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After 5 years, format war? What format war?

After all the hoopla about the DVD-Audio and SACD format wars for the past 5 years, it seems to me that the format war may have existed perhaps only as a figment of a few corporations' imagination. (Kinda' like THX certification by LucasFilm)

I've never listened to a dvd-audio disc, but I do have a handful of SACD discs. Nor have I ever listened to DVD-A or SACD via a multi-channel system nor do I have a hankering to do so.

I thoroughly enjoy a few of the SACD's for their warmth, resolution, and anolog-like presentation, but still cannot see myself rushing out to buy more. Except for perhaps the Red Rose Sampler SACD which contains a few tracks providing a wonderful illustration of what SACD can do.

Don't get me wrong about the benefits of SACD. But I've experienced far greater enjoyment listening to my much older and even newer 'Redbook' cd recordings through component upgrades and through acoustical, electrical, rack designs, and vibration-transferring tweaks than with any SACD formatted enhancements.

Just curious where others stand.

-IMO
stehno
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
What does it matter, audiophiles will no more except the fact that sacd players can do redbook anymore than they will except the fact that pre-pros can do two channel.

Audiophiles are a quirky breed and thats just the way it is IMO. This ain't rocket science...it's worse!!

Dave
stehno OP
1,453 posts
 
Sogood51, it just so happens that I thoroughly enjoy my 2-channel SACD/cd player (for redbook cd's) via the pre/pro I use in my 2-channel only setup.

Perhaps some to many enthusiasts are not as quirky as you think. :)

-IMO
mt10425
1,138 posts
 
I just became a participant inthe "format war". I purchased an Arcam DV-89 relly for the CD and DVD performance (DVD-A was a throw-in). Although I borrowed mom's "Sinatra at the Sands" and bought The Beach Boys "Pet Sound", my wife and I are really enjoying the large CD collection like I've never heard them before. Reading about both formats, I believe that DVD-A has more possiblities in the HT arena, SACD on the run (CD in cars, personal Mini Players). If neither format "won" I don't think there would be any consumer suicides because CD playback has gotten that much better.
rsbeck
887 posts
 
My SACD collection is at 100+ and I eagerly await new releases. I've put CD buying in a holding pattern because I'd much rather have an SACD than CD
and new releases are just around the corner. To my ears, there's no way CD can compete with SACD. When I listen to SACD for an extended period and then switch to CD, the air goes out of the sonic balloon, the cream turns back into milk. To me, it isn't logical to spend so much money on the rest of the system in an effort to improve resolution only to doom the entire enterprise to lower resolution with my choice of music format -- especially when a higher resolution format is available. To buy $12,000 amplifiers, for example, and then balk at paying a few extra bucks for SACD or at replacing a CD with an SACD version? That just doesn't make sense to me in the scheme of things. I'd rather feed my high resolution system with high resolution SACD's.
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