SACD WINS!

The above is a quote direct from an artical at the Stereophile website. I've read numbers even higher at other websites. 180 saz you, 235 saz Stereophile, I say a bunch.

I also read a review of CES somewhere that stated that there were "almost 300" SACD CDs. I can't find that many in my catalogs. By the way, the battle between SACD and DVD-audio is not over--and won't be for some time. So far, both sides have played on different battlefields: Sony/Marantz with $3,500 plus machines, and DVD-audio with mid-fi equipment (e.g. Panasonic A7 and JVC 723). Only the Technics and Denon approach something above mid-fi. It's been unfair to compare. Sony now sells a $1500 DVD/SACD player, and within the next year, Sony will offer a $400 player and DVD-audio will be seen in $2,000 plus players. That's when the real comparisons will begin. My first impression is that SACD will always sound better than DVD-audio. SACD is preferred over 96/24 in every comparision I've read, and I don't expect DVD-audio to be much better than 96/24. If SACD is superior to DVD-audio, it will survive, even if the mid-fi market gobbles up DVD-audio players. I bet they co-exist just like DPL, DD, and DTS, but that audiophiles will prefer SACD.

Hmmm...it's interesting since the SACD catalog given out by Sony/Phillips at the CES Show only lists 180. Wonder where the differences come in? I quickly glanced through the catalog and see at least two labels missing (Hyperion and Lyrinx) but there also some SACDs listed that haven't been released. I also think that there's a few from Japan that don't appear but again, I wonder how much are only "vapor ware" at the moment?

Just this past Saturday (1-13) I was in Harmony House Records, a 15 store chain here in S.E. Michigan, and came across a DVD-A copy of The Doors' "LA Woman". I asked the manager if they had more DVD-As and she said a couple but wasn't sure where there would be. She also said she's not had one person ask anyone in her store for DVD-A software. I then asked her if she knew what SACD was, she wasn't sure. I exlained it and she thought that "maybe I've heard of it." She said she's sure their store has none and she's never been asked about them either, I'm the first. I'm waiting before I do anything. I personally think SACD will never go beyond an audiophile item only, and DVD-A will only take off if the record companies start to kill CDs like they killed LPs. I have no idea what kind of profit margin is involved in either of these, but we all know that everything in the music business is now completely driven by this. And I, for one, will never buy another copy of "Kind of Blue" in any format. Well, maybe. Well, I might try it just for fun. Aw hell, I'm afraid the bastards have got me.

I went in Tower Records in Fairfax Virginia. I asked if thay had any SAcd recordings. Confused, the salesman got the manager. Neither had heard of SACD. I then asked about DVD-Audio. They hadn't heard about that either. Hey, maybe CD WINS!