DCC Archive SACD/Sony Legacy CD question

A bit of an offshoot from the Astley thread but a bit of a different query.

I am puzzled. If Sony is trying to promote SACD to the public (assuming they are) why are they "closing the gap" sonically by rermastering the catalogue in CD format? Wouldn't a comparison with the old issue CD showcase what's up with SACD better than against a re-master?

I guess what I am trying to ask is, if you were trying to sell something to someone, wouldn't you want them to be able to hear the biggest improvement difference possible?

Same with Warner, they remaster something like Hotel California at a budget price for the public, then try to sell the DVD-A version.

Or is the intent for SACD and DVD-A to only exist as a niche audiophile market, where we will always have to pay premium prices for quality like we do for Mo-Fi, CDD etc?

 

Exactly. Audiophile products have ALWAYS been a niche market, and I fail to understand how anyone can expect that to change.

Most non-audiophile folks I talk to don't know anything about SACD or DVD-Audio -- and don't care to, either. In fact, so many people seem to be going the OTHER way -- from reasonably high quality (CD) to lower quality (MP3) -- that what you say above seems more and more likely to be the case every day.

Just my view, of course.

 

Sounds about right, I liken the new formats to the original MO-FI LP's, if you wanted better sounding and quieter pressings, you could pay a bit more and get them.

This is not like when they replaced the LP with the Compact Diss. Yeah, I guess when the original CD was introduced, it was marketed like the audio equivalent of the microwave; convenience, less hassle, better taste...

Er, forget the last one.

 

I agree with Jeff.

The reason remasters are issued in CD in this day and age of SACD is because the majority of the public hasn't the equipment or even a clue.

Living on forums like these, associating with other so-called audiophiles, and making a habit out of looking for higher quality sound tends to put one into a vaccum. You tend to lose the sense of reality that 99% of music consumers are not interested in or knowledgable of quality sound. you have over half the world still listening mainly to cassettes, remember. To many people, listening to 128 kbps mp3 on a PC with an ESS Solo card is a step UP from their 10-year-old, $20 all-in-one Soundesign.

[ January 09, 2002: Message edited by: Grant T. ]

[ January 09, 2002: Message edited by: Grant T. ]

 

I think the answer is "yes" for the former and "no" for the latter; that is, the SACD was conceived--and is being marketed--primarily if not exclusively to audiophiles, while the DVD-A is intended to appeal more to the masses with stuff like 5.1 surround mixes, video content, etc.

And while the audiophile in me says sound quality should always be the primary concern, the realist in me says that if either of these formats is going to survive, let alone thrive, they're going to have to have something to offer the guy who gets his music at Wal-Mart or Best Buy. That means at least a certain amount of non-audio content, which (unfortunately) almost certainly means compression and other stuff that compromises the sound.

But I don't think either of these formats will survive as audiophile products alone. The market just isn't large or lucrative enough.

 

Who says???? The standard for DVD-A is different than for DVD-V. The music is UNCOMPRESSED with DVD-A. What space is left over is for graphics, what have you. Regular DVD-V is where the audio is compressed. Nothing is going to compromise the audio quality in SACD.

 

The goal of Sony is to sell as many discs as possible. SACD figures to be *huge* in their plans, and any attempts to minimize this in the above posts are probably not quite accurate. SACD is clearly not an audiophile product as of '02. Software is selling for $16 and hardware for $250 at your local Best Buy.

As for the original question about the SBM CD's, Sony sees it as essential to keep selling CD's until the installed base of SACD players reaches some critical mass. The Columbia catalog is getting DSD-archived anyway. Sony can help pay for this by slapping those DSD transfers onto CD while SACD production ramps up. I think the "gap" is still significant.

Let's all keep in mind that, while SACD's first target was audiophiles, the real advantages of the format are not high quality sound in terms of the markets that will decide
whether the format succeeds. That is the recording industry, which wants a format secure from copy protection, and the mass consumer market which may be interested in the surround sound feature.

[ January 09, 2002: Message edited by: GregM ]

 

Hi,

WOW, what a great point! Lotsa recording executives could b sold on this concept alone.

The Music Never Stops (but the dubbing might),
Jeffrey

 

The dubbing won't stop, it just may not be digitally.

What Greg mentioned reminds me of the mid-70s when people bought both the LP and 8-track of the same title, one for the car, one for home. When either of those wore out or got damaged, people just bought another one. The record companies love those days.

 

Hi,

This may b a larger issue than ya may b giving it credit for since the last good cassette decks were made in the late 80's. Not many people left w/ a killer Nak circa '82-'88 to b dubbing w/. Plus tha last time I spoke w/ John Q. Public he wanted to play cd's in his car.

Another view,
Jeffrey

[ January 09, 2002: Message edited by: Jeffrey ]

 

I'm holding out until the damn format war is decided.

 

Sony does not have a combo SACD/DVD-A machine. They have combo machines that are SACD/DVD, but not DVD-A.

 

It would help if they started issuing more than one SACD per month.

Ah, there's the answer to my other thread. Since CD's don't "wear out", they sell you another copy by remastering.

I'd just like to add that this is a great message board, everybody here really seems intelligent, logical and enthusiastic towards the cause of good sound. And this is certainly not a given on the internet!

[ January 10, 2002: Message edited by: Beagle ]

 

That's not what I meant. I mean using analog connections to a soundcard to make copies of CDs instead of ripping them.

 

I do believe (much to Mikey's displeasure) that SACD will win this war. UNI is releasing many best selling titles in SACD starting in April, I believe.

Now if Time Warner/AOL and BMG could jump on the wave it could work.

 

Beagle said
>> It would help if they [Sony] started issuing more than one SACD per month. <<

They're releasing 6 this month including Johnny Winter's Greatest Hits which I can't wait to hear. And I have Miles' Filles de Kilimanjaro SACD released just yesterday in Japan on the way to me now, and Tangerine Dream--Rubycon and an SACD of Brahms violin/piano sonatas shipping from Europe. But your point is well taken. When production ramps up and SACD is really poised to take the place of CD, we may see dozens released each week between the various labels.

Grant T. said:
>> Now if Time Warner/AOL and BMG could jump on the wave it could work. <<

Don't look now but I have a BMG SACD of Belafonte's Live at Carnegie Hall. It was released in China--maybe they're doing test marketing there. They've released some others. Warner, it's well known, is the only major supporter of DVD-A, so SACD is not bloody likely in the short term. Sales are way down, so who knows--maybe AOL will sell the Warner music division to Sony.

 

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if something like that did happen. AOL may have gotten into the deal thinking they could marked music on the net but it may not turn out that way. They may cut their losses and sell. Maybe some liquor company will buy it.