State of HDCD and SACD

An exceptionally good redbook player with an equally exceptional recording (a choice MFSL gold, for example) is very hard to beat...my opinion.

It's also very hard to say which format is "best" without considering the infinate variables surrounding such a comparison. Some SACD mixes sound horrific and ruin perfectly good recordings. It goes the other way, too.

I say buy a unit that supports the music you have, and/or the format you see yourself continuing to buy. Don't buy music from an artist simply because it's in the format your source component supports; Buy it because it's your favorite artist. Buy the source component that plays it!

If all my favorite music was limited to 8-track cassettes (what a nightmare!), I'd probably buy the best damned 8track player made (is that an oxymoron!?). Anyway, it's about the music. If you remember this, the rest will follow.

Hey just had to let everyone know that this ***hol* tube_lvr who posted right above me stole 1200.00 from me. He put an ad up for a cart and I sent him the money. He cashed the check and never sent me the cart and won't respond to phone calls or emails for 2 months now. Sorry just pissed me off when I read this thread and noticed he had contributed. Just wanted everyone on here to know what a piece of !@#$ this guy is.

Ejif
sorry to hear about your troubles.

re: SACD.

i simply love the format. I own damn near every SACD that comes out. The ones I don't like I re-sell or give away. There is so much good chamber music and symphonic material that i listen to weekly. The REne Jacobs version on SACD of The Marriage of FIgaro is a performance for the ages and the sound is gorgeous.
There is never enough good jazz but I think there will be more if we buy the reissues and also some of the newer jazz. I just bought a Chessky SACD of Vocals for Audiophiles and it is a great musical album, not just great sounding (but it is that). I don't share too much of the rock pantheon but I have found a lot of the MFSL SACDs of Gaucho, Supertramp, and the Sony Dylan SACDs. I thought the Rolling Stones re-issue/remasters were a little bright for today's systems but would probably sound great if your speakers were Altec Big Reds from the 60s.

So my pov is that there is great music to listen to. Stravinsky, Brahms, Mozart, Bach (the B-Minor Mass is incredible as are the St. John and St. Matthew Passions).

there is a lot of music to discover. And then we have the Mercury and the RCA series reissues.

My problem is that I don't have enough time to listen to the SACDs that I have.

I have owned some decent SACD players and ulimately decided to purchase a Meridian G08 since the SACD format is so limited. I recently purchased a cheap Denon 756 new in box for $100. Now I can listen to the 40 or so SACD's that have been collecting dust for the last 10 months. The Denon certainly isn't as good as the Meridian, but at least I can listen to my SACD's and the sound isn't too bad either. Actually, it is pretty good. I recommend investing in the best red book player you can afford. I would much rather listen to red book on my Meridian than SACD on my Denon.

Pretty cool site, for people who have HDCD compatable players, even if it is in Swedish.

http://www.hifimusic.se/hdcd/index.php?p=base&letter=A

Was surprised by the number of titles that are HDCD. Just quickly going through the titles I found at least 10 titles that I already own.

Makes me glad that I'm picking up a HDCD compatable player (NAD CD542), looking forward to hearing what HDCD can do.

Will report my findings.