[Slowhand] SACDs

[Luke Pacholski]

DeltaNick wrote:

>I see that some of EC's old albums will be released next year in Super Audio
>Compact Disc (SACD) format. I'm curious why not, instead, on DVD-Audio
>(DVD-A), although "461 Ocean Boulevard" is already available in DVD-A
>format.

As far as I know, 461 is *not* available as a DVD-A. It is, however, 
available as a DTS CD, which will only play back through DTS 
decoders. This CD uses the original quadrophonic mix, I believe, 
rather than a new remix.

>Just about all "home entertainment centers" sold today allow for playback of
>a variety of mult-channel formats, including DVD-Audio. I understand that
>SACD is a proprietary Sony/Phillips format. Yet, when I visit BestBuy and
>other stores, they cannot show me an SACD player, even though they sell a
>variety of Sony players (all playing DVD, DVD-A, CD, etc) and SACDs. My
>understanding is also that SACD and DVD-A are about equal in quality.
>
>I have never seen an SACD player.
>
>Am I missing something?

Well, I got my SACD player at Best Buy, although that was about a 
year ago. The format is hardly "proprietary" - a lot of manufacturers 
produce the hardware, and more and more mainstream releases are being 
put out on SACD. And I think more than a few home theatre packages 
*don't* have DVD-A capability.

One of the biggest advantages of SACD over DVD-A is it can 
incorporate a CD layer, which means such hybrid discs can play in 
essentially any CD player (in stereo only, of course). That means 
there's one release for an album, not a separate CD and SACD release 
(think stereo and quad LPs). This is how the Clapton titles will be 
issued, and how the Stones and Dylan catalogs were issued, along with 
Tommy.

Luke
-- 
http://lukpac.org/