Coping in an Age of Uncertainty


there have been numerous threads here, i know, about sacd v. dvd-a, upsampling, oversampling, etc. a number of these threads have included discussions of which, if any, new digital format will replace what we now call “redbook” cd’s. i don’t wish to rehash these discussions. rather, i’d like to hear from others how they are coping with the “age of uncertainty” in the realm of digital audio. is it better to “roll the dice” and invest in sacd or dvd a? ignore the contenders for the new and get the best possible out of redbook cd’s? buy with upgradeability firmly in mind? follow another path? i don’t post this query out of mere curiosity. i really haven’t figured out what course i should follow. i’d appreciate your giving me a hand. -kelly
cornfedboy
I just purchased a CAL CL-2500 DVD player with the goal of improving the quality of my CD playback. I had heard the CL-20, and was very impressed with its capabilities as a CD player.

I was at first excited about its ability to play DVD Audio discs and HDCD. It turned out I was mistaken on the HDCD -- the CL-20 and CL-10 both support it, but on the newer CL-2500, CAL seems to have rejected HDCD support. And DVD Audio appears to have changed to an incompatible 24/192ksps format in the few years since the CL-2500 was built. No matter, there were really only about 1-2 discs I was really interested in, compared to the 400-500 CDs in my collection. SACD seems more prolific, but there are still only about 3-4 that I would buy if I had a player. Even HDCD, which is more common than DVD-A or SACD, has only a handful of titles that interest me, which I of course own since HDCD is merely a special encoding on a standard CD. None of the special formats offers enough titles or enough benefit to cause me to even consider compatibility as a factor in choosing a CD player.

You should all be concerned that the "audiophile" formats may never get off the ground, because music distribution is headed towards internet distribution -- which means lossy digital compression and lower sample rates and resolution. Not only that, but the promoters of the formats are sabotaging their own efforts -- SACD because it is proprietary, DVD-A because they changed the format mid-stream to something that existing players, and DVD-Video players, cannot play.

No, unless you are comfortable letting the published catalogue of the "advanced" formats dictate what you listen to, neither format is viable yet. I don't predict them becoming viable anytime soon.

Just look at HDCD -- it's a completely compatible format, but like SACD is proprietary and requires a license to record or to decode. It's been around for years and is still in very limited use. Personally, I hope it dies a quiet death. It does not seem to offer higher potential for quality than standard CD, but sacrifices the sound quality on incompatible players.

I am very pleased with my purchase...despite the fact that the new player recognizes neither SACD nor new-format DAD, it makes CDs sound really good. For someone like me who listens to a wide variety of (sometimes really obscure or unpopular) music, improving the sound quality of all my albums is much better than making slight additional improvements on a couple of titles.
24/192 upsampling for redbook and sacd for new format seems to be the audiophile ticket... i would buy a reasonabley priced sacd with digital out to a 24/192 upsampling dac.

i would not dump alot of $$$$ into digital till the dust settles.

wether sacd will catch on as a format it is too early to say ( look what happened to BETA and S-VHS and records )

the mass market drives the final decision of format.history shows the way to cheaper/less fidelity format - sad but true.

time will tell...

mike
I have a pretty good digital set up and around 1200 cd so I will continiue to build my redbook collection. I just bought my first TT so this should keep buisy. Why should I buy into SACD when there is maybe 15 or 20 titles, and why should I rush out and buy a SACD player when my current system blows it away! I will give it a few years and the money I would have spent on the new format is going towards more cd and vinyl!
Happy Listening!
I have asked myself the same question. Having a transport or player that can play multiple formats is a partial solution and basically, that is what I'm waiting for. I'm holding off a new puchase until more mfrs come around. The new player from Musical Fidelity seems intriguing (but not at $6500!). The other problem of course, is the ever increasing obsolecence due to evolving technology, which I'm afraid a one player box with multiple format capability does not (at least sufficiently) address. My two year old Parasound sounds pretty good, but somehow I have the feeling it already is outdated.

Quite a dilemna when you think about it.
I think you're right on. We seem to be in a time of change when more universal players are coming out and SACD seems to be getting a solid hold on to the market (of course, others will disagree with this observation). But like you, I'm holding out for now to see what players will be coming out. This will frustrate the manufacturers, but it's best for the consumer to be more diligent nowdays before plopping down lots of cash for something that may soon be outdated. I'm guessing we're reaching the plateau of redbook perfection and 1) the price/performance ration will improve in redbook and 2) the high-rez formats will take on more relevance and 3) the digital music thing...