>SACD=Super Audio CD, a new supposedly superior (and of course
>incompatble with current CD players) audio format from Sony.
However the huge bonus of SACD is that you can have a convential CD-Audio
layer on the disc which _will_ play in regular CD players. That is what
will sell the format (if at all) to the public. They can buy a new release
in SACD format, play it with all the extra resolution on their main home
system while still being able to play it in their car/kitchen/study/wherever.
It's something that could be an enhanced feature of regular CDs (looking at
it from the other perspective), so if they were cheap enough to make then
all future releases could be SACD with the CD layer - no need for record
shops to stock two things.
However I think any takeup of either format will be really slow. CD and DVD
both offer long-term durability over their analogue counterparts, extra
convenience and that "quality for the masses" factor, people getting really
good results from relatively cheap equipment. Same with MD over tape really.
For DVD-A and SACD the only real trick is better quality (something that
many people could achieve by simply buying a better CD player) - the other
advantages we've already got from CD. It then ends in a vicious circle, not
enough people with players, so no economic gain in releasing for it, the
format dies.
Of the two though, SACD is the obvious one to back - the players are here
now and reasonably priced, and the backwards compatibility will mean people
will be more willing to invest in the music for it. DVD-A only has the
strength of the DVD name - everyone will assume they can play them on their
DVD-Video player and be very disappointed when they can't.
--
Simon
(who has no plans to buy either...)
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