SACD: Is it time for the funeral? (1 Viewer)

[Dennis Nicholls]

So the PS3 plays back Sack-Dees? That's news to me. But I have no interest in video games and would never purchase one.

As far as I know, the stand-alone BluRay players do NOT play back SACD. Is this really true? If so, than I posit that even Sony doesn't support SACD going forward.

 

[Blair G]

e-bay

Seller is International Records in Honk Kong.
Excellent feedback rating.

BIN of $22.99.

Last week they had in on auction starting at $19.99, I dropped the ball and didn't bid before the auction ended :frowning:
Could have had it $3 cheaper.

Also waited too long on the Martha's Trouble. Only copy is on Amazon at almost $40 used

 

[Rachael B]

Blair, it's a shame you didn't get Marta's Troubles years ago. It's a nice disc. I saw an ordinary CD of Kiki Dee on Amazon UK and ordered it. It didn't say anything about being a hybrid. I've been listening to Kiki some lately since I digitized an album by her. It seems to be a rare album, period. I'm glad to have found a copy period.

 

[FeisalK]

it plays SACDs and outputs multichannel PCM over HDMI. I believe you can choose the PCM sampling rate between 176.4 or 88.2

Sony engineers developing the transcoding process (DSD->PCM) say its "better than the DSD converter in any A/V receiver on the market" (quoted from here)

 

[Blair G]

I talked to Rob of Martha's Trouble via e-mail recently.

Though they haven't decided yet they are considering another pressing of "Still"

Fingers crossed.

 

[FeisalK]

I think the question now is, is it time to start hoarding?

not just SACD, DVD-Audio too

 

[Marc Colella]

If it's time to start hoarding, the first titles I would go after are the Mobile Fidelity SACD releases, as I have to assume MoFi's SACD production runs are very small and limited.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Even if you don't play games, the PS3 is a nice little media server/ internet browser on top of being a good BD player.

 

[Emmett Maguire]

I just received the new Sony Mex DV2000 multi disc player for my car. This is basically a SACD/DVD player. I bought this for under 200.00 after waiting all this time for something utilize my home music collection on the road. It doesn't decode DVD Audio but it does almost everything else including DTS.

There is hope yet.

Rgds
Emmett

Here is a link to this unit. There is also a 2 channel version and one with a screen coming out.

http://www.xplodsony.com/video/av_centers/MEX-DV2000

 

[Danny Tse]

An actual brick-and-mortar music shop in HK, where SACDs are still continue to be released.

BTW, 509 SACD titles released in 2007....so far. Including 4 new SACD titles from Analog Productions added today at sa-cd.net....


Ry Cooder: A Meeting by the River

Rickie Lee Jones: It's Like This

Hugh Masekela: Hope

Susan Tedeschi: Just Won't Burn

 

[chris_clem]

Count me in as another person whose PS3 SACD capabilities is news to me. Can I get the benefits of the format via optical out though? What about digital coax?

 

[Phil A]

SACD can be accessed via analog outs or HDMI (later versions).

 

[Paul.S]

This routine is almost choreographed: someone starts a thread proclaiming SACD and/or DVD-A dead and, in the case of the former, our Resident SACD Guru Danny Tse posts SA-CD.net stats and I post regarding how much I'm continuing to enjoy Telarc's ongoing stellar SACD output. No dis intended, Brian-W (and I'm down for any excuse to enjoy a nice bottle), but the biggest thing continued SACD death proclamations do is prove a rock bias on the part of the declarant, not make it true.

There's too many titles on my Wish List for me to afford. The latest covet is the first commercial recording made here at Walt Disney Concert Hall: Esa-Pekka Salonen and the L.A. Phil performing "The Rite Of Spring."

Yeah I started hoarding a year or so ago. My biggest concern is what an LD retailer called "walking dead titles" in a conversation with me many years ago: a distribber/retailer shows a listing but not until a special order is placed is it revealed that the title is OOP/otherwise unavailable. I wish I could afford to scoop up every one of the few dozen $14.99 DVD-A listings at Amazon I want in one fell swing. I do a couple per month.

