Any hope for SACD?


Is there any hope at all for transferring more music, especially classic popular music, to SACD?

I mean, so many audio companies are investing so much in R+D for the hardware, but, to me clearly, there is huge bang for the buck in having an SACD version of the recording.
For example, the recent Carole King Music SACD is incredible, with a totally natural image density and rock-solid soundstaging (qualities I hear in most SACDs of long-familiar albums). Is there no economic justification for this? You get so much for so little. I wish the audio companies would band together to fund this. It sure would make equipment demos sound better.

My little system at home with SACD trounced the quality of even the megabuck systems at the NY show a few weeks ago, including all the vinyl demos to my ears. (My EMM XDS1 helps, but my Sony 5400 on SACD is also quite fine.)

It just seems like such an incredible waste that SACD is dead or dying and nobody in the audiophile or larger music community is talking about this. Does everything have to suffer at the invisible hand of the profit motive? This is an artistic pursuit fundamentally, and you might as well always show all the paintings in the world behind blurry glass. It's a crime that, say, the Beatles aren't available in SACD or any HiRez format.
rgs92

Showing 8 responses by doggiehowser

I think what Phasecorrect is saying is that the new BD audio codecs actually only support the same "resolution" as a DVDA which is now "obsolete" and worse, was beaten by SACD.
To the OP, I've been buying up DVDA and SACDs including some OOP titles for the last year or so. The most expensive disc I've ever bought is actually not an SACD but a 1:1 Direct Cut CD from Yes Asia :)

But honestly, you can find a lot of SHM SACDs from Japan (look at CD Japan or Amazon JP or HMV Japan). I am more likely to go broke than run out of titles to buy. Just some of the albums I've gotten include new releases of old albums from Dire Straits, Queen, Stevie Wonder, Diana Krall. I've also gotten some recent titles from Warner Japan (Hybrid SACDs) and MoFi US.
I think some AVRs do playback multichannel FLAC. I recall reading that some of the higher end Denons do.

Some media streamer players like Popcorn Hour also playback multichannel FLAC.

Oppo too

http://wiki.oppodigital.com/index.php?title=BDP-93_Media_Files_FAQ#Does_FLAC_support_mean_high-res_24-bit_FLAC_too.3F

Does FLAC support mean high-res 24-bit FLAC too?

Yes. 24-bit/192Khz (stereo) and 24-bit/192Khz (multi-channel).
Because I find DSD still sounds better than HR PCM and a spun disc still sounds better than computer based streaming to me.
I do have my share of Hirez PCM stuff but when I compare my DSD/SACD playback vs HR PCM, I still prefer a more "analog" feel to SACDs.
I have in no particular order: Bel Canto CD2/DAC3.5VBMkII, Ayon CD5S for one system (where I often compare the transport to the MacMini with Amarra/PureMusic via Weiss INT202 or WavelinkHS).

For DVDA/multichannel SACD, I have a regular Oppo 95 and Denon 4010 with DenonLink4 to a Denon AVR4810.

I also feed the optical out on the Oppo for stereo DVDA to my EMM Labs XDS1 which also handles stereo SACD duties.

I have also tested the Playback MPS5 and MPD3 which I liked a lot so have ordered an MPS5.