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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
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.
robm321
932 posts
 
DVD-A and SACD don't fit in anywhere. For audiophiles, they don't sound as good as vinyl, for normal people (non audiophiles);) they don't have enough selection and most people don't care if it is a little better than normal CD (like audiophiles do) and as Uncle John pointed out downloadable digital music is going to dominate the future because of ease and continued sound improvement.

You want proof. What year did DVD-A and SACD come out? (several years ago) Look on your local music retailer's shelves and see how big that section is. Usually a four foot by four foot section in a warehouse sized store full of CDs -- Insignificant. Do you really think they will dominate in 5 or ten years from now? If so, that's what they were saying 5 years ago. At this rate, they might have an isles worth of SACD DVD-A by the year 2020. But by then something else new and better will come out. You do the math.

Records have been around for over 100 years and are still being used by audiophiles. The sound quality of Vinyl has yet to be matched.

So, I'll ask again where does SACD or DVD-A fit in?
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