Bad news for home theater enthusiasts

I was engaged in a similar discussion in 2009 with Macdadtexas where he claimed Blu-Ray was already toast because streaming was so convenient and good enough for most people including him.  Fourteen years later we are lamenting the pending loss of the hard format.  

Streaming quality has improved in the interim, but there is a lot of texture in both sound and video quality between services and titles, and on average I much prefer the sound quality of Blu-Rays to streamed content.  I think for audiophiles there is a lot be concerned about in losing Blu-Ray as an option as the streaming networks focus on the average consumer and costs.  Perhaps once everyone has a very big data pipe from source to home this wont matter, and content providers will step up their game, but there seems little incentive now.  I am going to start loading up on reference Blu-Ray disks ASAP.

@lhasaguy 

Streaming will soon take over from physical media

Did you know the fastest growing category in audio is LP sales?

https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/

Do you remember how 3D discs came and left without a whimper? I have a 3D capable setup and still like it. The good news is 3D discs are now found at around $3 a disc and up used. When 4K blue rays came out regular bluerays can be scooped up dirt chaep used. I go on ebay and buy cartons of CD's in storage cases for less than $1 a disc. In two years or so I will be doing the same with the 4K discs being sold today at $30 a pop or so. Of course I still enjoy streaming but when I can buy a disc for about the same cost of a rental online its easy to do both.

BTW, if you want to make your media POP take a look at Zidoo players, yowsa!

@kota1 LPs used to be the dominant force in music, then it diminished so far it was almost extinct.  Growth from ground zero is not indicative of of shift in the masses consumption pattern.  A good analogy is tube gear.

tues and vinyl will always be with us,   Technology moves on and CDs, video media will remain, but drift into the edges of mainstream use.  I personally prefer the sound of a vinyl rig, but have succumbed to the ease of streaming.  Just like I store backups on the cloud instead of floppy disks, separate hard drives, or memory sticks. 

Agreed, LP sales will never get back to pre-CD numbers. I upgraded my front end for streaming by getting a streamer with built in ARC room correction and a Sony TAZH1-ES DAC that has a DSD remastering engine that actually works whether I am playing Spotify, an MP3 or any other file, it is played back in DSD. It still ain’t vinyl but a big step up from the raw non DSD streams.

@nonoise Development of OTA (Over-the-Air) broadcasts is moving in the opposite direction. According to the Antenna Man (on YouTube) and others, providers are seeking permission from the government to ENCRYPT their broadcasts in order to lock in their subscribers. Talk about a profit motive! You are encouraged to contact your representative to put a stop to it.