Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (
More info?)
"Henk Boonsma" <hboonsma@teranet.news> wrote in message
news:1097642261.22c1nqJOu0RX0/Ms4i5UJA@teranews...
> I keep hearing less and less in the press about SACD. Also, it seems that
> less, not more, stores are selling SACD's. Am I correct in my assumption
> that the format will become the HD-CD of the 21st century (i.e. only
popular
> with audio geeks and dying a slow death)?
>
It has already greatly surpassed HDCD. There are now approximately 2800
SACDs released, and many more on the way despite that fact that Sony is
currently in hiatus until their music group merges with BMG and gets its act
together. Meanwhile more and more releases are coming out from other labels
including Deutsch Gramophone, Verve, Fantasy, Telarc, Channel Classics, BIS,
RCA, Mercury and on and on.
The major chain stores have scaled back the space devoted to SACD and DVD-A,
primarily because the no-nothing, current-pop-oriented managers don't have
enough knowledge to handle Jazz or Classical or even classic Rock, which
account for a considerable chunk of SACD (look at the Jazz and Classical CD
sections in most of those stores and you'll see it is not restricted only to
SACD). They sell out quickly the popular titles and don't reorder, then
complain that what remains doesn't move. Morons! More and more, SACD is
being sold directly over the internet from major suppliers such as Music
Direct, Amazon.Com, and many other outlets. They can stock in-depth despite
the current specialty nature of the format, and there is no reason to
believe this can't go on and grow. This is the future of all specialty
retailing, I am convinced.
Meanwhile, more and better SACD machines and more importantly, Universals,
are being brought out at both high and low price points. At this point
virtually every mainstream and high end manufacturer has one. You don't
even have to worry about a format war any more.
/www.hdcd.com/about/index.html
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