sony drops sacd?

VQLT

Active Member
talked to the owner of a local Hi-end audio store. he indicated that sony has dropped all support of sacd. they will no longer make sacd players and will no longer issue any new sacd music. basically what is out there now for sacd discs and players is all we will ever see. once it is gone it is gone. can anyone confirm if this is truth or just rumor?
 
Wrong. Matter of fact, Sony's reportedly even going to make the Playstation 3 compatible with SACD. That would expand the market, not reduce it. I also saw an artice fairly recently (last 2 weeks) that Sony may be developing further support for the format as a possible replacement for redbook CD with the gaining popularity of surround-sound music. Now, that's naturally not going to work, as all of Sony's similar ventures have failed miserably, but it shows me that SACD will be around for awhile yet.
 
Don't know what Sony's up to, but I just bought two new SACD disks that were issued this month and have marked my August calendar for a couple more coming up that I'm interested in.

-dave
 
Where does the DTS 5.1 audio DVD fit into this scenario? Where do you guys look to find new SACD releases on the horizon? I just bought my first SACDs this last weekend. Got the Police - Classics, Dark Side of the Moon, and Heart, Live in Concert. The differences between Redbook and DSD are subtle, yet have a substantial overall impact. I hope this format lives on for awhile. Sony shot themselves in the foot by limiting the DSD decoders in their hardware lineup. Typical Sony America.
 
Not being a 'dedicated follower of fashion' I'm ignorant about SACD. What is it and why is it?
It is a format that was designed to make digital sound more like analog. Here is a brief overview provided by Sony:

For 25 years, digital audio systems have used a technology called Pulse Code Modulation, or PCM. Unfortunately, the PCM process exposes the music to a "decimation" filter during recording and an "interpolation" filter during playback. These two filters can smear the sound, corrupt the sense of space around the instruments and sacrifice the subtleties of live music.

Super Audio CD eliminates these problems by eliminating the decimation and interpolation filters. Super Audio CD uses Sony's Direct Stream Digital™ process, which records a 1-bit signal at an astonishing 2,822,400 samples per second. This is 64 times the sampling frequency of standard Compact Disc. The result is more than just superb frequency response and dynamic range. It's a quantum leap in music reproduction.

Direct Stream Digital™ sound is remarkably like analog. The DSD™ bit stream even resembles the analog waveform. As a result, Super Audio CD combines all the precision, durability and convenience of Compact Disc together with the warmth, ease and musicality of analog sound. Super Audio CD is an audiophile's dream.
http://interprod5.imgusa.com/son-637/technology.asp

The SACD also offers the ability to add many different formats to one disc. You could have a CD layer (Hybrid SACD) for playing on a regular CD player or burning to your computer. Then, on the same disc, you could have an option of the SACD 2 channel version or a multichannel version. This gives the producer or artist a lot of options to create the sound that they envision.

The multichannel format is also a plus because many people already have multichannel setups in their homes. This gives them the option of hearing music the way that they will enjoy most (2 channel or multichannel). Also, some recordings were recorded with extra tracks at the outset. Without SACD, we would never hear the separation on the third channel on some of the RCA Living Stereo recordings (for example).

The SACD format has not been real popular, but I have not heard that it is dead yet. I believe vinyl was pronounced dead when CDs became popular. However, I am still able to find new vinyl recordings.

If anything, SACD is not fashionable at all. I do not know anyone outside of the audiophile community that even knows what it is. The different formats, the popularity of mp3, the lack of advertising, and many more obstacles have stood in the way. That aspect does not bother me at all. There are thousands of SACDs to choose from and I can enjoy the SACDs I already own for the rest of my life. My universal DVD player has already paid for itself by giving me the ability to enjoy music on a new level.
 
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rumor

that sacd link below shows that the format is alive. many labels, other than sony, are producing SACD. however, retailers are peeved that Sony has not been 100% behind its own format. sony hardware is pretty lousy these days, but it would be a good sign if they added SACD to the playstation. what we will likely see is Sony Label producing less SACD but others picking up the slack. sony is at the bottom of the pack in high end audio, their mp3 player is a flop, no new good 2 channel components, ES line is disintegrating, and i think whatever move they make is relativley unimportant as long as phillips and others continue to back SACD. i hope it stays...
 
I think the leap in quality from Red-book to SACD isn't enough to make SACD a market success like the leap from LP to CD was...

I prefer LPs (and how!), but CD offered convenience, no cracks&pops, no getting up to flip sides, portability etc. SACD offers the same as CD only slightly better - if one has a system worth its name... How many people does that make, market-wise? 0,01% perhaps?

The rest is now perfectly happy with mp3s burned on CDs or the compressed Dolby Digital tracks. The industry shot itself in the p... by heavily promoting "easy" formats and their "excellent sound quality" and at the same time asking us to renew our whole rig for high-end formats with 40kHz+ bandwidth requirements... iPods are selling like hotcakes because that's where the market is - portable, computer-connected, "fun" and mostly rippable/burnable: make your own playlist, change your playlist, make multiple playlists etc. I believe "static" formats are on their way out, whatever their sound quality.

CD and 48k/SBM DAT is as far as I personally will go for "modern" sound.
And, after the original LP, the reissued LP, the cassette, the original CD, the reissue CD, the remastered CD, the 24bit remastsered CD (uh? on a 16Bit player?), the Mo-Fi reissue LP, I will definitely NOT buy the SACD copy of Dark Side of the Moon. Enough is enough :screwy:
 
The upcoming Sony PlayStation 3 will support both SACD and Blu-Ray discs. The current top-of-the-line Sony SACD player in the US is the $12,000 Qualia 007 2 channel SACD player. As for the ES line, new SACD players were announced several months back for introduction during summer.

