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SACD - Dying already?

I just read the industry blurb in this month's TAS which described how it seems the stream of SACDs from Sony has pretty much dried up. I was in the largest local independent record store in my area last week and actually bought a SACD because it was music not available on CD. The SACD/DVD-A section was a bit smaller than a year ago and I asked the manager about it. He laughed and said they only sell 2-3 a month combined and he doesn't order many anymore.

Except for audiophiles, is anyone buying these things? Or, are all hopes and dreams of SACD slowly fading away (for at least Sony)?
tomryan
tomryan OP
796 posts
 
Uh oh, Radknee...the SACD crowd will put a contract on you.

By the way, I was at a graduation party two weeks ago and the DJ was using an MP3 file to play music. Apart from the inability to mix songs, everything she played sounded harsh with no bass to speak of. Lots of people (none audiophiles) were complaining about it. I've not got much experince with MP3s but if this is how they sound, God help us.
radknee
25 posts
 
>> Uh oh, Radknee...the SACD crowd will put a contract on you
I support SACD, own an SACD player, and buy SACDs :-)

>>everything she played sounded harsh with no bass to speak of
Like I said, Apple's AAC files are almost indistinguishable from CD -- unlike MP3s.

Then again, if these MP3s were downloaded illegally via file sharing, got knows the quality that went into the original encoding.

BTW, Wilson audio did a test at CES (you can read this in TAS) where they setup 2 systems -- one with their speakers, and one with another manufacturer's speakers. The system with the other manufacturer's speakers was using state-of-the-art digital gear and amplification. Everyone listening to the 2 systems thought the Wilson system superior -- surprise, the digital front end for the Wilson system was an Apple iPod ;-)
tomryan OP
796 posts
 
Co-incidently, I just got a CD today with 10 iTunes. A friend made it from her home computer and contains just some pop songs. They sound pretty darn good! However, Janie says the selection from Apple is pretty limited. Anyone have any other legal downloading services they use and like?
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Both AAC and MP3 can sound very good or very bad depending on the bit rate. You can't just say one is better than the other. In my experience, ripping a CD to 320kbs MP3 VBR sounded indistinguishable from a CD. At 128kbs, both formats sounded harsh.
uncle_john
9 posts
 
SACD and DVD-A are both dying in my opinion. They are both transition formats that over the next several years will be replaced by the next hi-res format, whatever that may be. I can't see either becoming a niche market because, unlike vinyl, digital music is going to continue to evolve and improve well into the future, making existing formats obsolete.
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