Is SACD a dead format?


From what I can glean, it seems that Sony is giving up on SACD? I can find no SACD's at my local store, and have to order them online. What a shame, are we all doomed to listening to mp3s in the future?
rlips

Showing 2 responses by fatparrot

Never died...was stillborn! Cinematic_systems, you might also have mentioned that you're a dealer, so your posts should be taken with a HUGE caveat...although you did give me a hearty laugh!
There are two factors that also trouble me about SACD [besides the limited number of titles, and idiots who release titles as a single layer, with no redbook CD layer].

1) What type of master tapes are used for the SACD titles? If the masters are 16 bit, and not analog or DSD bitstream, then dude, you've got nothing more than an upsampling CD player. I don't believe that SACD's list their master tape source, but I may be wrong.

2) Does the manufacturer use a mediocre DAC for their redbook section? I have heard that many SACD players have a vastly inferior CD section when compared to a high end reference redbook only CD player. And most SACD owners will play far more redbook CD's than SACD's.