DVD-A WIZ-Bang-Boom

Plato, having heard your two-channel rig (particularly the vinyl playback), I don't see why you'd spend any time listening to the HT setup! I will note that there is quite a bit of new classical and jazz coming out on SACD these days (and not just from specialty labels--Sony has new Midori and Joshua Bell releases on SACD, for example), and a number of new pop releases as well are appearing. Add to that Virgin's and Universal's support of SACD and plans to make SACD releases and there may be some hope for SACD. Now if only Sony would wise up and release hybrid discs for all its new releases, they may yet get the public interested in the format. I do think that the "hook" they need for this format (and DVD-A as well) is the multi-channel aspect of the discs, much as I don't care about that. That's the one thing that the mass market might see as a big improvement over CD, and could be the key to acceptance in the marketplace. Just my two cents, of course.

No kidding A/V and music are separate. I don't even _own_ a TV set. :-) I haven't heard DVD-A yet, myself. But I have fielded questions among my non-audiophile friends as to why we need DVD-A when they thought Metallica's S&M on DVD-Video sounded so good (better than CD). And from a simple "Joe Sixpack" perspective, I was stumpted for an answer.

But I have heard SACD at a dealer demo (shout out to "AudioCraft" in Mayfield Hts, OH) and I liked what I heard. From a marketing perspective, DVD-A seems like the natural successor. To the public, DVD=the new digital thing with surround sound, so the public will under stand where DVD-A is coming from. (they'll see it as the marriage of DVD-V and the compact disc). But if you assume that AV and music will be separate, then SACD makes more sense to me.

First, to answer Natalie's question, no, I wasn't in Toronto, I attended the record show in Edison, NJ at the Raritan Center last Sunday. Some vendors were really overpricing their offerings, but others had a nice selection of classical and popular music, many for $1 per album. I actually picked up 4 or 5 classical boxed sets for $1 per set, on London, RCA (Red Seal), and Columbia -- all in very nice condition. :)

Rcp, as yet my HT system pales in comparison to my 2-channel systems. Yet, considering that I only have about 1/25th of the money invested in HT that I do in 2-channel gear, I am quite pleased and intrigued at the level of performance my HT provides. I can't help being a little curious about how it would sound if I added better quality speakers, amps, and maybe some tubes in the signal path. In spite of the digital processing going on I get very clean and detailed reproduction with amazing dynamic range, no doubt due to the higher resolution that DVDs provide. If more high-quality software becomes available it will be interesting to see the potential that the multi-channel approach offers. Here and now, it's a real kick for watching movies. That much is undeniable.

I think you are right that there should be more hybrid discs released on SACD and that this could ease the transition to that format for the masses. The only catch is that the dual-layer hybrids cost more to produce than the SACD-only discs and would drive up costs to the consumer -- which would deter sales. So that may be a double-edged sword. Basically, if the prices of the players come down just a bit more (I'm sure they will) and the list of available titles starts to blossom, then SACD could succeed.

By the same token, it has been proven time and again, that the mass market cares more about low prices than it does about the quality of reproduction. So, the appearance of $200 DVD-A players could spark buying if software titles become more abundant. Unfortunately, I think that in the long run, whatever format offers the lower-priced software will dominate the mass market. My guess is that the competing camps know this and will make every effort to keep the prices of their available software very similar. In the future we will probably see universal players that will play discs of all formats, with the various formats coexisting, each having its respective share of the marketplace. I don't know if that's good or bad, but it appears to be the way that we're headed.