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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.

It's going to be no contest when the Hybrid SACDs, that will play on anything that can play a CD, hit the shelves. Why would anyone want something as limited as a DVD-A that will only play on a DVD machine.

And the most important thing, they have forgotten the customers.

And I hope SACD wins quickly.

Until I see a large number of each (DVD-A and SACD) in my local store there is no war!

It is a war to see which format will fail first!

If there was a market there would be a war. The war is with MP3.

I bought and am sticking with Big Brother's format this time but I refuse to buy Kind of Blue in surround.

Yes, I disagree! It is a war. A stupid war with no winners and a lot of loosers. As long as the format war is going on, I will stick with my cd's and dvd-video's.

It is a diff. products and each got their own softwares,musics..etc

Yes this is war—they're all smoking crack if they think differently.

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...

WAR..uh the winner is....SACD

This is a battle for license fees (which Sony/Phillips desperately want to retain) and stupidity on copy protection...

The war is over! SACD won.

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.

If this is war, it is one that neither side seems to want to win. I'm anxious to update to a new standard, but not to another Sony Beta.

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.

Huh? Mean to tell me that both proponents want to offer consumers more choices, a better product, and just not worry about cornering most of the market? OK, any one iterested in some oil property out West?

Both will be around until something better comes along.

Of course this is a war, only the innocent, uninformed will lose.

Beta vs VHS all over again.

Not at all! DVD-A's days are numbered anyway. SACD will only survive if they will provide big goodies for the mass market. The few of audiophiles won't do the job. After all: there's high-end CD and vinyl!!

How can they have a format war if there is no real market for either format?

Who really cares! I just want a good upsampling cd player so I don't have to replace my vast software collection (again).

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.

There will surely be affordable universal players before long...

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?

It's a war that's being fought in vain. 99% of the people out there don't know about SACD or DVD-A, nor do they care, nor will they care. I do, but too bad for me, I guess.

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.