Notice how many SACD collections for sale?


Does this say something about the state of the medium? Have you pondered throwing in the hi-rez towel?
128x128seasoned
yes but I only have 9 SACDs so I will hang on to them just for the novelty - provided I keep my SACD player...

My opinion so far is that a very good redbook player can do what a SACD player can do. Also, the recording quality plays a larger role than the format does.
I have a bunch of SACDs, and I'm not throwing in the towel anytime soon. IMO, when done right, it's the best format out there.
I agree w/ Aball. In addition, Keith Johnson has resurrected Reference Recordings, and all new releases are in an improved version HDCD (he co-developed HDCD) and only
$17 each.

www.referencerecordings.com

Then there's JVC's XRCD which (for releases of newly recorded material) is as good as any 2ch SACD I've heard.
No, I love SACD (hybrid). I listen primarily classical and jazz and there is plenty of material available. I do have some great redbook recordings but as a whole SACD is superior. I have thought of trying XRCD but I can not justify the price.

Chuck
I caught lots of nice vinyl when the majority jumped ship in the late 80's and early 90's

I hope to do the same with SACD but I am not getting any bargains on titles currently other than a few bucks off at most on Ebay. I suspect a lot of competition from folks here.

If SACD remains a niche product, that's cool with me.

Have Fun
I see more LPS and CDs for sale on any given day but I don't think those formats are on there way out.
I might add that single layer SACD's are dead as Hybrid's have taken there place; as it should be in my opinion. I believe the production of multiple layer discs are where the industry is heading if only on a small audiophile scale.

Chuck
I guess you could say the same thing about DVD-A, except there's not as many people with collections to sell so it's not so noticeable. :~)

While I think the hi-rez medium isn't likely to replace the CD, either as SACD or DVD-A, I'm very happy to keep getting SACDs as a niche format, much as I am with vinyl; in the classical music area there are more than enough new quality releases to keep me satisfied. So I'm not giving up my SACD player any time soon.
Lets bury the SACD then, who will attend the funeral?
I invite all of you, who are not supportive, and pessimistic
on SACD format.Attire,Red on top, and pink pants, and
blue shoes, mandatory green hair, dye your hair with
caution.SACD R.I.P.
Bang on Stanhifi. . . SACD format is dying slowly. . . and so are you, and I, . . . and the Sun! A wake for the Sun is planned 4 Billion years from today. . . . at least there is a verifiable prediction on it. SACD may not last til then, but it may very well outlast you and I instead!
Guidocorona, a philosophers name if ever I heard one. I suspect you're incorrect though as far as SACD's life expectancy.
I put SACD to rest earlier this year. I have decided to maximize my redbook playback. I already unloaded all of my single sided SACD's and am slowly getting rid of my hybrids. It was a nice ride, got me into Jazz music.
Bye. SACD ain't no great success but it's still dandy and I, for one, will be enjoying the ones I have and the new ones (3 today!) for a long time.

Kal
Yes....me too. Thank you to all who took my SACD's off my hands last year..Red book is the way to go.(Vinyl, actually, I feel is THE best Hi-Rez format..but thats another thread) Enjoy!! ;-)
I guess I missed out on the last couple of formats as I was too busy buying Lps. Did someone mention Hi-rez? Cheers!
I have no use for SACD until the players outperform the LP playback I have now.
I hope SACD stays alive and improves

Will
SACD dying? That's funny because nobody seems to have told the hardware guys, they all offer SACD players and keep coming out with new ones. That tells me more than a few collections up for sale here.

As for me, I've got a very large collection that I'll keep adding to and have no plans to part with until I die.
I'm with Kal on this one. Fortunately, there were not all that many SACD only titles released after the first few years. I would imagine that most collections, my own included, only have a few of these titles. If I count the SACD only releases and the hybrids, I have about 200 titles.

