Sony pulling the plug on SACD? (2 Viewers)

[EricRWem]

I'm sure it does, but trust me, it can beat rather easily.

See, this comes back again to the lack of exposure. It's few and far between where a person can walk into an electronics store and actually demo a high rez disc and setup for themselves.

I gurantee you right now if I sat you down to your system with even a Pioneer 578 plugged in with a good DVD-A or SACD playing, you would definitely hear the difference. No question about it.

Take the gamble. CC has a great 30 day return policy, no questions asked. IF you have the multichannel inputs on your receiver, you're set to go right now.

 

[EricRWem]

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/6channel/index.htm

Here's an example of how easy it is. You can even buy the set of analogs RCA's you need, already pre color coded, so you literally take them out and match the colors and go.

Can't get any simpler than that.

 

[Max F]

Yeah, i'm going to do it. Just being the devils advocate by giving some examples of the hurdles people have to go through. It won't keep me away though. The average person probably wouldn't bother. Hell most people are content with mp3 and companies are making it easier and easier to work with that technology (even though the quality is poor).

The point about the analog hookups being confusing is that there really shouldn't be any point in hooking up analog at all - everything should be digital up to the point right before the data reaches the speakers IMO (i will be getting a digital amp next). However, the Music industry had different ideas.

Anyway, i appreciate you trying to help out. Hopefully, i'll get to enjoy hires soon once i find some new speakers.

 

[EricRWem]

Oh, I know what you mean. You did an excellent devil's advocate overview. That sad thing is, I've heard far more pitiful excuses used to not even try and do it.

The sad thing is, the average person could do all this with very difficulty.


You do know about Ilink, right? I think that replaces the analogs for a full digital, all-in-one connection. What I'm not clear on is: I think it's going to be for SACD also, but for now, it's confined to DVD-A for proprietary reasons. Or does Ilink do both now? I'm confused.

Good luck!

 

[Ralph B]

if they promoted it maybe it would do better. I cant imagine with HT getting bigger and bigger that this would not be a seller to the consumer if promoted. I have never seen any kind of promotion on behalf of SACD or DVD-A.

its a shame cause again we are stuck with awful mp3 and standard stereo cd's. so I guess it will be released someday in another form and eventuaslly be a seller. if you dont promote it wont sell.

ya I agree on the mini disk thing. this is still a seller ? I see new models in stores and never thought it was something that caught on.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

"A few extra simple steps."

That's a few steps too many. That is what really angers me about DVD and SACD and all their relatives: they encode so many different ways of doing things that you can really mess up, and it's so much work to use.
Yes, I'm speaking as a person who has an insane mess of cabling for his LaserDisc player: RF coax to AC-3 decoder, then 5 RCA [I don't use a centre] to the reciever; Toslink to the reciever for dts and PCM; stereo pair to the reciever for AFM. And you know what? When I want to play something I can just pop it in and go. Programming CDs without the TV on is a little tricky, but other than that it requires a minimum of fiddling. Meanwhile SACD or DVDA or HDAD or any of this junque requires all kinds of connexions, and then selecting from menus, and decoder modes, and who knows what all else. They vex me. So much for the advance of technology!
The average person isn't going to go for that, especially not when hardware and software are not guaranteed to be compatible. There are simply too many stupid adjustments and mastering choices &c. for happiness to come from these formats. They need to go back to some kind of universal standard, plug-and-play solution like CD provided, or MP3s are going to be the only future we have. Remember that one of the big selling factors of CD was that most people had no time for the kind of twweaking vinyl required to reach its maximum sound quality, assuming the media were any good to begin with, while the little digital disc was "first time, every time" correct playback.

 

[Max F]

Thats why MP3s are so successful - ease of use. The Music industry hate MP3s but consumers demand it since its been soo accepted. Its practically universal. To bad the quality sucks.

I just hate these greedy companies. They create their own independent standards, worry about people making copies, and then create the hassle of having to use 6 freakin analog cables (after you've bought this expensive digital cable). There's a side to me that kindof wishes both formats fail - just to stick it to da man!

Its too bad really.

 

[Rachael B]

Christopher, I started the long running thread in the music section that SACD & DVD-A can't succeed because of the cabling and assorted other lesser caveats. Obviously, Sony isn't very serious about SA-CD or they'd of come out with a simple, digital connection by now for everyman units. Their software suppourt has become laughable. It seems like everytime the chatter about the lack of it gets louder, well, their Music Division releases a few more token titles. What have they got left by James Taylor and Aerosmith? Sony wants to sell players but do little else IMO. If it wasn't for Universal Music....

 

[Sheldon-m]

i have read some articles saying that sony was not going to support sacd anymore a few weeks ago. it just talked about poor sales and the slow transition to sacd. for one they almost have no pop music. most of the music is jazz and instrumentals. everybody knows that the younger generations run the market. dvd -a will fall too because it does not make hybrid like the sacd did. more pop and they will survive. i could care less about the cables. it does not bother me.. i just hope they bring more main stream music to their format.

 

[EricRWem]

I still fail to see what the big deal is about plugging in a few extra RCA cables. I just don't get it. I don't care if it's a 100 cables, I'll do it, I'll make room for it, it's no big deal.

I find it hard to believe that Sony is going to dump SACD and I would place very little faith in that article myself. It really doesn't cost that much to incorporate it, especially when you start talking about hybrid discs. And I've already outlined earlier in the thread that which we already all know: Regular CD's are all woefully overpriced. I have a lot less problems paying $16 for a high rez disc vs. a non high rez disc.

