SACD - Dying already?

>> Both CD replay and the quality of remastered Redbook discs have increased beyond recognition.

The reason they have is because recording studios are using hi-rez recording methods, like DSD, 192/24 PCM.

Whether SACD, DVD-A survives or not there will be high-rez music available for the masses, especially as digital technology accelerates, hard drive capacity goes up, flash ram prices come down.

At some point in the not-too-distant future you'll probably be able to download a full album's worth of hi-rez audio to your credit-card sized iPod with a terrabyte of flash RAM on your Walmart GigE connection to the internet ;-)

>> The average consumer wants convenience and my best guess is that digital satellite radio, MP3's, iPods, and the like are the mass-market future.

Apple's iTunes uses AAC audio, which blows away MP3s. I've compared identical tunes from original CDs and a CD-R burned from an AAC file -- it's VERY hard to hear any difference. Also, playing digital music from a hard drive eliminates jitter.

>> Uh oh, Radknee...the SACD crowd will put a contract on you
I support SACD, own an SACD player, and buy SACDs :-)

>>everything she played sounded harsh with no bass to speak of
Like I said, Apple's AAC files are almost indistinguishable from CD -- unlike MP3s.

Then again, if these MP3s were downloaded illegally via file sharing, got knows the quality that went into the original encoding.

BTW, Wilson audio did a test at CES (you can read this in TAS) where they setup 2 systems -- one with their speakers, and one with another manufacturer's speakers. The system with the other manufacturer's speakers was using state-of-the-art digital gear and amplification. Everyone listening to the 2 systems thought the Wilson system superior -- surprise, the digital front end for the Wilson system was an Apple iPod ;-)