What has started me thinking is that my SONY SCD555 ES SACD player is closing in on 5 years and these models have reportedly had a bad habit of breaking down after the warranty period expires and SONY has not been the greatest at servicing these models. If you were to believe all the stories over at Audio Asylum, every SACD player seems to break down quicker than its redbook counterpart. If the SONY does go down, I would be probably replace it with a redbook only CD player, like a Rega or Creek.

Regards, Rich
SACD will go on with the "audiophile" labels and some others. It won't replace CD - mp3 will replace CD. It's already doing so quickly.

Just like the newer LPs coming out with new material and remastered old material, SACD will follow suit. And everyone who is jelous because they don't have SACD will continue with the SACD is dying threads hoping it will go away. But it will plague them for years. Blue Ray, blah blah - don't hold your breath. There is nothing else on the horizon that will replace CD other than mp3 in the next 5+ years and probably longer.

XRCD is good but double the price, so it's not competitive at $30.

HDCD sounds great on my Sony XA777ES as does standard redbook.
yes i agree with Robm321.....have you noticed how many vinyl auctions there are on this site and ebay? SACD is going to be around for awhile...fortunatley.
Having listened carefully to CD, SACD, XRCD, and 33 & 45 rpm vinyl, I don't understand the fetish for vinyl, an older technology that entails additional electro-mechanical transduction processes. Nor do I understand the fetish for tubes as valves that rely on the heating of an element. I suspect it may be part of a popular movement from rational explanation to mysticism that seems to have arisen during the last decade or so. I hope that movement goes away.

Many of you refer to your interest in high-end audio as a hobby, rather than as a means to the end of enjoying music, and in that sense I can understand those fetishes, because vinyl and tubes are so much higher maintenance, and turntables and arms make attractive toys.

db
I don't care one bit about comments that anything is dying, but I do think some try to be at the front of the wave.

I have been so impressed with the improvements with the RealityCheck on redbook that I wonder about how wise it is to buy further sacds. I made a RC copy of the hybrid redbook layer of a favored sacd. Comparing the sacd with the RC redbook leads me to favor the redbook, although the sacd sounds smoother and with a wider, less forward sound stage. It is just not a real sounding as the RC redbook.

Will I sell my 500 sacds? Probably not as there may be further improvements in reading them as there have been for redbook.
I don't care one bit about comments that anything is dying, but I do think some try to be at the front of the wave.

I have been so impressed with the improvements with the RealityCheck on redbook that I wonder about how wise it is to buy further sacds. I made a RC copy of the hybrid redbook layer of a favored sacd. Comparing the sacd with the RC redbook leads me to favor the redbook, although the sacd sounds smoother and with a wider, less forward sound stage. It is just not a real sounding as the RC redbook.

Will I sell my 500 sacds? Probably not as there may be further improvements in reading them as there have been for redbook.
Wait a minute ...is this a episode of Monty Python that I missed entitled "the Audiophiles that say nah"?! Are you fellows kidding me? Better check your statistics on Lp record sales, vinyl is grabbing a larger market share every year. Read your Billboard. Some of you old soaks feel that the world is heading to hell in a handcart while the rest of us are enjoying a heyday in the Lp format with new, reissued, and a strong used market as well. Quite frankly my purchases are through the ceiling. People are selling Lps, SACD's, and everything else because the economy stinks, it's not the format.
Vinyl is dead?! You fellows are so eighties...
Cheers!
Guys those who are saying SACD is dying, I forgot to
add,to send me all your SACD and bury them with your
players for free, you can also elect cremation, and
I will send you the ashes for a remembrace, sorry
no eulogy.Oh maybe Guido, will do the Eulogy.
Bonn, I will be delighted to do the eulogy for poor SACD. . . I will take the opportunity of doing a vinyl eulogy at the same time. Overall this will force me to live quite a bit longer than what the actuarians are planning for me!
RFSALES. . . you probably did not ketch my underlying joke.
All I know if I find any SACD of my favorite Artists , I will buy it.
There just is not enough to choose from, If its dying it is because it was never supported by the Labels.
Oh shucks, I did not catch the Ketch. That's too bad, as I once almost purchased one.
Guidocorona, Sorry, I just flew of the handle and started into my rant. Guess you were poking fun and it went right over this head of mine! Most of what I was responding to was this general wave of negativity that is so prevalent on A'gon with a small group of fellows who feel that every format, every piece of equipment, every kind remark made has something wrong underlying it. It gets a bit old. For me records, TT's, tubes, drum & wires it's all good and I'm enjoying it immensely. Cheers!
No prob R_F_Sales, I am not seeing any overt signs of impending death of any formats either. Besides, I mostly listen to music by long dead musicians. . . so I am not really worried about impending demises.
Whoever the doubters are - you do realize that we are all dying a slow death as well. Last I check immortality is at 0%. Should we all lay in our coffins next to our SACD collection? Everything comes and goes, but it's here now and for many years to come, and yes you are still missing out.
So, here we are again..on yet another thread of SACD dying. Lets start a thread on how "audiophile" is dying. How people rant about formats rather than music - which is the jist of this hobby.
I don't know if SACD is dying or Blu-Ray is dying or Black-ray is in birth, etc. I like this format and will continue to support it at the forums I visit. On some recordings the SACD scares me with the realistic sounds it throws.

