Am I the only one purchasing hybrid disc's.......

I think it depends. I think if the Hybrid SACD is being re-mastered, the Redbook layer can potentially sound better. that's what I've discovered. Some are better, some worse.

Sad issue is I have had some stuff that I got on hybrid, ran in SACD, and then my friend had very recent redbook remasters from around 2002' up for the same disc, and in SACD vs. the remastered Redbook the Red sounded more dynamic, had better bottom end, and sounded less edgy on my redbook dac, now again this was mostly rock stuff, and things like peter gabriel, Roxy music, Bowie, Steely Dan, Floyd, Aerosmith, Alice in chains etc… Also my friend had a Roxy SACD hybrid, and vs. my Standard brand new at the time Remaster Redbook, it Got stomped, he went and dumped the Hybrid immediately to get the new Redbook version..

But yeah I have since eliminated SACD and all the universal machines from my system that have been battling with me for the last 4 years.. I know people swear by SACD with mostly the Jazz and classical stuff, I have a few Jazz CD's that also in remastered form . Now for me if you want SACD the reality is from my experience worry about getting the surround format of it working and you might gain something different from them in 5.1, 2 channel they are rendered pointless vs. Vinyl or excellent redbook in my opinion. I went deep into DVD-A as well for a while on my surround setup, most were Horrible for some reason, and actually DTS DVD's were better in general. So unless you have found some that are in fact better in SACD, and I am not saying it is not possible, than don't worry about it.

The variation in the quality of studio recording, mix and mastering is far greater than CD, DVD-A or SACD, IMHO. Some will be worse and some will be better. The SACD remaster of Aerosmith Toys in the Attic was done by Doug Sax - it sounds awesome compared to earlier CD masters - sounds the same in two channel on both SACD and CD format to me (you can buy both the SACD and the redbook CD version separately - but on CD I needed to buy a three album box set as there is no CD layer on the SACD and previous CD releases of Toys in the Attic were not remastered by Doug Sax and are not quite as good)

These format wars are painful. Surround has 5.1 6.1 or 7.1, DTS or Dolby,wide screen, 4:3...

DTS sounds better to me but they don't always have room for it on a full length DVD.

And now we have HD DVD, just another way for us audiophools to part with our money I guess...you can own the same movie on VHS mono, VHS stereo, on VHS analog dolby surround, then on DVD stereo and then on DVD Dolby digital surround and then on DVD Dolby DTS 6 or 7.1 widescreen and 4:3...and now on HD!! Not to mention the one or two disc limited editions with directors cuts!!!

1 Movie released in 50 formats over 30 years, the movie studios with the archives are laughing all the way to the bank!

and now, ladies and gentlemen, Just released from the vaults for a limited time only, buy "Ariel" beautifully restored for the first time on a two disc limited edition DVD....get it fast while supplies last (whatever you do, don't wait for the HD version which we will release next year, as we want you to buy that one too!)

As far as I can remember all of the hybrids I have sound better on the redbook layer than previous versions of the CD .

All of them I think have been remastered from previous incarnations.

I can't think of too many that exist in superior versions to the SACD hybrids or are indeed different and by that I mean released in a similar timescale.

For instance the Dylan Hybrid series was released only on Redbook about a year after the initial release.
Surely the Redbook versions were identical?