The only new wrinkle to the choreography herein is that there are even savvy HTFRers who know what SACD is and who purchased a PS3 yet who are/were unaware that the piece plays SACDs (multichannel via HDMI only, Chris, so you'll need an HDMI receiver).

Thanks for all of your persistence, data, tracking and info, Danny.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Well yes, the SACD format is a blessing for classical nuts like me, but for others....

I dislike "video games" and would never purchase one. So the SACD playback capability of the PS3 is meaningless to me.

I went to the Sony site

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665228713

and even their flagship $1300 Blu-Ray disc player DOESN'T include SACD playback capability. The point being that Sony itself appears to have lost any interest in SACD as a consumer playback format.

I guess I can't pick on Sony. My brand-new Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD deck doesn't do DVD-A either.....

 

[Paul.S]

Dennis:

Of course, an attribute--not as big as Sony crowed, but an attribute nonetheless--of the PS3 is its Blu-ray Disc playback ability.

Yes messy don't get me started on Sony not supporting their software format "children" in current hardware. Not only does the BDP-S1 not support SACD . . . that pricey deck doesn't play CDs either!

And yeah I think it's annoying and ironic that Panasonic supported DVD-A playback in their Blu-ray player, the DMP-BD10 and BD10A, before (DVD patent holder) Tosh supported DVD-A in one of their first NINE freakin' HD DVD players.

 

[Blair G]

Not quite sure what you mean.

I love and support SACD. I'd be the last one to proclaim SACD dead. I'd prefer a few more rock titles but like you I can barely afford to stock up on the few (available) titles I do want.

And I love jazz so there is plenty to keep me happy. Tough part is figuring what to buy next because one is never sure which titles on the wishlist are the rarest.

 

[Paul.S]

Forgive me, Blair, I confused my Bs: I meant to refer to OP Brian-W. Quoted post changed accordingly.

 

[Marc Colella]

I enjoy the classical releases on SACD. The RCA Living Stereo and the Mercurty Living Presence releases are great - especially when most discs cna be had for around $10 CAD. There are other great classical releases, but the prices range from slightly higher to ridiculously higher.

It almost seems like classical is all that's being released on SACD now. Jazz releases used to be big a few years back as it's a genre that does cater to audiophiles, but those releases have slowed to a crawl now.

I too wish there were more rock/pop/folk/jazz releases. Why hasn't Mobile Fidelity picked up the slack with SACD releases for these genres? It's kind of frustrating that they're also releasing classical titles in SACD when there seems to be an abudance for the format. Why not fill a demand that noone seems to be supplying?

 

[Chris Gerhard]

SACD appears to be gaining in popularity although Sony doesn't seem to be interested in releasing software. It may be Sony had designed Blu-ray to handle whatever market there is for high quality audio, but that format isn't exactly soaring either. Without universal support from manufacturers and software providers and with format wars like SACD vs. DVD-A and Blu-ray vs. HD DVD, it may be nobody will ever know if there is a market for high resolution lossless audio, including surround. I own all four formats and believe any one of them can deliver what we want, but the market only reacts well when there is no confusion and no concerns about the format being abandoned.

Sony spent more than enough money promoting SACD, the market just rejected the format but without DVD-A confusing matters, I think it would have done much better. I don't know what much better is, but being in about 35% of homes seemed attainable to me. None of the four high quality formats can reach the 95%+ of homes that CD and DVD enjoy, there just isn't adequate reason to replace those formats with the same thing only better, whether it is considered a lot better or only a little better.

I am trying to understand what is coming in terms of high resolution audio downloads. Dr. Waldrep with AIX has indicated for months he believes that will be the future.

Chris

 

[Paul.S]

I disagree but that bush hath been beaten beyond recognition.