Coping in an Age of Uncertainty

I have struggled to resist the impulse to buy an SACD player "just because" and am glad I didn't. Instead I upgraded my redbook player and never looked back. Why? because CD's are not going anywhere for a long, long time and whenever I hear something new on my favorite public jazz station, I pop on over to Barnes and Noble or Amazon and buy the cd. I think I would have a very difficult time trying to find the same title in SACD or DVD-audio.

Don't forget that you can buy a hybrid that plays both until SACD replaces the CD completely. The Marantz SA-14 version 1 or 2 gives very good 16-bit playback and the SACD section is astonishing. Clearly better. If you are worried about the availablity of titles, check out www.sa-cd.net and you'll see there are 2000+ to choose from, three new pressing factories opening and an average of 3 titles a day being released this year. The jump is worth it. Surround is a blast as well.

Players are here to play THE MUSIC YOU LIKE. Most of the issues (I like Jazz) are in CD only. You will hardly find your favorite new music in SACD or DVD_A. So why bother with these players.
Get the best CD player you can and it will deliver about the best sound you can imagine. I got an Audiomeca Mephisto IIX, and beeing able to get any player I could possibly wish at dealer cost, I found this one to be the very best. And very elegant and beautifull at that.
I think that the SACD and DVD_A fight will end in both formats disappearing, because remember, players with Hard Disks are coming, and THAT is the future.
What I do not understand is why the SCAD and DVD camp did not license to everybody and just issued all new music as SACD hibrids (at the same price of CD). That would have been a way to bring the new format into the homes and make it popular. Because lets face it, whichever new format which does not become popular will sooner or later die. Remember the way of quadrafonic sound, Kodaks Disk Film, Betamax,etc.

I have difficulty deciding whether all this format stuff is a marketing ploy or an actual technologic break through. Figure, the resolution of cd compared to vinyl (despite other drawbacks) is not an improvement at all. Is that what we're doing, trying to get closer to vinyl resolution in a digital format? How much digital resolution would that take? Maybe we're just trying to get to the digital resolution that will fool our ears into thinking we're listening to analog. I have no doubt that it can be done, but when? I'm convinced that a major factor in CDs success is the convenience factor not any real sonic factor, considering that most CD players are inadequate at reproducing music at any satisfying level. Even with SACD and DVDA, doesn't the trend seem to be going in the opposite direction, ower resolution and more compression? Will there be a time when very few people remember what good sound was all about?

I have difficulty deciding whether all this format stuff is a marketing ploy or an actual technologic break through. Figure, the resolution of cd compared to vinyl (despite other drawbacks) is not an improvement at all. Is that what we're doing, trying to get closer to vinyl resolution in a digital format? How much digital resolution would that take? Maybe we're just trying to get to the digital resolution that will fool our ears and brain into thinking we're listening to analog. I have no doubt that it can be done, but when? I'm convinced that a major factor in CD's success is more the convenience factor than any real sonic factor, considering that most CD players are inadequate at reproducing music at any satisfying level. Even with SACD and DVDA, doesn't the trend seem to be going in the opposite direction, lower resolution and more compression? Will there be a time when very few people remember what good sound was all about? I plan on sticking to CD's for the foreseeable future and if my Luddite tendencies get the better of me I may even retreat to the warm arms of vinyl. The vinyl stuff (cartrdges, arms, turntables, preamps) has never been better. Nothing like this stuff existed when I gave up vinyl! I have purchased some of the best digital gear and have had it heavily modded but something is still missing!