Another sign SACD is dying

Nrchy,
I don't disagree with your stance it's both reasonable and understandable.

The two major downpoints I see with SACD with regards how audio fans have reacted to the format are the following.

1.No major differences between SACD and Redbook performance on a lot of recordings.
2.Lack of titles.

The problem is probably not the format but how the early days of it were managed and planned.
As a result potential adopters have tried it and walked away.If it couldn't be sold to us then what chance the general public?

I'd love to hear the Meitner and/or own it-as I see it if you have the dual success of this unit you can't go wrong but with my budget at the time there was no comparable SACD/Redbook player I could audition or buy to compete with my Ayre CX-7.
As a result I went for the player which would give me most enjoyment on listening to music,SACD was/is too marginalised for me.

As for supporting the format,I still have a SACD player (Sony DVPS500)and still buy hybrids as they emerge but if SACD had delivered thaey would have been getting much more of my spending on music.
As it is can you really see it develop as Redbook has?
I can't.

To follow up Cinematic systems point-the DSD process was used recently by Brian Eno for his remastering series (12 albums so far) but are plain Redbook-as was the Miles Davis Jack Johnson box set.

I too adopted to sacd and as i thought i was getting the best sound possible out of the music i was listening to. That was until i stumbled across the Naim label. If you want to hear one of the best recordings out there pick up TRUE STEREO(Unprocessed Anolog Recordings. This sampler disc blows away every sacd i have including Patricia Barber's Companion and Modern Cool.

I also believe a reason for the lack of support for the sacd or even dvd-A is because of the blu-Ray. Once this comes out later this year or early next year, we should see a change in the recording industry.(probably start seeing a decline in redbook then too). This disc/format should be able to unite all formats into one.

Have any of you guys stopped throwing the mud around long enough to notice that AIX records is making a real effort to provide audiophile quality DVDAs. Sure, they have tracks playable on DVDV equipment as well, but all in all it is an endevour that we ought to support. Their choice of music is not always what I look for, but from the postings I read it ought to be popular.

Could someone explain why it costs so much more to produce a SACD than a Redbook CD? That has always been for me the killer. No one who is not an 'audiophile' is going to pay the difference to get an SACD when they don't have the listening skills or the playback equipment to make the expenditure worthwhile. As for SACD's for audiophiles - remasters of old classic performances dragged out again and again in every new format available. At the risk of sounding cynical, I've been underwhelmed.

What makes it even worse, I think Nrchy is right - 2 channel audio is dead. And, IMHO, for the average multi-channel HT/Music system set up in the average home listening room with a modest audio system the distinction between DVD-A, SACD, and Redbook will be lost.

My conclusion is to just buy the music you really want to hear and enjoy, in whatever format, while you can. I've seen very little going on in the recording industry which makes me optomistic, just a lot of noise. :-(