Most Sony players and receivers have had multichannel inputs on them for several years at least. Even my old, cheap Sony HT-5500D HTIB has those on them and that's a 4 year old piece that you can get for like, $200 now, if even that. I'm not worried about it.

The only real excuses for not jumping on the bandwagon I see that are money and/or your musical tastes aren't being addressed. Totally understood!

Beyond that, there really are no good excuses for anyone, especially an audiophile, not be all aboard on the high rez audio bandwagon. I've already outlined one way how it can be done at very reasonable costs.

And I issue the open challenge: Anyone who hasn't heard high rez audio before, when you do, you'll want it and you'll do whatever it takes to get it and you'll buy as much of it as you possibly can. I gurantee it.


I agree with everyone here about how stupidly this entire thing has been handled, and the pissy proprietary issues from the companies. Dumb!!

SACD and DVD-A may honestly be the worst marketed, poorly exposed and advertised thing I've ever seen in the world of consumer electronics, at least in recent memory, and may be one of its biggest tragedies. Just no excuse for it, really. It's like they WANT these formats to fail. Probably due to the fact they can continue to gouge customers off the costs of regular CD's. Paying $16 for a high rez disc makes worlds more sense then for a non-high rez disc. Just follow the money!

Anyone that likes music and is more than a casual listener should be into this by now, imho. It's that simple. We really should be at the point where high rez audio is the common norm, and all of the reasons that we aren't are all very stupid and needless and need to be overtaken quickly.

As for mainstream music? It's coming. I have to tip my hat to DVD-A for mainstream music right now. And guess what? If you have a regular DVD player hooked to a 5.1 system, you can go to it right now. You'll have to "settle" for "only" 5.1 DTS or Dolby off of most DVD-A tracks. I hope you can manage to slum it out like that.


I was a naysayer too, and I'm surprised at what I see coming out every week. I'm a converted, hardcore disciple of high rez audio now since I've experienced it. You will be, too, when you try it. Any of you.

This is again, lack of news, coverage, and exposure. I think a lot of people would be very pleasantly surprised if they just dig into this a little bit and get some real information.

Keep an eye on www.highfidelityreview.com. Every week something's coming out. Keep an eye on www.acousticsounds.com too, for starters. Get on their email newsletter for new releases. Things like that.

 

[John Kotches]

EricRWem says:


Yes, but you aren't an "average consumer" either. I've had to call 911 after a few people saw the back of my equipment rack

I don't disagree with your other points, they are pretty close to correct.

Cheers,

 

[EricRWem]

LOL!

Please feel free to correct anything that I misspoke. "Close to correct" and correct are two different things. I don't want to misrepresent.

 

[Max F]

Eric you're a pretty good spokes person for hifi. I'm just waiting to find my surround speakers (Monitor Audio Bronze B1s to match my front B4s) for around $200, center speaker for $170, and the new DVD player for $120.

Maybe you can talk to my wife as to why i need to replace the speakers that i bought just 4 months ago (they were just $90, fine for movies but not for music). Buying a new DVD player to replace a perfectly functional unit will be the hardest sell for her. Not trying the harp on you Eric, but these are some hurdles a typical person is not likely to jump. I'll do it though, don't worry.

Obviously, i'm not an audiophile. Much to practical and cheap for that. Although, i'm appreciating good sound more and more (finding the sweet spot between price and performance).

 

[EricRWem]

Max you don't HAVE to replace anything right now. And dealing with the wife/GF factor usually means throwing logic and sound arguments out the window anyways.

I'd keep one player dedicated to video and maybe buy the second, like the aforementioned Pioneer 563 or 578 and make that my dedicated, all purpose audio units. The 563 I've seen as low as $90 in some places.

If your speakers leave something to be desired, simply set them to small and let the subwoofer handle all the lower frequencies. I don't think you're going to see a huge war over $130 max.

And believe me, when she hears it for herself, the product speaks for itself. 9/10 times at least, this takes care of everything.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I want any kind of high res to succeed. At the same time, I own all the titles I currently have any interest in. I have 4 SACDs and 3 DVD-As. And I've had a universal player for about 2 years now. That's a problem. If they came out with more content that I wanted to buy, I would.

Stones, Floyd, Tommy, Blue Man Group, that's about it. Although I've been thinking about Goodbye Yellow Brick Road... And since BGL has good things to say about Toys in the Attic, I'll probably pick that one up when Rocks comes out.

 

[EricRWem]

Live a little, Kevin. Expand your horizons! Try some classical, some jazz, a film score. It's going to sound so damned good anyways, if you're going to spend $16 on a disc anyways, make it a high-rez one!

 

[Rachael B]

Kevin, who knows if TOY IN THE ATTIC will be OOP by the time ROCKS doesn't come out, or becomes a low-rez Dualdisc, or nuclear combat ruins your cables? Que en el mundo loco?

 

[Max F]

I just wanted to thank Eric again for being a good sport considering how much we all like to whine about this topic.

 

[EricRWem]

 

[JoeHard]

I usually buy my DVD-Audio discs online.This past weekend I stopped by my local C.C. in Dayton, OH. I couldn't find any discs so I ask where to find them, I was told C.C. would no longer carry multi channel music discs. I'm glad I spent that $ on a DVD-A player and all those interconnects.