Because, from the record companies' perspective, DVD-A offered the prospect of both multi-channel sound and copy protection. DAD was always just a bridge technology, a smart place for a little company like Chesky to jump in ahead of the bandwagon, but nothing more.
Why didn't the DAD format take off??
I own a few of the Classic Records DAD discs...Muddy Waters' "Folksinger", the Duke Ellington/Louis Armstrong disc, and the two Sam Phillips albums. I play them on my unmodded Pioneer DV-05 and they all sound great...much better than the same redbook CDs. I realize that the format may not be quite as good as DVD-A or SACD, but most people already have regular DVD players in their home. We can all play them right now...without any upgrades...and they'll sound great. What happened?? Why didn't more people release DAD discs, and why did Classic stop issueing them?? I do think they were a little too pricey, but other than that...I'm puzzled. Was it just a case of bad timing (with the release of DVD-a and SACD on the horizon)??