Vote

Do the right thing and wait for a good, affordable, universal player. That's what I am going to do. I am playing my existing CDs too. Let that be a given.

I would like to try out either player in my system, but I will wait to purchase untill there is sufficient software to support either player. I will also likely wait to see what Wadia comes out with. I think this is going to be very fun!

it is so sad.

I hope that Theta will upgrade the Voyager to the new standards. Upgradeability, instead of having to purchase new equipment, is one of the key advantages to buying from companies like Theta!

I'm not interested in either format. It's just another way for the industry to milk every last cent they can from consumers. I personally am happy with the sound of CD today and have no intension of buying into these new formats.

The next perfect sound forever; big deal. In the price range that I can afford, will it make any difference? Will there be anything decent to listen to, or is it going to be more of the same getting-pretty-tired reissues? If one isn't interested in the same reissues again, what then? And by the way, a $24 price tag is a serious rip-off. Sure, the price of CDs—oops, I mean DVD/SACDs—will drop. Right. I see no indication that the major "music" companies are in the least interested in music. Support small independant labels, screw the big ones.

I was not an early adoptor of CD and I did not suffer. I will wait for later-generation hardware and software because both will evolve in sound quality and also come down in price. My 1200 LPs and 700 CDs will do me fine for a long time. I am excited about the new technology and look forward to adopting it at the appropriate time.

Who needs another format war.

QS, SQ, U-Matic, Betamax, 8-track, DAT, DCC, etc. (Format)WAR! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'! (Say it again, uh-huh.)

Will wait for Denon to produce a ubiversal unit, provided the cost is within reason—or will wait until it is.

If there is going to be a painful shift to a new format, then let's make sure that it is worth it. So the question for me is, which of the two formats will likely have a longer shelf life?

Can you say Beta Max,or perhaps Elcassette or maybe Reel to Reel, how about 8 Track,perhaps cassette or maybe even CD. It is planned failure !!

HDCD is my preference.

If you can afford both players then all the better, but most people should wait to see how the prices on both players compare and the prices on the different discs compare. Another important factor is which form your favorite albums come out in.

I think it's high time the audio industry concentrated on the DVD format and further improve it, rather than keep getting out a new format every year, which is just going to confuse the end consumer's decision. It also depends on the availability on the software.

Waiting is best. Like computer software—who buys version 1?

I think I'll just wait for about 2 years at least. Let these giants fight it out. If a compromise were to come, that would be the best for all of us. Never get caught with a multi-$k component that is obsolete almost the moment you buy it. Meanwhile I'll enjoy all my CDs, which sound great anyway; and savor my LPs, which sound just so much more wonderful. Even after the dust has settled, I'll still want to go slow on this 24/96 stuff. History has shown us that no matter who wins this format war, there'll still be a lot of "fine-tuning" to be done to realize its best potential. Wait a little bit longer and prices will surely start to come down to levels of everyday sanity, hopefully. Well . . . we can HOPE, can't we? Espere. There's also the uncertainty of software. NO . . . I'll just wait it out, thank you!

Oh great, another format war to add to the confusion. In the race for profits, we, the consumer, stand to lose money if we pick the wrong format. I've lost money already in the sense that I bought a DVD player on the understanding that it would play audio (24/96) DVDs as well as regular movies. Now, it transpires, audio DVD will not be compatible with my current player (Pioneer 717), so I'm going to have to buy yet another DVD player to play audio—assuming SACD doesn't kill off DVD. And let's be honest, the only reason SACD exists is so that Sony and Philips can keep the royalties coming in for the use the "CD" format.

$300 is a price I would be willing to pay!

Let the "war" between formats cool down for awhile. There should be a winner in every competition. We'll see patiently. Afterall, we have spent quite a bit of money on current (CD) system. We will wait until there is a new revolutionary audio system emerging from all the "brouhaha" over SACD, DVD-A, DVD, etc.

SACD is the most interesting on the basis of it's technical merit and potential "purity" for two channel reproduction- hopefully the player's CD section will be fairly close to my XA7ES Sony.

I have a 8 month old DVD player. I was hoping to play audio DVDs on it...

I want to wait for a player that can play both for under $1k.

It astounds me how little consumer electronics companies learn from past mistakes. The public confused buys nothing. I will not buy a format that will not allow me to play all available software on the market, nor will I buy a format that is not back-compatible with existing software

The projected prices are way, way too high (at least for SACD). If discs will sell for 25 bucks each, they can forget it. So now I'll have to buy all the Beatles albums in still another format? Screw that, no way, at that price. It's a fucking conspiracy anyway. Next we'll have to buy all the reissues in 196kHz. Why not hold the technology until 196kHz becomes a commercial reality?

tired of these format wars.

Having had the opportunity just this weekend to hear Sony's SACD format, I see no comparison to be made. I was able to bring our own reference gear to Positive Feedback's room and hear all current formats including 16/44.1, 24/96, vinyl, 30ips masters converted to SACD, as well as native SACD. There simply was no comparison. The differences between 16-bit, 24-bit, and vinyl were incremental, whereas SACD is a genuine leap forward. This is clearly the direction the industry and consumer alike should be going in.

No need to keep up, just stay 3 years behind the latest and experience it for peanuts. My current setup cost me a little more than 1/3 of original and is in mint condition. Only in America.

I waited three years after CD was launched before I bought my first player and 16/44.1 discs. I can wait at least that long for the format war between DVD-A and SACD to be won by one of the formats, or lost by both of them.

I will continue to listen to the one format where I don't have to keep buying remastered and reissued copies of music I already have. Take a guess what that is.