Hi all,
This has been a great discussion. A good collection of well-recorded redbook cd's plus a good cd player will ensure the longevity of this format. All the labels mentioned so far are well known but lesser known recordings sound great too. Herbie Hancock's tribute to Joni Mitchell in River, is a must-have redbook cd.
I am a reluctant entrant to the world of computer audio simply because while redbook is far from dead, stores selling it are shutting down faster than you can say cd.
So, I tried it and am truly amazed by the superiority of hi-rez over redbook. I did not spend much more, just hooking up my desktop to my player's usb input with a good usb cable.
Credible sites like Linn, Naim and Hyperion give Hi-rez a good name. It is all about the srudio master tapes, the recording technique and being true to the hi-rez format, instead of simply (and fraudulently) upsampling old redbook recordings to 96/24 or 192/24. As good as redbook is in the best of hands, hi-rez is indeed stunning to behold. And most of the gems are the classical recordings.
Cheers!