On last count I have 62 SACD and DVD-A - all originals.
SACD is Sony initiated and supported format that has limited options.
DVD-A has a greater number of artistes signed for produciton. DVD-A can be played on a normal DVD player but not SACDs (similar to DTS I guess).
Sound is distinctly better than CDs except the Indian cuts (Veer Zaara etc. from Yash Raj Productions). They are multichannel but not produced well.
To me both these formats are similar to Vinyl - there will be a dedicated group that will like it but it definitley is not widespread + it costs way more than CDs.
There is definitely a place for high res music but I suspect that Blu-ray players will take over this space if the disks become cheaper esp. with music offerings.
The trend is to go with higher resolution for Video (1080P) and Audio (SACD, BluRay) etc.
By the way, those who claim to download SACDs are just downloading the 2 channel (redbook CD versions) as its not possible to rip multi channel SACD AFAIK.
Dear All,
Never heard much about DVD Audio & SACD in India. Is it available in India or is it another obsolete format ? Is the sound quality really better in reality when compared to a standard CD ? Will multichannel audio exist or will it be the normal stereo that will stay for ever.
Kindly discuss.
Thanks.