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Honestly, does it make any difference?

It would be ok, but if its doesnt offer any increase in quality of SACD, whats the point

Nope. Another failure in que.

As I really like my SACD player and the few SACDs I have, i'm not quite ready to say die. But I'm not sure new technology is the answer to anything. unless it's an actuall mass market format. To become viable, any new high-rez format must not replace SACD, but the CD itself. In other words, it has to be a mass market format with high-rez capabilites built in on day one. Otherwise it will suffer from the same problems as SACD and DVD-A, the lack of software.

Sure, it sounds good but the realities of the market place are that even Red Book CD is suffering from diminishing sales. If it weren't for the advent of "universal" disc players, the owners of the SACD and DVD-A licensing franchises would have watched them gather dust. Try and find a SACD or DVD-A player outside of an audio or home theater dealer. You won't find very many outlets and the dearth of discs is their death knell. Blu-ray and HD-DVD is the audio equivalent of "carrying coal to Newcastle."

War games again?, these people never learn. I'm tired of this, go vinyl!

They will but how is the question only these geeks that gave us the SACD/DVD-A format war can answer.I will not buy any of these formats until one of them goes the way of the Do-Do.So yes I would love to see it ,but when and how?

I'm not so shure that it may be, but it would be very nice!

Given the ever increasing pace of technological innovation, I think a fair questions to ask is: How long before these formats are out-of-date? If SACD and DVD-A are both on their way out, why does the industry think a new format war is going to solve anything?

Purchase quality recordings from Naxos, Telarc, Harmonia Mundi, even the old stand-bys like Decca and Deutsche Grammophon, and play these recordings back on something as "cheap" as say a $1500 NAD stereo system, and you will see why there is no reason to go beyond the standard CD format. Multichannel formats and multi-colored lasers are all as much of a gimmick as were "quadraphonic" LPs in the '70s.

Oh, I'm sorry, was selling dvd players too easy. Shame on us. When we were selling cd players to every one the industry had to put a stop to that with SACD and DVD-A confusion. We must have fucked up and started doing the same with dvd! Mea copa. What with turntables doing well, it's only a mater of time before some mid-fi importers tries to mess that up.

Isn't it true that Blu-ray and HD-DVD already face competing, albeit as yet vaporware, formats? Because that might render the question moot. (If the question isn't already mostly moot on the basis that music is going to increasingly divorce itself from any particular physical substrate....).

Yes it would be nice about captures my modified limited enthusiasm for somewhat higher rate PCM digital. There is no technical reason for thinking the new formats will sound better than SACD or DVD-A properly done, so the hope could only be that artists and labels and the music listening public will adopt them more in DVD discs than with those lately departed audio discs. Having experience with 96k and 192k PCM in the recording studio as well as in home audio, I have my doubts that the public will care that much. I believe SACD proved that the sampling rate has to be much higher to equal or surpass analog's reproduction even of transients and note decay. Of course in the process SACD introduced audible digital artifacts which messed up other attributes of the sound. In summary, my guess is that higher PCM rates will be used more in the DVD discs but will not result in appreciably better sound than CD on any but the best systems.

Hope for the best...

BR/HD-DVD is yet another attempt to monopolize the market. So for audio, my point product will still be a Oracle V (which easily betters my Sony XA9000ES). However I will buy a multi zone, multi format (HD-DVD, BR-DVD, DVD etc) when they become available. But then I also have SQ decoder, a Beta HiFi player and two SACD players, and some would place my record player in this group.

As is the case with the current high-rez formats, only a handful of titles would be forthcoming that would be faithfully laid down from start to finish in said format(s). Do we really need another "1812" sourced from analog or PCM redone in Blu-ray? Is there anybody still in the room who actually believes that the purveyors of the new format(s) wish to cater to the purist software interests of the .01% sized market that is audiophilia? Does anybody in this room still believe that OJ is not guilty? I didn't think so.

