layer can be copied, ripped put into itunes etc at the same quality as a regular CD. Then you still have the high resolution SACD to play back when you want better quality and or surround. The only problem I see is the lack of titles available.

Good analysis Rwwear.

Rwwear

Agreed.

The lack of titles & artists is for me the whole thing. of course it is nice to find a plumb in all of it.

Same thing goes for the Mo Fi remastered CDs, and XR. I really gotta love it before I'd drop $30 on an album. Maybe the next itteration of Waiting For Columbus, on XR, or SACD.... or some Johnny Nocturne in likewise formats.

www.half.com is another online joint I've been using for years now, a sub of ebay, and all indy sellers.

Buying 'digipak' is another path for savings, if the case type is of little concern. Same disc, lesser packing, and less costly.

If you already own a HDCD enabled CDP or DAC it's worth seeking out HDCD discs. IMO they bring a little something to the party and usually cost little or nothing more than non HDCD versions of the same CD.

I'll journey into high res world on the heels of my personal confuser

Blindjim's "personal confuser" gotta love that typo he hee!