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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
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
I think you might be right. My local Tower Records has recently removed the SACD section. The Best Buy, I used to be able to find SACD at a very reasonable price, has not stocked a new title for many months. I hope it will have a second life because I have already invested a lot in it.
bundy
127 posts
 
I have what I feel is a very revealing system (certainly one of the best audio system of anyone I know personally) and find the SACDs and DVD-As I have to be only slightly better (if at all) than well recorded CDs. I don't have a $5000 player with mega-buck amps and speakers(I have a $1000 Pioneer 47ai with a Naim pre, McCormack DNA2 amp, and Thiel CS6s up front) but if my system is not good enough to hear a noticable difference, the formats are doomed. I think the quality of the recording has way more impact on sound than the format it is encoded in. I very much wanted the Hi Res format to be everything they claimed it was but lately I've been contemplating a high quality CD player and focusing my upgrades on High Def Video. HDTV is a format that clearly is superior and much more rewarding vs. I can't wait for HD DVD to become mainstream.
sinosin
16 posts
 
I buy SACD every chance I get. I either buy them online or from local store such as Best Buy or Frys. To me SACD bring me closer to the music and that's why I am buying them every chance I get. Every time I goes to the store or went online I found new SACD titles. Is SACD dying? Not in my book! If this is a Audiophile format at best, so be it! If it becomes a popular format, great! I can buy it cheaper. Meanwhile I just enjoy it every chance I get. Life is short.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I never think to buy discs anywhere except the net.

DVD-A will survive because it is a very flexible protocol, that can offer something for everyone. The audio quality is obviously better than CD (same PCM code with more bits and higher sampling rate).

With SACD Sony has painted themselves into a corner. Audio quality is about the same as DVD-A, but with none of the extra DVD features.
rec
328 posts
 
It's interesting timing of this post as I just purchased my 100th SACD and have been concerned about the viability of this format. I don't have a mega buck SACD player but a Marantz SA 14 v2 and have been very pleased with it. I have a large collection of CDs and vinyl and enjoy vinyl playback immensely. I am also very impressed with SACD, to me there is no question about it's superior sound over Redbook CD.( I didn't always think that until I heard a good player in my system) The biggest problem as I see it is the availability and price of SACD disc. Sony has done a poor job in this area, one of the biggest selling points of SACDS is backword capability but Sony continues to put out many only single layer disc, no simultaneous new releases of new titles and of course the biggest problem is limited catalog selection. Sony doesn't even put out same day SACD releases of their own catalog.

I believe the format will survive, at what level remains to be seen, you know vinyl is a niche format and doing quite well. We need more product at a cheaper price to really jump start this format.
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