Post by dbmay75 January 13, 2008 (1 of 8)
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Hi everyone,
The topic of SACD's own demise seems to be on all of our minds. And although Hybrid SACD is nothing new, the benefits are key to SACD's existence in my humble opinion:
* Best, most convenient way to compare sound quality between CD & SACD layer(s) for self-interest or demonstration purposes on-the-fly vs. swapping and reswapping prior redbook issues.
* The SACD-based text on the booklet/insert would introduce consumers to the name and technology, in hopes that more would invest and upgrade their equipment.
* SACD users wouldn't be restricted to listening only on their home theater, but could enjoy the CD layer in the car, at the office, etc. as well as encoding it into digital files for portable use.
* Cost of SACD vs. CD is similar on many titles, therefore the costs of producing EVERY new release in all genres as a hybrid SACD vs. RBCD would likely be more acceptable by consumers than not.
* Because it remains virtually impossible to encode an SACD into a digital file, this would encourage people to buy more CD's again which is precisely what the RIAA wants.
Just some food for thought. Personally, I think this is the best and only way to keep SACD around for a long time and if it ever came down to a matter of petitioning to Sony and beyond, then I'd be the first to sign!
As always, your feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
Cheers,
Dan
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Post by zeus January 13, 2008 (2 of 8)
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dbmay75 said:
The topic of SACD's own demise seems to be on all of our minds.
Why? Do you know something I don't?
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Post by Claude January 14, 2008 (3 of 8)
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There are almost no single layer SACDs being released currently (apart from the BIS multiple-hour discs which are a niche product), so the hybrid disc is defacto the standard for SACDs.
Your arguments are all valid, but they don't seem to have been convincing to the market. Those labels who abandonned SACD or have considerably reduced the number of releases have probably come to the conclusion that they make more profits with CDs.
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Post by amatala January 14, 2008 (4 of 8)
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As far as I am concerned, the only way to keep me buying SACDs would be a strong infusion of good pop/rock multichannel releases.
I have just realised a few days ago that there are not many SACDs left for me to buy. I am mostly a rock listener, but I also listen occasionally to good jazz and classical releases. I already own almost all pop/rock releases of interest, at this time there is no title on my wish list which screams "buy me now!". Of course there are still some things to buy (mostly jazz and classical), but no priorities, I keep on buying them at a slow pace of 1 SACD per week. If they go out of print before I get them, I won't lose any sleep over this.
Four years ago when I first started to SACD (and DVD-Audio) my hopes were high that at least one of the formats would gain mass acceptance. I've spent all these years tracking down all possible SACD/DVD-A titles of interest and avoiding CDs in the hope that more and more titles would eventually come out on SACD.
Today that hope is gone - with things going worse every year for pop/rock releases, I am currently spending the largest part of my music budget buying CDs - there are a couple hundred titles which I've avoided buying on CD in the past years, I am getting them all now.
The only pop/rock SACD releases planned for 2008 that I know of (and I am interested in) are the last Genesis box and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" (hopefully this is more than a rumour). If things stay the way thay are, in less than one year I will probably stop buying SACDs - not because of lack of interest in the format, but because of lack of interest in the catalogue...
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Post by Kani January 14, 2008 (5 of 8)
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amatala said:
As far as I am concerned, the only way to keep me buying SACDs would be a strong infusion of good pop/rock multichannel releases.
I have just realised a few days ago that there are not many SACDs left for me to buy. I am mostly a rock listener, but I also listen occasionally to good jazz and classical releases. I already own almost all pop/rock releases of interest, at this time there is no title on my wish list which screams "buy me now!". Of course there are still some things to buy (mostly jazz and classical), but no priorities, I keep on buying them at a slow pace of 1 SACD per week. If they go out of print before I get them, I won't lose any sleep over this.
Four years ago when I first started to SACD (and DVD-Audio) my hopes were high that at least one of the formats would gain mass acceptance. I've spent all these years tracking down all possible SACD/DVD-A titles of interest and avoiding CDs in the hope that more and more titles would eventually come out on SACD.
Today that hope is gone - with things going worse every year for pop/rock releases, I am currently spending the largest part of my music budget buying CDs - there are a couple hundred titles which I've avoided buying on CD in the past years, I am getting them all now.
The only pop/rock SACD releases planned for 2008 that I know of (and I am interested in) are the last Genesis box and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" (hopefully this is more than a rumour). If things stay the way thay are, in less than one year I will probably stop buying SACDs - not because of lack of interest in the format, but because of lack of interest in the catalogue...
I'm also looking forward to The Pixies but in general I agree with you. However if SACD continues at this rate I won't be losing interest in the format, I will just be spending less money on it. Even three interesting releases per year is enough for me to support the format with great enthusiasm. It will take the complete death of pop/rock releases for me to truly lose belief in the format...
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Post by tiggers January 14, 2008 (6 of 8)
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What's frustrating is that there are a lot of people out there clambering for something, almost anything, new to be release in SACD (new titles, direct out of the archives, or 5.1 mixed recordings collecting dust someplace). Even if it is SACD Stereo only, direct from the masters with no remixing, I think it would sell well to at least justify the cost of production/distribution at a price point less than MFSL titles.
But with Austria being the only place manufacturing SACDs and the cost being about 30% more than a standard CD(to to my knowledge), it may just come down to a business decision and being able to make more money from less outlay for a regular CD.
I'm really hoping that the PS3 might generate enough interest to get a few more pop/rock titles released.
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Post by soundboy January 14, 2008 (7 of 8)
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tiggers said:
But with Austria being the only place manufacturing SACDs and the cost being about 30% more than a standard CD(to to my knowledge), it may just come down to a business decision and being able to make more money from less outlay for a regular CD.
Sony Japan is manufacturing SACDs, both hybrid and single-layer, for its own home market and for Hong Kong/China.
Isn't someone making SACDs in Germany? Sonopress??
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Post by Kani January 14, 2008 (8 of 8)
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tiggers said:
What's frustrating is that there are a lot of people out there clambering for something, almost anything, new to be release in SACD (new titles, direct out of the archives, or 5.1 mixed recordings collecting dust someplace). Even if it is SACD Stereo only, direct from the masters with no remixing, I think it would sell well to at least justify the cost of production/distribution at a price point less than MFSL titles.
But with Austria being the only place manufacturing SACDs and the cost being about 30% more than a standard CD(to to my knowledge), it may just come down to a business decision and being able to make more money from less outlay for a regular CD.
I'm really hoping that the PS3 might generate enough interest to get a few more pop/rock titles released.
But as far as I understand new copies of the PS3 no longer support SACD and upgrading the firmware on old machines makes them unable to handle multi channel SACD. One of the things that really makes me lose a bit of hope is the complete lack of support from Sony.
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