I said "not interested." Of course I would like to see a high-resolution audio format developed, but I'd like to see a "proper" one developed that gives us audiophiles what we need, not simply what a bunch of manufacturers throw at us. Look at SACD and DVD-A! The same thing is destined to happen with Blu-ray and HD-DVD because the formats will simply not allow enough storage for high-resolution audio. We need something close to 1 TB or more of data to get decent audio. Don't tell me it is not possible—if 650 MB was possible in 1982, then with the supposed advances in technology that have come our way why is a high enough resolution format not possible?

It would surely be madness not to use this opportunity. It might even be the first digital format to completely better the LP!

Although I think SACD is still showing signs of life, I would be happy just so long as the high-rez and multichannel options continue to be offered in some format.

Is HIFI Video.

As noted, I would love to see it. But! Before we all get into a high-rez love fest. We should consider the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) being built in. Those of us with windows based computers know of the endless fun with updates and patching. Now imagine that with your nice new high-end DVD player. Perhaps every three months(?) you have to connect to the Internet and update? What a great idea..and if you don't..you may not be able to play any newly acquired music.

After CD, there will not be any standard audio only disc format that would dominate the market. But video + high resolution audio is not such a bad idea after all.

The industry, led by Sony, used up all of its credibility and my gullibility with the SACD fiasco. I am no longer interested. I'll just play these, thank you, the 5000 CDs, SACDs, and LPs that I already have. In terms of fidelity to the experience of live orchestral music in a concert hall, nothing beats vinyl, even with its pops, ticks, and needs for high maintenance thrown in. Isn't that funny? I have LP's that I bought in 1965 that sound better than any SACD or CD I've ever heard. And I have SACDs and CDs that I bought two years ago that my CD players will no longer read. What a hoot. And my turntable/arm/pick-up/phono preamp combo is modest by any standards. Since I have probably spent (wasted?) well over 15 grand on CDs and SACDs over the past 2 decades, I can only wonder how good my system would sound if I had spent the money on vinyl playback equipment instead. And they want to hook me on the next "high resolution" scam? Fat chance. Sign me "slow learner," but I did finally get it.

It has to be cheap, period. No one is going to spend $25 for The Dark Side of the Moon in "ultra stereo" when most CDs sound very good now. Lord, the recording industry is so friggin' clueless.

i hope not too expensive

If handled well, this could be just what hi-res audio needed. People can go and buy one new player that will play everything. This of course assumes that they don't just run into the video version of DVDA and SACD and just fade into oblivion because no one sees the point in upgrading for "minimal" benfeit during a format war. Quit the greed and pick a format!

Without a doubt, I have no problem with progress, as long as it's used to our sonic advantage. The new formats will have the capacity to increase resolution for both stereo and multichannel enthusiasts without compromising quality, such as offering 24/192 for multi-channel listeners as opposed to stereo only tracks. I know that if I were to go on a certain public forum and mention that I'd rather do away with stereo tracks for the purpose of having higher resolution 5.1, it would be the death of me. Hopefully the new formats will make this a mute issue, besides, replacing my aging players in couple of years from now for something using newer, cleaner electronics with closer tolerances will pretty much be a no brainer.

Is it really a matter of "hopes," or is it more "who gives a rat's ass?" Maybe its that we're tired of being gouged and ripped off by the next great audio savior! The industry did such a marvelous job rolling out and promoting SACD and DVD-A that I can hardly wait to how they screw this up. I can just about hear the roar of indifference from John Q. Public already. I almost seem a little cynical, don't I?

Video killed the radio star and Blu-ray and/or HD-DVD disks with multichannel audio are going to finally get the public's attention, even if they don't know they are listening to 'high-resolution' audio. With concert ticket prices out of sight, this will be a killer application and popular bands will jump at the chance to market disks the public will buy rather than steal. Bet on it happening.

I don't have high expectations from the people who market the new formats.