HDCD a flash in the pan already??


I started looking for a new CD Player a while back but put the search on the backburner for a bit(needed a new sub & picked up a Onix Rocket UFW-10)so now it's back to CD Player hunting and it seems to me there are less HDCD players coming out then when I orginally researched. For example the new Music Player 25.2 isn't HDCD ready where the CD-25 was nor is Onix's best CD Player CD-2(their lower one xcd-99 is). Even though they're out of my price range players newly released players like the Rega Apollo,Cambridge Azur 640 or Naim CD5i do not appear to be HDCD. Is this another format that isn't going to make it or just a option on lower end players. I was recently at a couple local CD stores (Borders, Fye and Barnes and Noble) and there were at the most 3 HDCD Cds there none of which I would be interested in.. Starting to seem like HDCD shouldn't even be an option to look for in my CD Player search.. Any comments?
pmt1209
Tbg, why do you think that is? I couldn't find anything on their site about it, you would think since they own it they would want to promote it..
Supposedly HDCD processing is a clever way to get resolution equivalent to 20 bits (instead of 16). Can't hurt, but why bother when straightforward 24/96 is available?

I have heard that the basic HDCD technology is applicable to video, and that is Microsoft's real interest.
Pmtl, they do mention that you can get HDCDs off their music page. I think they are so concerned about Apple Itoons and the Ipod and the new Intel chipped Macs that their investment in HDCDs is trivial.
Tbg, never thought about that.. iPods and iTunes really caught them off guard.. I have three teenagers myself and that was number one on all three's xmas list.. of course they got them... damn for what I paid for those three iPods I could have bought a really REALLY nice used CD Player here :), hmm maybe I deserve to splurge a bit more in my CDP search LOL..
You don't really need HDCD for playback....16 bits is enough for a good mastering studio to play with and give you a good CD (96 db dynamic range).

A recording studio professional may benefit from the flexibility of extra bits and greater dynamic range to avoid clipping big signals or poorly quantizing small signals.

At home, even very high end home speakers are unlikely to put out very much more than 60 db dynamic range above their noise floor.

So if the recording and mastering studio have done their job well .....16 bits is enough on your source material. Although technology has changed, the engineering constraints that led to the choice of specifications for a the orginal CD format remain largely valid, even today. HDCD, SACD etc. improvements are diminishing returns at best...