HDCD fans out there?

@jafant Thanks very much for the comments. If I ever replace the HCA 2200's that I have been using for over 20 years, I am likely to do so with a pair of  Odyssey amps. The HCA 3500 may be a great old amp but two of them may be overkill on the AR9's and one, not enough. They seem to love being bi-amped. 

I have done a ton of tube rolling in the SLP98. It's a fun process. With a collection of around 100 6sn7 and variants, I have tried a lot of different combinations and am down to a few favorites. When using the phono section in the 98, I stick to my old 12AX7 and 12AU7 favorites that carried over from my Cary PH301, mostly Sylvania gold pin types. 

@billpete 

I love HDCDs, although I play them as FLAC rips. There is or was a list of HDCD releases somewhere online. It might still be there if you search for it.

Some years ago, I went through my entire CD collection to find all the HDCDs and rerip them to the higher bit depth. As you say, some of them were not even marked as HDCDs.

I found that most of them sounded pretty good and it was well worth the effort involved. Like you, I’m not sure if that was down to the format or if more care had been taken over the mastering.

I thought it was a shame the format didn’t catch on. I’d have been happy with them. As I saw it, the only real advantage that SACD, DVD Audio and Blu Ray Audio had over HDCD was surround capability.

They are not so common as new releases these days, although you can pick them up cheaply second hand. My latest find is Pieces by Manassas, which isn’t even a finished album but good nonetheless.

I understand that Microsoft effectively killed off the format when they bought the company behind it.

I see that many or maybe most are now doing rips etc. I don't even fully understand what that is but I guess it is the way of the future...........and the present to some extent. Does anyone feel any loss of content in these rips? When everything was analog, each generation resulted in loss. Maybe not 100% of the time but there was always a concern to get as close to the original source as possible. Maybe the digital age changes all that. I don't know and I'm not terribly likely to ever find out. I don't completely rule out streaming for myself but I am not at all worried about it either. 

I have found a list of HDCD's on Discogs. I don't know if it's complete or not. I do wish that more were available and that they were still being made. I think someone mentioned that a few are being made, copies of old ones, I guess? It's really a shame that this format more or less died. MS dropped the ball but they are not about music really. Too bad. 

My experience with SACD and DVD Audio has been much more limited and I'm not so sure it's worth the effort for me. I think I have only one SACD, Brothers In Arms and while it was good, it didn't blow me away either. The vinyl does. It is possible that I didn't have my player set exactly the way it has to be. DVDA is similar, hard to know if set right and often can't read. Not worth the trouble so far. There is much more to it than setting up for HDCD. I set for CD and the player recognizes HDCD when I have it. I am strictly two channel, stereo. I don't have a TV or monitor in this system as there is no use for it. HT to me is a whole different animal which has nothing to do with my music system or systems. I don't feel the need for multi-channel music listening. I know many who love it. I'm happy for you. Enjoy as you wish and I do the same. 

@billpete 

I see that many or maybe most are now doing rips etc. I don't even fully understand what that is but I guess it is the way of the future...........and the present to some extent. Does anyone feel any loss of content in these rips? 

No loss, as far as I am concerned. That's an advantage of digital - it doesnt degrade in the same way as analogue. Nevertheless, I can see why many prefer the simplicity of using a CD player. 

I don't feel the need for multi-channel music listening. I know many who love it. I'm happy for you. Enjoy as you wish and I do the same. 

I tried it and did love it in many cases. However, it convinced me stereo has all the immersiveness that I need for massively more albums.

I used to love my HDCDs back when my primary CD player was a Rotel Changer from the early 2000s. This changer had HDCD playback capability and I still have numerous HDCD titles which include Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, the Grateful Dead, and Roxy Music. I found the HDCDs to be way superior to standard Redbook CDs when played on the Rotel, but not as good as SACDs. I have since replaced the Rotel with a CD transport and standalone DAC which is way superior for standard Redbook CD playback.