Where is All the DSD?

Yep, as usual, they want to charge us too much for the same music again... How many times do we have to pay the record companies for a copy of our favorite album(s) which we bought on plain classic vinyl, then on cassette for the car, then on "Perfect Sound Forever", then on MFSL re-mastered vinyl, then on half-speed remasted vinyl, then on heavy-weight 200 gr vinyl, then on 45-speed heavy 200 gr vinyl, then on 256k MP3 so it would fit on our iPod, then downloaded in 44/16 PCM, then on 96/24 PCM, and then on 64 DSD (which sounds pretty good to my ears)....

When Acouustic Sounds has 25,000 DSD titles I will get excited... Let's just hope that they don't raise the price above the $25 -$28 range which is already EXTREMELY high for a computer file with NO liner notes, no song lyrics, and nothing to hold in your hand and look at....

I think we all understand that music companies and retailers are in business to make money. It is hard to say where this hi rez thing is headed. In some ways, the high prices and poor selection of music closely parallels the early days of CD. On the other hand, I think those attempting to create a market for this material, need to understand they can price themselves out of business. I recently bought a Sony HAPZ1, which I understand was released for the purpose of supporting Sony's Hi Rez download initiative. I am astonished at how good red book CDs, copied to my computer, then downloaded to the HAPZ1, where they are converted on the fly to DSD 2, can sound. I buy a fair number of discount CDs from Berkshire and used CDs from amazon. I am a dedicated music lover and audiophile, but we are talking 4-5 x the price for a DSD download. I will buy a few, just to see what sound quality can be expected, but as Stickman points out, there is not much to get excited about just yet.

Brownsfan, I have always questioned the record industry regarding their marketing strategy. Long gone are the days of the big recording contracts and unlimited budgets for recording sessions. It's become a distributed model where there are multiple independents and artists taking control of the product.

If Sony and others really wanted to push DSD, they would slash the price of the downloads to get more users excited about the sound to draw the masses to the technology. Otherwise, this will limp along like all the other format changes. At this point I'm pretty happy with my vinyl, CD's and SACD's.

The reality of this promising format is not too exciting so far, is it? My vinyl keeps me satisfied. But DSD could be such a cool thing for music lovers (as opposed to gear lovers).

Disappointed...

Echoing a number of the above posts, I'm very disappointed with hi-res music download offerings. Not just DSD, but also 24/96/196. I'm NOT going to pay HD Tracks 25 bucks for a 24/196 copy of Bayou Country by Credence. Love the album, but not the price. I didn't buy into SACD either because of the high price point. As many others have said, mainstream adoption of hi-res will not happen if prices remain this high. And catch 22, the selection will remain poor unless wider adoption occurs. Ay, there's the rub. If Sony would just step up to the plate and belt out a nice barrage of reasonably priced downloads, then I think a flame could potentially spark up, even with the twenty somethings. (wishful thinking) But for now, I'm content with playing my Redbook CD's through a good DAC and playing whatever decent vinyl I have.