In my opinion, it was a real shame that Sony dropped the ball on so many fronts when it came to SACD.
Sony Music, a different division than the hardware end of the business, should have stopped stamping CDs altogether. Instead, EVERY disc they put out should have been hybrid SACD providing the sonic benefit of the higher resolution format, with the back compatibility to play in any machine.
The hardware folks should have stopped producing CDs players across the board. At that point, ONLY build SACD players, be it home, car, or portable.
The final straw for me was when Sony Music showed up at a big annual industry event way back, and were ready to throw their support behind DVD-A. Were I CEO of Sony, anyone at Sony Music who had ANY involvement in this whatsoever and voiced even the most half-hearted support, from the lowest mailroom clerk to the top executive at that division would have been fired as quickly as they could be identified.
Sony Music, a different division than the hardware end of the business, should have stopped stamping CDs altogether. Instead, EVERY disc they put out should have been hybrid SACD providing the sonic benefit of the higher resolution format, with the back compatibility to play in any machine.
The hardware folks should have stopped producing CDs players across the board. At that point, ONLY build SACD players, be it home, car, or portable.
The final straw for me was when Sony Music showed up at a big annual industry event way back, and were ready to throw their support behind DVD-A. Were I CEO of Sony, anyone at Sony Music who had ANY involvement in this whatsoever and voiced even the most half-hearted support, from the lowest mailroom clerk to the top executive at that division would have been fired as quickly as they could be identified.