SACD on its way out?

Hi Musicslug - a couple of corrections:

First of all, a high-resolution master is not "dithered" down to 16/44.1 Redbook, it is "decimated." Dither in the digital context is the process of deliberately adding noise to the digital signal. Decimation is the down-rez process used to make a RB-compatible dataset from a higher-resolution dataset.

Secondly - the actual DVD-A data, which is MLP-encoded PCM, is, contrary to your assertion, NOT playable on any DVD player. DVD-Audio data is only playable on a DVD-Audio player. Many pre-recorded DVD-Audio discs are backward compatible with standard DVD-V players, because the discs also include Dolby Digital data and/or lower-resolution LPCM in addition to the DVD-A data. The backward-compatibility is DVD-V, not DVD-A.

So, it would be rather pointless to record something in DVD-A format if you don't have a DVD-A player on which to play it back.

I wouldn't bet any money on your prediction of DVD-A momentum. Seems to me that DVD-A is essentially dead in the water at this point.

You got it Rex

I believe dual disc has actually been the final death-knell for DVDA

Boy, I would think DVD-A already has enough confused format offerings. Hopefully they will get their act together and make sure everything is clearly marked on the front covers.

I got my hands on one of those dual discs a few weeks ago. First of all, they are expensive; about $30.00. The disc would not play in the truck, on my Xindak SACD2, in any of my 4 computers or a philips 963SA. However, it did play on an old sony DVD player that I use for whole house background music. Go figure.

hi Rex,
thanks for the info.
first of all, I actually own a SACD player - and like it...
my post reflected conversations I've had with people in the recording biz, not my personal experience, so I think I should explain what I think I'm hearing from them:
with a minimal investment, a person can now record in high-rez format and make discs that a DVD player can play back. my guess then is that these aren't technically DVD-A's at all, but something else entirely. so, to amend my prediction, I'm still predicting the demise of SACD, but it's not in favor of DVD-A, but copy-able, high-rez (using DVD copying technology...), DVD-player-playable discs.