Direct to DSD recording is not required to obtain extremely high quality sound from SACD. Both Steely Dan's "Gaucho" and Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" are recordings that have been widely praised for their sound quality on SACD. Don't forget the BMG Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence SACDs....50 year old recordings that will challenge modern recordings.

Genesis has already announced on its official website 3 of its classic albums have been remixed for 5.1 SACD, awaiting (most likely Peter Gabriel's) approval from band members and release dates. Rumor continues to persist that Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" will make its appearance on SACD later this year; PF drummer Nick Mason confirmed in early May that the SACD will definitely happen. As of March, Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues was asked by Universal to approve the surround remixes of 7 classic Moody albums to be issued on SACD. US Sony is set to released the musical version of "War of the Worlds" on 2 hybrid SACDs on July 7. Rumors of Sony's major push for SACD later this year are starting to surface, coinciding with the comment from the new president of SonyBMG Masterworks that the label intend to release many masterpieces from its vault on SACD.
 
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rumors of it's demise have been greatly exaggerated?

It’s funny how much life there seems to be in this ‘dead’ format, kind of like the other ‘dead’ format – vinyl. SA-CD.net lists over 3100 titles and new releases are coming out faster than my ability to buy the ones that interest me, the same problem I have with vinyl. Sony might be dropping the ball on their own creation but it sure seems there is a hell of lot of interest in this ‘quality’ digital format from some audiophile consumers, equipment builders and record labels.

It seems to me that a lot of this ‘the sky is falling’ screeching about the death of SACD comes from hi-end CD player builders, the dealers that sell them or record labels that either picked the wrong format (DVD-A) or haven’t invested in the better equipment needed to compete.

Ok, SACD isn’t going to replace CD as a mass market audio standard – a format that can’t be ripped (ripped off?), exchanged over the internet, live on a computer or travel with you in a cute little portable device never could replace CD for the masses. Like vinyl though, I feel there will always be a place for a format aimed squarely at quality sound reproduction above all else. Yes, SACD may just settle into being a ‘niche’ product the way vinyl has and that is just fine with me.
 
Billfort said:
SA-CD.net lists over 3100 titles and new releases are coming out faster than my ability to buy the ones that interest me, the same problem I have with vinyl. Sony might be dropping the ball on their own creation but it sure seems there is a hell of lot of interest in this ‘quality’ digital format from some audiophile consumers, equipment builders and record labels.

The total number of SACD titles released worldwide exceed the number being shown at sa-cd.net. For example, both the stereo-only SACD of Carole King's "Tapestry" and Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell" are not listed despite having separate and different catalog numbers. Same with the hybrid SACDs of Peter Gabriel and the Police. However, sa-cd.net still the most complete SACD listing in the world.
 
Another new SACD, "Big Guns, The Very Best of Rory Gallagher" from SonyBMG is already out in Europe and due here July 5th.

"Ok, SACD isn’t going to replace CD as a mass market audio standard – a format that can’t be ripped (ripped off?), exchanged over the internet, live on a computer or travel with you in a cute little portable device never could replace CD for the masses. Like vinyl though, I feel there will always be a place for a format aimed squarely at quality sound reproduction above all else. Yes, SACD may just settle into being a ‘niche’ product the way vinyl has and that is just fine with me."

Well said, very well said.
 
I've had a SACD player for a bit less than a month. It is actually a universal player, and a lo-end one at that. (Samsung H841). I've managed to get 2 SACDs. I don't plan to be a major collector. I got the machine mainly for DVDs,but for the price I paid for it, I thought the hi-rez would be interesting to try. I hope that SACD and DVD-A survive, even as niche products. What I have does sound better than most of my CDs, and I'm looking forward to sampling more titles.
 
For what its worth, I think the value of the SACD is not necessarily the technological superiority of the format itself (which is more significant than others have described). It is the remixing/remastering of the source material that also occurs when the SACD is released. This often makes a significant inprovement in the listening experience.

Also, Alex, your milage may vary, but my experience is that (like vinyl and CD) the better the SACD player, the more pronouced the difference between SACD and Redbook.
 
vortego said:
talked to the owner of a local Hi-end audio store. he indicated that sony has dropped all support of sacd. they will no longer make sacd players and will no longer issue any new sacd music. basically what is out there now for sacd discs and players is all we will ever see. once it is gone it is gone. can anyone confirm if this is truth or just rumor?

Don't mean to offend the believers of either of these two formats but the SACD and DVDA formats are nothing more than marketing ploys to increase CD sales. I have bought a couple hybrid SACD's and played on an ordinary CDP dosen't sound greatly improved to my ears.

They are near the end of their lifecycles IMO.
 
TrexT said:
Don't mean to offend the believers of either of these two formats but the SACD and DVDA formats are nothing more than marketing ploys to increase CD sales.

Never heard that one before :rolleyes:

-dave
 
Um...SACD dual layer discs on CD players aren't SUPPOSED to sound any different than a standard red book CD...the whole benefit of the format is that they discs sound WAY better when played back on an SACD machine, while preserving compatibility with standard CD players!

Maybe this is the real problem...Sony came up with a great hi-rez audio format, and no one cared. (they're all too busy listening to their iPods :) )

Bummer, as I'm pretty sure this is the last time we'll see any of the big players introduce a higher quality consumer audio format.
 
one format you cant go wrong with

VINYL :D they tried to kill it, it almost died, but now its coming back with a vengence. too bad its not as damn convenient or portable. :thmbsp: then again there is the Audio Technica Sound Burger....
 
SACD hybrids should sound better than redbook cd's on redbook players but they don't. However HDCD cd's do sound better on redbook players with no HDCD decoding in comparison.
 
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