Another sad collection of writeoffs of SACD. Sure, Sony seems to have abandoned it--what hasn't Sony abandoned over the years?--but at least the small label classical and audiophile labels haven't, and just a casual look seems to suggest that it isn't all classical. Look at Acoustic Sounds' new releases sections, there are probably 30-40 recent interesting SACDs. Sure DVD-A is dead; five minutes of trying to get an audio-only system to work with one of those video-based miscalculations shows what a silly idea that format was. But before trying to convince people to wait around and do it all over again on Bluray or whatever pie in the sky competing formats they hype next year, LISTEN to how much better a good SACD is over a good CD, which usually sounds like a two dimensional cardboard cutout in comparison, even in 2 channels. SACD is only dead if everyone ignores it because the hi-fi mags have moved on to hype something else to keep their circulation/ad bucks up.
Esoteric UX-3 vs. XO-3
Has anyone compared these two players directly with one another. I have heard that the XO-3 sounds better on redbook. My other concern is the XO-3 plays cd/sacd and the UX-3 plays cd/sacd/dvd-a. My entire collection right now is redbook, but I wonder which format will emerge the winner, sacd or dvd-a. I have to admit I don't really keep up on the whole format war thing, I just enjoy the cd's I have. Can someone give me some insight on the sonic differences between these two players and also your thoughts on the format debate. I currently am using a Resolution Audio Opus 21 cdp, which sounds great. Thank you