HDCD VS SACD

Kijanki

To paraphrase:

Why do SACDs sell for $30 and royalties are $1?

If that's true or even slanted towards truth more than less, it's a simple answer... Avarice. Plain and simple greed.

The only format I've not actually heard played back on a decent outfit is DVDA. As with any other silver disc, in which ever format, some are great and some are not. Those which are in fact, become as apparent as day or night.... those which aren't, well, won’t.

.....and why I said just that in my previous comments. Formats with far greater numbers alone in their composition of bits, lands and grooves, are not the lock on great listening. It simply has the potential to be great.

Remember the initial slew of CDs? Here you go folks, the best thing since the automobile is now available! It's all digital! No errors! Compact! And soon hereafter, the prices will go sharply down by way of affordability! So simply re-buy all your favs in this new near indistructable format and reap the benefits of the new digital age of audio at its best!.

right-y-o!

Little there was or is the truth and simple CDs were double the cost of LPs at the onset. The cost only went down by proxy via a class action suit and those results too were not well published... but I did get a check for $20! spread that over a thousand CDs and prices did go down! Now new releases are going back up again.

Chalk it up to “Bomonomics”!

Who pays $30 for SACDs?

Anyone who buys them online from Mobile Fidelity, Telarc,etc. Even some std CD in better (?) recording processes like Gold, or XR CD run close to that amount... again, online, at many outlets.

I'll journey into high res world on the heels of my personal confuser, and rip them initially at loftier rates or just buy downloads already done for me at those rates or greater... if they are what I want to begin with.... individually or as the complete work.

This attitude in and of itself may account some for the upwardly spiraling prices for ready rolled CDs these days, beats me. But today’s no different than any other. It’s faster now and the worlds smaller, but the same devices which drove the recording market and industry years ago still have their hands on the wheels. Only the cosmetics have changed.

Done well, the 24/96 (DVD) or 32/105 (SACD) do sound way good though.. but largely depends on the source and disc itself.... as with any other playback system, analog or digital. Listening side by side, RB to SACD, with both disc and source up to par, the choice will be obvious for the SACD version.

Now there's BR. The potetial for better is improved upon yet again... BUT what about SS discs? things the size of a dime could be coming along pretty soon.

I'm hoping for Marbles instead but solid state sticks of chewing gum might soon litter containers in the book shelf area where CD cases and albums once stood. No motors, and no lasers, with bit perfect playback! at that point ONLY the playback system will bare the burden of how great the fidelity actually will be.... just don't count on lower prices for it though. That just isn't in the cards I've been reading.

Blindjim - Yes I remember initial slew of CDs. Bright unpleasant sound was, according to rumors, cause by frequency correction included for LP pressing. The fact is that a lot of music got digitized with A/D jitter that cannot be removed.

I agree with you that quality "largely depend on the source" and that is one more reason for SACD being dead. I have many great sounding redbook CDs and a lot of bad ones. Bad mix sounds perhaps even worse on SACD than on CD (better resolution).

According to RIAA I'm not allowed to make copy of my own CD as a backup. They are rich getting cut from CD-Rs sold in proportion to record sales in spite of the fact that SACD cannot be copied (but also counted). I remember innocent times of my youth when copying to tape was legal since tape makers paid royalties per foot of tape to common fund for artists.

I'm afraid that in future we might be reduced to MP3 downloads.

Apparently you are not buying them the same place as me.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=sacd%27s&x=13&y=21

Well, it looks like price went down a lot. The most common price I found for SACD was $18.98 but when I tried to find Keith Jarrett (made a lot of recordings) in SACD the only thing on Amazon was $34: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=sacd+keith+jarrett&x=0&y=0

Next I tried Ahmad Jamal - (one of the greatest) and found no SACD. I tried Bob Marley - two titles available thru Amazon - one is $15 the other is $106 so it is practically one.

Total Blues SACD recordings: 108
Total Country recordings: 79

For redbook CDs - Blues = 50,000 Country = 67,000

Finding recording I like, other than popular music is very difficult and when it is finally issued sound quality might be not worthy of SACD (plus no option of backup). It is not worth hassle.

Thanks for those links to save on SACD. Thanks a lot.

K's right though... SACD is a classical lover's sanctuary. DVDA though seems to have tried to gain the younger more pop oriented audience.

the numbers I saw on the Wickopedia site for HD was similar to the numbers for SACD. Around 5000 titles. of which how many were dupes for the SACD format wasn't mentioned.

The immediate future given the Apple business model is excelling and quite succesful now, will definitely be in downloading music over that of buying the orig hard copies. personally, I've no problems with that what so ever.... so long as those files remain cost effective. $2.50 per is stretching it for me. Given the usual 2 or 3 best tracks on any album and the balance seems more filler than fun, any higher tarriff there will simply point me towards the CD instead.

The downside to the HR files is the compilation of them into a playlist that makes snese. I prefer sessions at times vs random cuts being cast about, and then there's the levels to contend with too. I never attunuate volume levels of files for consistency. I just run higher to lower in the so & so playlist. that works best for me.

I guess it all comes down to just what one can or will be able to live with... and I'm quite OK with Red Book generally speaking. A little A/B'ing of HR files to lossless ones will tell me that tale in a better light.