Personally I'm not totally sold on DSD on a sound-quality basis alone. DSD has an inherent rolloff above about 8khz that, while not all that prominent to most listeners, is still there. It's not as cleanly extended in the highs as, say, DVD-A, Bluray or even PCM. Below 8k everything is wonderful, so it may well be, as far as all *that* goes, a matter of taste. But, all those manufacturing trends discussed above are only there in direct response to what the recording industry is doing...or is gearing up to do. Sony, who has up until recently been one of the main proponents of DSD, has now officially backed off on their commitment to it. Those who watch the recording biz say Sony likely may not be the last to do so. For any foreseeable future, PCM still looks to be very safe (i.e. the most future-proof for a number of technical reasons) and upstart Bluray may yet take hold at some point.
In the *longer* run, all of us may eventually have to worry about the orchestrations now going on to cease shiny disc production of all kinds, worldwide, and we then enter (or are thrown into) the brave new world of nothing but downloads and clouds. There doesn't seem to be any immediate panic just yet as there are still, no doubt, mountains of prerequisite legal and technical issues that must be sufficiently worked out in advance first, but this is what the international community has been working toward for a number of years now (but, like I say, not all countries are on board yet). But, that day is coming...likely as not, within the next 5 years...