BTW, all the pessemists, what SACD player do you have? I am sure you guys have a universal player which is a jack-of-all and master-of-none. So you don't know how a SACD actually sounds.
YES!.....listen to SACD on the cary 306 sacd and you'll be begging for more releases
The new issue of TAS says something to the effect that had the new Ayre C5xe been released a few years ago SACD would be a lot more popular. To my ears there's often a huge improvement over redbook. I'll definately keep buying them and as I too said before-- those that have bailed, plse send me your SACDS
I just heard the Cary last night at an NJAS meeting, where Dennis Had spoke with us at length about it. It's quite an accomplishment. I still like my heavily modified Sony SCD 777ES at least as much, though I do want to hear them side by side, it will be an interesting comparison. When you hear DSD SACDs played back through a player that is up to the sonic level of the better redbook playback units, you can hear what the fuss is about (the same is true of 24/96 recordings as well). Sadly, the audiophile community, which really is the only one which should be clamoring for improvement in the digital standard, is not big enough to make a difference to the industry and in any case has mostly chosen to sit on the sidelines on this one. I fear an MP3-type future.
Classical1, check this thread and you will be glad:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?gmusi&1119226415&openmine&zzMilpai&4&5#Milpai
What great responses. I have been listening to the Ayre C5Xe with both SACD and redbook CD. I took several twin copies I have on both SACD and redbook and did a comparison on the AYRE C5. SACD absolutely sounds better than the same redbook disc. On Brubeck's 'take five' the cymbal's have the drumstick to metal transient attack with the SACD. I only get the cymbal tones (softer attack) on redbook. I have had many similar experiences with other titles and SACD always sounds better to me. I plan on buying many more SACD's!
For me SACD may survive as a format in that it sounds more like vinyl, it has that relaxed yet lively invigorating quality of real musicians making real music and that's a nice thing. Happy listening!
Hififile, I have Take Five on 45 rpm LP and have done a RealityCheck copy. Both are better than my SACD.
Tbg, did you buy the RC machine or do you get it done for extra $$. I do understand that the RC process does take some extra effort.
I like SACD, and will not be selling any soon. I enjoy multi-channel the most, and the hi-rez aspect is a bonus. I think you need to commit to a full high quality multi-channel system before you experience what SACD and DVD-A have to offer. Don't scrimp on the center and surround equipment. I like my redbook CDs, and have a long list that I wish were in SACD or DVD-A. SACD stereo is a dud!
Milpai,

Having done 50 cds now, I am glad I bought the machine. I only wish that the cleaning process were not so tedious and so necessary.

Patternlou, I would not go so far as to say that "stereo SACD is a dud," but I have only heard mc sacd under limited circumstances where the hardware was very expensive and quite unimpressive sounding IMHO. I am unlikely to ever invest in the necessary equipment for mc.
This is just a word of thanks to everyone who is dumping their SACD collections! Keep them coming!!!