Hey young people! Do you listen to SACD?

Gen X here, but guessing that growth in formats for Gen Y and Gen Z is in high res streaming and in vinyl. SACD visually don't look much different than CDs, so lack that cool factor that vinyl has. At the same time, it's not as convenient as streaming from their existing phones and devices. From what my work colleague say it seems that Gen Y and Gen Z that are investing the money to build a traditional 2-channel audio system are interested in seeing what a turntable can do or building systems for streaming, rather than getting into physical digital media which feels most old-school to them.

 

Gen-X here as well. Never owned a SACD or anything that can play one for that matter. However, I do own around 3,000 LPs, 1,500 CDs and have been known to stream stuff now and then. Interestingly, I do own a couple of DVD Audio discs!

 

My offspring are 14 and 23. They don’t own any physical media.

All three of us play video games, and we don’t have any games on disc, either.

 

I think the companion question is do you care about SQ? If you listen to music on your phone or via laptop speakers, you don't so SACD will never be of interest. We are not the normal here.

 

Gen X here. Since I would have to google SACD to find out what exactly it is, I'm gonna assume I don't have any...
Lots of vinyl and cd's here. My kids just stream or buy vinyl. (well, one buys vinyl, the others stream.)

 

Take a look at Post #47

 

I went to the Amazon landing page for CDs and vinyl.


I then searched for SACD. Absolutely none of the results appealed to me. I have mainstream music tastes, and these things aren't interesting:
- SuperTramp
- Stravinsky
- The Eagles
- Pink Floyd
- Etc.

So I have to ask all you SACD lovers: Are you listening to the SACD, or are you listening to the music?

 

An even better companion question is: Do you enjoy listening to high-quality recordings of music you don't like? I think the majority of people would more likely enjoy mediocre recordings of music they like.

 

I'm Gen X and I own maybe 15 or so SACD's but don't even have a player that can play the SACD layer. I listen to the regular layer. Does that count as a yes?

 

I’m a Gen X’er who owns about a dozen or so hybrid SACD’s. Unfortunately I only access the CD layer, but if there was an easy way to rip the DSD layer to my file library I’d buy a whole shed load more.

 

Most Gen Z/Y types I see on social media only care about vinyl, if they care about physical media at all. Anything else is streaming with a much smaller group into cassette tapes as well as vinyl. CD collectors would make up a tiny, tiny minority of niche collectors like a guy that collects first press metal CDs from the 80s and 90s.

I'm a tail end GenX'er and never cared much about SACD, and I like CDs (have thousands) so physical digital media isn't the barrier. It's more the PITA factor and DRM associated with SACD that turned me off. The few SACDs I own are hybrids I purchased by chance and I just listen to the redbook layers. Tried some DSD downloads and while they were nice I wasn't sold on the format itself, so I doubt I'd buy more unless it's to get a really good mastering exclusive to the format.

 

You have made a very good point, and I think those of us that seem to be in search of the ultimate recording are guilty of exactly what you are saying, we purchase a recording which is absolutely not a favorite, only because the recording is so good, lots of us could be found guilty on that, but in doing so I have found some of that music has grown on me and I learned to enjoy it in the long run. Then there are those purchases I have made based on the quality and not the enjoyable factor and later on I said to myself, why in the hell did you buy this you dumb cluck.

No question, you hit the nail on the head!

 

I’m on the old end of Millennial, so I may not fit your criteria for “young people” here, but I am not aware of anybody I know (which includes some younger Millennials) owning any music on SACD. The only SACD titles I even see for sale these days are MFSL-type stuff (which I buy on vinyl and not SACD).

 

I bought “American Beauty” on SACD, and it got me interested in a band I had previously avoided on purpose.

 

I have 4 children, and 4 grandchildren. Most of them are music fans, but only one has any interest in physical media. My 23-year-old grandson "collects" vinyl. While most of his listening is via streams, he only has 20-30 albums, he says he listens to records when he wants to really concentrate on the music. Sound familiar?

 

I am a millennial but SACD is my favorite format with CD (redbook) being close second. I wish there was more interest in the format so more titles were released on it because not the biggest classic rock fan and that is mostly what is out there.

 

Well then...

It's a good thing that there is a great variety of music available on SACD, so one does not have to compromise their taste in order to get high quality recordings.

I just searched Amazon with the term SACD, and on the first page I see: Santana, Blind Faith, Miles Davis, Fleetwood Mac, Tears for Fears, Clapton, Dire Straits, Cars, Weezer, Stones, Nine Inch Nails, etc.

I also went to Acoustic Sounds.com, and they have 1500 SACD listed, the vast majority of which are pretty mainstream, well known, and what most people listen to.

 

27 here. Nope. I love vinyl, but I stick to CDs, iPod and streaming for digital.

 

I still have a few SACD's;
-Creedence (All Of The Available Titles)
-Jimmy Reed (Carnegie Hall, Though Not Really )
-Jorma K (Blue Country Heart)
-Phil Lesh (There And Back Again)

I still buy cd's just to have the artwork but I normally purchase their high res counterpart also, if available.

 

I’m 32 and I’m now getting into SACD’s. I bought an Oppo so now I have the option. I really like the sound they have, and it’s usually a sure fire way to get closer to the best an album can get. In the last 10 years it’s been a roll of the dice buying new records. For the price ~$30 you know an SACD is going to sound good. You can pony up $36+ for a record and it could be ****e. Like the Tunnel Of Love remaster. What a waste of money, nothing like the 2014 first box set. The $2 used original CD is the best there.

 

The SACD recordings for the artists you mentioned are at least 25 years old. Where is Taylor Swift? Billie Eilish? Foo Fighters? Do you know who those people are?

So I guess if you're over 50, then there are plenty of SACD. Otherwise, you'd definitely have to compromise your taste.

 

This forum has an audiophile slant. The idea that the opinions of the average millennial or generation x or baby Boomer is represented here is ridiculous.

I've lived in 4 major cities in the last 20 years and i can count on one hand the number of people who have heard of sacd or dsd.

 

When I was 18 around 2000 and in high school I wrote a story in the high school paper about DVD Audio/SACD, nobody cared except me!

 

78s?

I'm lucky as I don't hear anything from the actual SACD. But I really enjoy the music that is on the SACDs in my collection though.

Why would anyone enjoy listening to music they don't like no matter how good it sounds?

I've heard of all of those artists and don't care for any of their music. If those artists did have music on SACDs I wouldn't buy them no matter how good the the sound quality was.

Not really. My daughter is 23 and loves classic rock. So she loves listening to my Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Genesis and many other SACDs in my collection.

 

Yes, I know who all those people are.

I'm just going on the most popular artists here on this forum.

And by the way, I am not a fan of most the artists I listed, either.

And yes, I am over 50, but I listen to a long list of modern artists. There's a lot more to contemporary music, than what is in the mainstream.

Oh, and thanks for the inaccurate age based stereotype