Relief? The New Digital Players

Dekay - we must be reading different reports on SACD. Reviews I've seen in the audio mags have been mostly positive and often glowing (Stereophile, TAS, Ultimate Audio, etc..). The reason I'm holding off is the tiny number of titles available and the high cost of SACD discs. If Sony continues at the paltry rate of 10 new titles a month at $30 each, the format seems doomed to fail. Another bad sign is that SACD players do not seem to be poplular with Sony dealers. I could only find one shop in the S.F. Bay Area that carries the SCD-1 and they were geared towards selling big screen TVs, not high end audio.

I have heard the SACD format and found it to be quite good - ablbiet it was a sample disc. My feeling is that SACD will fail as a "mass-market" format, while DVD-A will become the "mass-market" format of the future. The price will probably be such (in a couple of years) that it would be a no-brainer for someone who is in the market for a DVD video player to buy a player that has DVD-A capability built-in - esp. if there is not much of a premium in price. My biggest fear, and one I don't see being discussed here oddly enough, is that DVD-A will be mainly used for multi-channel audio - NOT super high quality 2 channel. Everything I have read about DVD-A (in the marketing hype) is that you will get "music" in a 5.1 or 6 channel arrangement - similar to Dolby digital or DTS. I'm sure the recording engineers will be employing this surround technique when they make the software. With this "fear" in mind, I think the SACD format will have a "niche" market for us 2-channel folks. My thinking is that (in the future) I'll have two digital playback systems. One will be for all of my current 16 bit, 2-channel discs and the other will be a DVD-A, where I can watch movies and listen to the newer recording format - presuming bands record that way and (future band's) music is worth a crap! My advice - get the best digital system you can afford today if your in to good 'ol STEREO!

Hi Robert: My first impressions of SACD came from posts at this site and as I mentioned a few dealers (two to be exact). Since then I have been going through the threads at Audio Asylum and have been getting favorable views of the format and a better understanding of the cost of the equipment. I would now be interested in auditioning an SACD player. Unfortunately the $1500.00 Sony looks to be a top loader from the photos that I have viewed. My cats like to sack out on the top of the CD player and a top loader would not be an option for me. My smallest and "best sounding" cat has been nicknamed "Sandbag". I also kind of understand (I think) that many of these will be universal players and will do it all. As long as the one I pick is a step up from my CAL Icon II in musicality when playing standard CD's as well as doing the new format thing as an additional improvement I figure that I can't really lose. The SACD's at $30.00+ would be a treat as apposed to the norm as long as they remain at such prices. Right now as it stands "there are no treats". The views in this thread have helped straighten my thinking on the subject of SACD and hopefully I will be able to curb my fears of the other formats (DVD-A, and any others) mentioned that I know nothing about with added knowledge. By the way the more expensive versions that I have seen on the web are awsome looking players and would really place my cats on a pedestal.

Deakay...I think Robert_sj said it best. "buy the best current 16 bit player that you can afford right now". Heck..you can even buy a used no.39 Levinson, 508.24 Meridian, Wadia 850, or similar players on Audiogon used! I don't believe in waiting for some futuristic format that my favorite artists are not using in their recordings, and paying inflated prices for new R&D. I'm telling ya...some of the better current players sound damn close to analog..and in some respects better! J

Mfgrep, I agree with that!