Why make SACD hybrids CDs ?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Ilvemusc, Dec 1, 2012.

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  1. Ilvemusc

    Ilvemusc New Member Thread Starter

    Just as the title says , why do they make SACD hybrid CDs . It seems to me that if you just had only a redbook CD player , you would only buy a redbook cd of whatever title you wanted and save a lot of money . Likewise, if you had a SACD player , why not just buy a single layer SACD CD . It seems to me that it would be cheaper to make a single layer SACD disc which the savings could be past on to the consumer . I know this seems like a dumb question , but I sure would like to know the reason as to why they make these hybrid CDs .
     
  2. noname74

    noname74 Allegedly Canadian

    Location:
    .
    A lot of us have server based systems as well as SACD players so it works out well for us...we have the SACD layer for when we want to play the physical product and get the extra resolution- and because there is a redbook layer we are able to rip it to our hard drive and can listen to it that way as well. Best of both worlds.
     
    carledwards and SBurke like this.
  3. warren

    warren Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    To appeal to both markets, therefore selling more units?

    If your question is why buy hybrid SACDs, then my answer is: Maybe someday I will buy an SACD player that is less "budget" than my current one. Then, all those hybrids on which I enjoy the redbook layer currently, I'll get the same mastering with more resolution later. Just in case...

    And what noname74 said as well. Best of both worlds. The masterings I want will cost that much anyways. They might as well have the extra resolution on one layer and the "rippability" of the redbook on another.
     
  4. carrolls

    carrolls Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin
    A lot of people want to play an album on their main audiophile system, and also play the album on a car journey too.
     
  5. Davidmk5

    Davidmk5 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marlboro , ma. usa
    Same for me , also i have my SACD player on my "big" system & have smaller systems around the house that only play standard cd's ...... so it's better than having to buy an album twice .
     
  6. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Oppo 103 @ Home.
    Computer rip @ the office.
     
  7. testikoff

    testikoff Seasoned n00b

    A good way to have a single inventory disc offering content in both standard (PCM 16/44, 2.0) & high (DSD64, 2.0 & 5.1) audio resolutions.
     
  8. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Agree with the "best of both worlds" comments and see it as a way to "future-proof" the collection. I know that during the first few years of SACD I only bought hybrids because I didn't know if I'd ever have a dedicated SACD player. With hybrids, there was no reason NOT to get the SACDs...
     
    apileocole likes this.
  9. leshafunk

    leshafunk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moscow, Russia
    Trying to imagine someone playing e.g. Talk Talk SACD "on a car journey"...
     
  10. carrolls

    carrolls Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin
    Funny you should mention that, but I play The Colour Of Spring SACD (CD layer) regularly in my car.:)
     
  11. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    Create a legal hassle with the artists on whether or not they get paid twice on royalties.
     
  12. leshafunk

    leshafunk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moscow, Russia
    Rich men can do weird things :)
    I just mentioned this as an example of $200 SACD.
     
  13. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    The hybrids were a way to get people to buy into SACD. It just didn't work out because there just wasn't a big demand for SACD, and Sony charged too much to license the chip. If Sony had just licensed the technology for free, who knows what could have happened.

    And, yeah, that double royalty thing was a big problem for getting product out there.
     
  14. carrolls

    carrolls Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin
    They weren't always that price you know.
     
  15. 2trackmind

    2trackmind Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    Biggest blunder Sony ever made.
     
  16. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Among many. Remember the Betamax? Worse yet, I read that Sony actually invented what became the VHS format, but sold it to JVC.
     
  17. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I bought right into SACDs slightly after the start. I was never in favour of the hybrid disc, because it was more expensive to make, slowed output, made it harder to create the laser because it had to read the semi-transmissive layer rather than a fully reflective layer, was more time consuming to master, and (later on) had licencing implications. I have never played the Redbook layer on any hybrid disc I own (I must have 700 or so), but I often have the CD of the title in case I want to rip it. No car requirements.

    I'm not arguing some sonic superiority, nor do I consider that these arguments cannot be countered. But I do prefer non-hybrids.
     
  18. Galley

    Galley Forum Resident

    They should've been hybrid from the beginning. I own about 40 SACDs, and only one of them are not hybrid.
     
  19. carledwards

    carledwards Forum Resident

    Yep, that's about the way I feel, too.
     
  20. jeffrey walsh

    jeffrey walsh Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, Pa. USA
    Why would you want it any other way?
     
  21. Maybe to make them "future proof" for people who currently only have standard CD players but may buy an SACD player in the near future. That would've been my answer 10 years ago, but now I can't see the point in releasing SACD's at all (hybrid or not), as the format seems to be dead, if it was ever properly alive in the first place. I realise there are a lot of people on here who are still interested in the format, but I mean it seems a dead format commercially.
     
  22. noname74

    noname74 Allegedly Canadian

    Location:
    .
    Well someone is making money on these since AP, Mofi and now AF are selling them as they aren't in the charity business.
     
  23. I think the plan by Sony was for the entire industry to eventually adopt the hybrid SACD as the mainstream consumer choice for Pop music and phase out redbook CDs. That's why they pressed so many of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon SACD, to totally replace the regular CD version at retail. Sadly, consumers and even other music labels with their own interests did not respond.
     
  24. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    why not! I love having both formats on one disc!
     
  25. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    I am one of those rare folks so incredibly wealthy that I have more than one CD player, but they do not all play SACDs.
     
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