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
Go to a CD shop that sells used CD's
You might be surprised what you find.
I have found several used and mint SACD's for $9.99
From what I recall,Best Buys SACD's usually are ~ $14-$18
Gawd, SACD has been around only four years and we're already scrounging like analog addicts. (Actually, I could easily be one as listening to good analog makes good digital sound uninvolving. I gave up turntables 6 years ago when CD playback got so good. There is still something fascinating about the whole vinyl experience and there is actually lots and lots of new stuff available. Just saw a movie the other night which had someone giving another an old record. The person receiving it laughed and asked, "Do they even make things to play these on anymore?" The record giver also laughed and said, "No I guess not. Sorry."

And some of you Audiogoners want us to follow Hollywood polictical philosophy!
In many respects...marketing, distribution, and even sonics...Sacd has been a major disappointment(or at least the discs I have purchased),,,many of the established artists have not been remastered in years and were never recorded in true DSD(and recorded poorly to begin with ...Hello Stones...and to be blunt...I feel as if SOny is playing a "Smoke and Mirrors" game that has more to do with copyright protection than improved hi-fidelity///at any rate...there will be other hi-rez formats that stand a better chance of longevity.....
I agree with Phasecorrect as regards Sony's purpose. I can't imagine they would spend a penny on audiophile wants and desires but did create a scheme to keep the copyright money rolling in. Remember, the coypright on redbook CD ended 2-3 years ago and Sony stopped getting a cut on every CD sold.

I, too, agree with the Rolling Stones SACD catalog. It is the best sounding CD transfer I've heard which is saying nothing since the original discs were unlistenable. The new hybrids are barely acceptable and it's possible the original tapes suck. The Dylan catalog could have been done just as well by high res. redbook. Not a reason at all buy into SACD.

By the way, I borrowed another SACD player ($1,500.00 Sony) over the weekend and found it's reproduction a little 'phasey', a bit diffuse. High frequencies sounded somewhat like plastic, kind of like the old Acoustat speakers (which I owned and otherwise loved, except for their power hungry nature).
We who love classical music and have enjoyed the fruits of both remastered analog recordings, say from Pentatone and RCA Living Stereo don't find there to be any disappointment with the sonics of SACD.

In the classical market, I find the trouble is probably with a lack of interest on the part of record reviewers who (this is Grammophone) will review the redbook layer of an hybrid SACD and mention that its an SACD. They don't apparently even have the gear to listen to SACD in stereo much less in multi-channel. Stereophile has about two classical reviews per issue and never have they reviewed an SACD in that section. There is something called Music in the Round devoted to multi-channel but that is not even a monthly feature. Absolute Sound does much better with several SACDs reviewed by their classical reviewer each month. But with this kind of inattention from the magazines, how is the public to become aware of the wonderful sound now available from multi-channel SACDs? .... And I am here to tell you it is truly amazing! My home setup sounds like I am in a concert hall when I play good recordings which means anything by Telarc, PentaTone, Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion, Tudor, and several others that should but don't come to mind immediately.