SACD vs DVD audio vs 24/96..??

RE: my post about "throwing in" DVDA and SACD capability on mass market machines. This seems to finally be happening to HDCD. I just bought a Toshiba DVD player which includes it. It seems to be a marketing strategy to paste as many logos as possible on the front of these machines. If it says Dolby, DTS, Spacializer, HDCD, SACD, DBX and a few others consumers assume that the product is flexible, sophisticated i.e. the latest and greatest. Most will never seek out HDCD or DTS software and they might not hear any improvement on a low end machine if they did. Could SACD and DVDA get that kind of a free ride? Once production is cranked up it probably wouldn't cost that much.

I really don't understand why any audiophile who can afford it doesn't buy one of the SACD players. It sounds great to me and my experience with it backs up all the things I have read about it. There are less than 100 titles available now but so what? How else could somethig this fine happen? You think a big corporation is going to flood the market with esoteric product that only a few fringe loonies like us are going to buy? I am surprised they have done what they have. Someone at Sony is interested in good sound and has somehow convinced the money people to give it a shot. And what do many of the audiophiles do? They complain the machines are too expensive! They complain the output stage isn't to tweak standards! They complain they can't immediately buy some Lawrence Welk favorites disc! They complain they don't want another "Kind of Blue" ! Well I bought another "Kind of Blue" and I'm kind of glad. It's about the sound, gentlemen. Sony has reduced the price of the ES 777 machine it is my understanding. Is that frustrating to me since I paid a higher price? Yea somewhat, I don't know what they are doing. I hope they aren't dumping and giving up. I certainly don't regret buying the machine however. I am happy to have supported this adventure. And there is really a lot of great music on the discs that are available. And there probably won't be a universal machine with this sound quality for less money anytime in the near future. It's amazing! This SACD is not a compromise. Support it!

One thing I've always wondered is why do the same titles show up in "audiophile" format after format? Kind of Blue is a great album, but how many copies do you want to buy at the expense of getting other titles in a new format? Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow is another example. I was glad to see Joe Satriani's latest released in SACD - another dozen like that and it'll be really compelling.

I agree with Allie completely. My first SACD was Kind of Blue. Because it's worth it.I would like to start another discussion about which SACD's sound great and which ones to avoid. I think it is really impressive that there are over 100 titles already available considering there are only 2 machines on the market to play them. I remember hearing the same complaining about software availability with DVD and now look what we have! I'm sure it would be beyond wishful thinking that the same order of magnitude could ever hapen with DVDA or SACD But still, check out the new Acoustic Sounds catalog. I started adding up my wish list and went wooah. Can't afford to buy too many turkeys. As for SONY dropping the price of the machine, I'm sure that they are not going to go through all the R&D just to dump the whole thing before it gets off the ground. Remember this is SONY not DIVX. They are one of the largest and most powerful electronics companies in the world. I'm sure they have a well planned strategy. These machines have been on the market a year and It's time to start moving them before they release newer lower price models. I'm sure that even at the list price they were losing money on every machine. They are simply more interested in getting them in the hands of more people to give the format a foothold in the market.

Actually if you count the 2 Sony units there are 4 players on the market. The SCD-1, 777-ES, Marantz and the Accuphase DP100 and DAC. I heard the Accuphase this weekend, it is quite an impressive unit, as it should be for the combination price of 26,500.00. I will stick with my SCD-1 and use the other $21k for a down payment on my next home. Regards, Mike