Coping in an Age of Uncertainty

It's funny, I have been on the Hi-Rez bandwagon now for about 2 solid years. I have amassed about 150 SACD's and a handful of other Hi-Rez format discs. I can even be found at several points on this very thread saying GO! SACD GO! -- I think I am going to get off this ride though -- the vast majority of the SACD's I purchased were hybrids, and new music to me. But lately, I have made some comparisons between recently remastered redbook CD's and their SACD counterparts. I tell you, it is a really close call -- the quality of recent redbook remasters on decent equipmetn is so close to SACD that I would rather buy the redbook remaster because it is easier to find, costs a lot less, and sounds just as good.

Now, pure DSD recordings are incredible, and SACD's on a half way decent machine get you a level of sonic performance you would have to spend a lot more on a dedicated redbook CDP to acheive -- but, I think, if you can afford a pretty nice dedicated redbook CDP, you will get better quality from redbook CD's comparable to SACD. I think that is the direction I am going.

I am most likely the senior member to this thread. Been in this hobby since 1957, now 62 have seen a lot of things come and go in audio. So one can imagine the depth of my library in Vinyl, and CD at this point. Some years ago finally disposed of the Cassette and Reel to Reel tapes. Made a donation of them to a public library. Pardales is right about the remaster of Redbook CD issues. I have not found a clunker in the lot of them. One of the reasons purchased the Arcam CD Player is that it is a 24 bit machine and a lot of the remasters are coming out coded in 24 bit. They sound superb and are worth everyones attention to fill in their library.

I was in the entertainment business for years with CBS-Columbia and later TV Guide. Trust me on this guys SACD and DVD-A are going to have to make serious in roads to the consumer if either format is to survive. Frankly as I see it , it is just not in the cards. SACD and DVD-A has just to much red ink to overcome. Currently I do not see either format surviving much beyond 2007.

My opinion for what it is worth get a high quality CD Redbook player. Don't spend more than $2,000.00 for one either, then your buying something else than quality. Try to get one with the current 24 bit technology and you are set for a very long time. There are as of now some very good sub $1,000.00 players on the market that deserve merit.

Remember this hobby is about the music. more than it is about the gear. We all hear things differently. What sounds good to me, may not sound so good to you. Always pick the equipment that sounds the best to you, not to some sales person or review in some magazine. You will be living with it ,not them!

And ALWAYS - ALWAYS beware of the HYPE! It is there for a reason!! Have you noticed that all the really good gear out there never HYPE their products. Well that speaks volumes about that company and the people involved with it.

Do your home work and you won't get sucked in. Someone once said " A Fool and his money are Soon Parted" Don't let it be you.

I agree with you Ferrari. Even though i've had an SACD player and now own a universal machine, i don't think that SACD is going to make it. DVD-A has a better chance of the two, simply because it incorporates video along with the potential for better sonics. Either way, they are both pretty much dead formats that are still floating but could sink to the bottom at any given time. Given that the mass majority of new releases that come out aren't available on either format, the only ones to blame for this fiasco are the record companies themselves. Either Sony has something else up their sleeve or they should get their tech departments and music / video departments to work together a little more closely on the next "format" that they try to foist on us. Sean
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PS... While we're on the subject, what's the best source for SACD & DVD-A discs? I've purchased a few SACD's here and there, but really can't find much that i'm interested in. Still don't own any DVD-A's yet, although i have heard a couple of them.

We'll, as some of you know I've not been in favor of financing the hi rez format war and chose to sit on the sideline and see what happens. I've found that well recorded labels like xrcd, chesky, etc. sounded pretty good on my Ikemi compared to hi rez discs on simarly priced equipment. Right now I'm listening to a Diana Krall dual disc on a cheapo dvd player, and people might just eat this up. Two channel cd, surround sound and videos, all on one disc that can be played on any dvd player. It's a matter of time before all the audio will be hi rez in what ever format finally wins and there you go. I guess it's time to upgrade the cheapo dvd player.

I cry a lot. It hads humidity to my basement where the listening room is and lets me play LPs when otherwise the air would be too dry.