Is there a future for Redbook players?

DVD-A and SACD will not be the death of redbook. These formats are only appriciated by a small community. It's going to take a format that is embraced by the mainstream buyer to kill redbook. If it were not for the legal crackdown, MP3 would be the most likely candidate. Redbook will die when the record companies come up with a secure compressed format that can be downloaded via internet, or over the air (XM, cell phone, etc). Within 10 yrs your entire music collection will be on a credit card sized device that you will carry with you in your wallet. Something like that would kill redbook.

But then again what do I know....

I recall that CD was once a passing fad that would never overtake vinyl since vinyl software had saturated the market and so few titles were available on CD. Times certainly have changed. Essentially, redbook is already dead in the mass marketplace. Try to find a CD playback unit only -- not a portable -- at Best Buy or Circuit City. It does not exist.

try to find anything that accepts a 5" disk that does not play redbook...

future yes

I have a mid priced dvd-a player and a high end redbook

the redbook upsamples to 24/192 and beats the dvd-a

why would I want to buy more dvd-a's

manufacturers like Audio Research skipped the multi media player format

tom

We live in a world of hype and marketing. The reality of the situation is that both DVD-A and SACD are superior technologies for the recording and playback of music. Another reality is that almost all of the equipment now in America's homes won't be able to take advantage of the superior quality. Most who listen are happy with what last generations hypsters described as the ultimate (the CD). I believe the masses will take advantage of DVD-A as a substitute for DVD music concerts. SACD will migrate to the audiophile and perhaps eventually go mainstream in 5 or 10 years. For now, I'm thrilled to be able to enjoy my 15 SACDs, but I do not hesitate to continue to purchase both CDs and records. To someone getting ready to replace an aging cd player, why not replace it with a multi-format machine. The next couple of years will probably clarify the market direction, but there is great music to be heard now.