SACD - Dying already?

I think that SACD and DVD-A will be a very small niche market. Mainstream public thinks we are all a bunch of crackheads for spending what we do on gear, and they are perfectly happy with Redbook.
Hell, they are happy with MP3.

For the masses, convenience has always been the driving factor.

Tape was more conveniend than LP because they were small, durable, and portable.

CD was more convenient for tape because they are durable and you can select and skip tracks.

MP3 is pretty much the pinnacle of musicdom for the masses, because you can store a ga-zillion songs on one small device that fits in yer pocket, and it is cheap.

The masses use music for the background, not many people will buy a Cd then plop down on the couch with thier eyes closed and listen to it.
They put it in when they are working on thier ford.

SACD and DVD-A Will only get big if anything can play them and they cost less than CD's.

It was doomed from the start. the majority of consumers just want convenience and comfort. They dont care abough High-Res audio.

at BEST, SACD and DVD-A may end up with a small nice market (auidiophiles) and odds are the only place you will be able to pick these up are in HighEnd Retail shops or on the net.

If you see em at a music store, buy em while you can, or you will have to order everything over the net.

Slappy, I fear you might be right.

I fear it as I have recenty dove into the high res format thing and LOVE them! I do find some discs (usually SACD and DVD-A are grouped together) in some local chains, fewer in the local shops.... I have always wondered how many people out there (many of whom know I'm into stereo and like to bring me out to show me the Bose stereo in there new car) would even notice a difference. I for one am whole heartedly hooked on these new formats, and will continue to buy everything I can find of interest to me on them.

I have also considered that DVD-A has some advantage to the masses as most can be played on any DVD player, granted not with the same fidelity, but let's face facts, the guy with the $399 HTIB likely isn't going to notice any difference.

I for one will continue to buy discs on line, and check the sites regularly for new releases….. Hopefully it will catch on as I want every Tori Amos on SACD……. I guy can dream can’t he!

Only hybrid CD/SCAD discs make any sense to me as a music buyer. I appreciate the benefits of SACD, but knowing that down the line, redbook may be my default playback format, I won't buy SACD-only discs. There's little benefit in owning two versions of the same album just to have the slight improvement of SACD.

I heard that a re-issue of the Kinks catalog on SACD is coming soon. I tend to agree that these new formats aren't going to sweep aside all others and will likely remain a niche market. But, if you think about it, if a time comes when 5 SACDs that I want are released every month, that will be good enough for me. We're almost there now.

The average Joe does not even understand when to use a digital cable and when to use analog cables. Most Sales Clerks in Major Record Stores give you that glazed eye look if you ask where the "high res" section is. If their even is a "high res" section. While many SACD's sound excellent, their are many that are just average sounding at best, and if you want to call something "Super" its should be consistently outstanding. And the killer is I dont beleive their is major money in it, for the artists and the retailer's. So add it all up and I dont believe it will ever be mainstream. I enjoy it as a supplement to my music listening and hope it will remain a "niche" market for years to come.