The short answer to your questions concerning SACD and HDCD vs. (Red Book) CD is : 1) NO, and 2) YES. The decoding of an HDCD player requires hardware and software designed by Pacific Micronics incorporated into the CD player. The SACD format requires an SACD player. Both formats are superior to Red Book CD, and the reproduced playback incrementally better ... many may say exponentially better in the case of SACD. I am not familiar with XRCD, so I will leave that to others to answer. Happy Listening.
