SACD - Dying already?


I just read the industry blurb in this month's TAS which described how it seems the stream of SACDs from Sony has pretty much dried up. I was in the largest local independent record store in my area last week and actually bought a SACD because it was music not available on CD. The SACD/DVD-A section was a bit smaller than a year ago and I asked the manager about it. He laughed and said they only sell 2-3 a month combined and he doesn't order many anymore.

Except for audiophiles, is anyone buying these things? Or, are all hopes and dreams of SACD slowly fading away (for at least Sony)?
tomryan
They said vinyl was dead 20 years ago and quess what, it's still here! So much for "disruptive technology" and "Moore's Law", eh?
Vinyl and turntables have "cache". SACD doesn't and unless it shows up in dozens of movies and TV shows (portrayed as something cooly retro) it never will. I borrowed an $800.00 Sony SACD multidisc player over the weekend. Sounded thin with unnatural high frequencies. Good transparency, however, it's at the expense of body and just plain "realness". Never got a sense of real people playing real music. Maybe I need to get a much more expensive player...
I read an article in a popular magazine recently that stated how MP3 has changed music for the better the way that CD's changed it 20 years ago. I believe it was in Runner's World, and the article was about a different topic - but I have seen similar comments in other places. The average consumer wants convenience and my best guess is that digital satellite radio, MP3's, iPods, and the like are the mass-market future. Flattening/compression of a soundstage is not a trait that is detectable in a car or on inexpensive home audio systems/boomboxes. I am interested in sacd, but ...
Good post...Mp3 puts new music out to large audience.Seed enough ground and you get a crop of future music lovers. A cross section of them will most likely pursue hearing beloved tunes in higher resolution formats.I started w/45's then later had Turntable and reciever and casette both auto and home.It has always been the music I loved that drove me,not the format.If Ipods,satellite,ect or hot,then it bodes well for all.Thanks for that touchstone.

Yep records have large multi-decade history,and remain a presence with multiple levels to market to still. HiRez is still fruit on the vine,with very little bottled. Word has it that a summer campaign for HiRez is about to be launched.Many familier talking heads in the media are supposed to tout it in soundbites and short puff peices.
Like Gabbro said,mass consumer wants convenience first.
Il cuore desidera che cosa il cuore desidera.
>> The average consumer wants convenience and my best guess is that digital satellite radio, MP3's, iPods, and the like are the mass-market future.

Apple's iTunes uses AAC audio, which blows away MP3s. I've compared identical tunes from original CDs and a CD-R burned from an AAC file -- it's VERY hard to hear any difference. Also, playing digital music from a hard drive eliminates jitter.