HDCD can be SO much better than redbook, & for the same priced discs! Ben you've just got to try it, I have some of the same material on both redbook & HDCD; the latter is simply amazing. Pacific Microsonics is still very much in the fray, & I read that it has recently been adopted as a standard PC audio format.
I'd sure like to do a shootout of the same material on XRCD vs. HDCD - now *that* would really be interesting. From what I've read & heard about XRCD, I really need to get myself some of those discs - they sure sounded good at the show although there were no direct comparisons being demo'd. No wait, there was one shootout going on in a room comparing it to analog. I don't remember the specifics of the results but it's definitely a viable approach. SACD does sound good too, but the value for dollar just isn't there IMO.