CD...then the SACD...all over again

Why does an SACD cost more, Eldartford? Those jewel cases, of course. Aren't they a marvel? Gorgeous, jaw-dropping improvement over the standard cases, like comparing a diamond to a jade, really. OK, only joking...

We have a few SACD's, and I love the increased textural depth that I hear over redbook. Unfortunately, I don't think that the differences would appeal to the non-audiophile. The general public needs to be floored by a technology, or it won't lose sleep over that next must-have purchase. Just my 2 cents.

I get my SACDs at Fry's electronics. There are a few that are above $20, but most of the ones I get are $17, which is $1-2 above a redbook CD. I just bought a telarc for $17 yesterday.

Rob

Guys, I can feel your pain. Bear it with dignity and courage for your will need it. Your future pain will be far greater.

I went through this process with Laser Discs, cursed for ever be its name.

Now, unlike CD vs. SACD, the choice of LD vs. VHS tapes was much easier. LDs were dramatically better and just about all movie titles were available in this superior format. I bought most of the movies that I liked on LDs, many titles in duplicates and triplicates: the standard's CLV version, the special CAV version, the director's cut, not to mention the must-have Criterion Edition. Does that sales tactic sound familiar? And they weren't cheap like SACDs either, about $39 for the standard stuff, $79 for the special stuff, and $129 for the super-duper version. I ended up owning about 1,500 LDs that set me back between $50,000 to $80,000 total!

Then DVDs came out! They were clearly better than LDs in almost every respect! The values of the LDs plummeted. I managed to sell about 700 LDs at about $5-10 each before that fateful day but I am still stuck with eight boxes, about 800 LDs that are worth less than their shipping cost! Now that's pain.

I am older now, not necessarily wiser but definitely slower so I make fewer mistakes. I buy only a few SACDs, the ones that I really like and own only 50 to 75 of them total, if that many. I figure when “they” come out with something far better--and they will--I can toss these SACDs in the trash without too much regret.

The worse is yet to come.

I hear a lot of noise about the new HD DVD formats. Yes folks, formatS with an S. They are supposed to give better picture and sound than DVD and SACD. The two competing camps led by Sony and Toshiba respectively are racing to get their product to the market first. Does this sound familiar? How can they forget so soon that the only two previous successes, the CD and DVD, had no competing formats? And even that is not a guaranty of success--remember the Laser Discs? Now with two competing formats, we are doomed! (I still have a Betamax machine in my storage room. Perhaps I should send it to Sony as a reminder of past mistakes).

One thing is reasonably clear in this murky future. Regardless of which new HD DVD format wins, the regular DVD format may be doomed--I am seriously thinking about selling my DVD movies now before they become obsolete like my LD movies. And the future of the SACD and DVD-A formats is even dimmer still.

It makes you long for the old days when LPs actually increased in value with age.

No one has come up with an answer to my question yet: If everything is moving to embedded hard disks (ipod, etc) which will be downloaded from the internet, then why would blu-ray or any other "disc" format be the next big thing?

Rob