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There might be a format war going on, but DVD-A is hardly engaging the adversary. They're trying to tip-toe around the battlefield, while SACD whomps them with titles.
Industry representatives for both SACD and DVD-Audio claim they are not in a format war with each other. Do you disagree with them?
If the technologies make regular red book cds sound better & offer enhanced audio with SACD or DVD-A then I don't see a problem. Especially if the players are resonably priced (like the NS500 from Sony) for the general public to accept it. The problem is that at this point there is no technology that has won the hearts of the larger buying public and until it does early adopters better be willing to have a $1000 - $5000 player go the way of the dodo...
theres no doubt that sacd is far better then the dvd-audio, but a lot more people have dvd players, ok you may need a dvd-audio player to get the full sound anyways its a war which i believe that the dvd will win, due to the fact that people already know aboutthe dvd video format and its been a revolutionary success, therefore the average person out there will opt for dvd. anyways i know sacd is far better, cos i have a player but i dont think its been promoted well enough.
There is no format war. There is a struggle to regain control of consumer spending. "Improved sound" and "multichannel sound" are just the bait on the hook. But these are audiophile considerations and audiophiles aren't a big enough consumer group to fuel a war. There is no war. Manufacturers will force the mass market to take their format by giving it away to regain control of consumer spending.
There is no way that both formats can be successful. However, the current outlook is that both will fail. There is no reason for the average consumer to adopt either of these expensive alternatives. Woe to the record companys that try to force consumers to buy the new formats by only introducing music in one of these new formats. If vinyl is still alive after all these years, the CD will live on even longer.
The first indication of format combat is the fact that 'universal' playback gear for all DVD/SACD formats is very sparsely available at best (and none of the 'universal' gear is targeted at the typical Stereophile reader). The second indication that a format war is underway is the fact that none of the high-resolution platforms (DVD-A/SACD) offers the ability to access the datastream 'in the clear'; just how are we supposed to spend obscene amounts of money on transports and D/A converters when the high-resolution bitstreams are encrypted and locked-up within the single-box players?
SACD is definitely at war for Sony and Philips to replace loss of their patent money. DVD-A is at war too, but I think they are at war within their own organization. Wish they would get it together and present a solid front. Seems to me theirs will be the superior format, ultimately. Meanwhile, I am listening to my CDs. Not jumping into either format yet.