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Why argue over formats? The big players should agree on a single format to avoid customers being ripped-off by dealers who dont know what they are talking about. Most HI-FI sales staff wouldnt have a clue! They usually quote specs parrot-fashion from the packaging that came with the supplied kit! Stop the egocentric crap & get on with satisfying the people who really count - the music loving consumer! After all its our money which keeps the HI-FI industry afloat!!!

at least 200-250 of mt favorites and no less than 5000 titles overall. I still remenber the elcassette and others.

already have an scd1

More than the number of titles, it is important that the price of them doesn't double, as it did with the CD. I've already heard of the same old song of prices eventually falling, but it has never happened with CD, so why would it now? I'm never (!) going to buy a music disc for $40.

What is the sense of buying a new format if you have to listen to the same 10 or 20 discs over and over with no hope of any of your old favorites being released? Or not knowing if anything older than five years will be re-released? I own about 2500 CDs and I can never find anything to listen to, if you know what I mean.

Actually, the answer is none, as no one other than marketing/manufacturing "needs" a new format.

Vinyl still rules.

Not just reissued, but properly transferred. Too many great recordings were reissued on CD with poor-quality sound, to say the least.

only sacd is it

I would enjoy buying a new SACD or 24/196 player, and hearing the much greater resolution and sound quality that these formats provide. But I won't invest in one, and wait 1-2 years for the music that I like to be released. By that time, my player will be outdated, or worse, the format will be gone. Both the hardware, and music titles in sufficient numbers, need to be available before I will invest in them.

The question is how long will this new format last before it is replaced. And is it that much better than the current digital cd format?

Technicaly it is possible. Why not. It is only a matter of willing. !!!!!!!!!!!

Following Sam Tellig's recommendation several years back, I switched from buying CDs to LPs until the format war settles. (This approach has also saved me money!) I'm not a vinyl-for-the-sake-of-vinyl person though: I see 24/96 or 24/192 as a superior format to LP. I would like to get a new CD player soon. My first priority is a high-quality upsampling capability for my existing CD collection. (Since upsampling is software-centric, upgradability of the software and the processor that runs it is attractive to me.) The path to a new format for me is a top-notch upsampler coupled with options for the new formats. I will not bet on two formats. The winner will be determined by 1) Availability of reissued titles in the new format, 2) Consistently good remastering (which should not be assumed), 3) The appearance of an economically viable business, which implies that the new disks are not more expensive than CDs today, 4) No Landcode. I am a US expat in Germany, and am staying away from DVDs for this reason. Until that time, I am happy to keep on buying LPs and an occasional CD. The format war has a third combatant: downloaded music from the web. By the time we get clarity on SACD and DVD-Audio, downloaded music will have to be considered seriously as an audiophile alternative. All this means the obvious: the format war is a negative-sum game for the participants. Less obviously, it's possible that both sides being considered will lose.

not portable and bloody expensive entry level

As long as they are mostly multi-channel. All these so-called audiophiles that think 2 channel is best...please, bring on the reality!

I would also like to see the car manufacturers follow suit. Hopefully the media drives the hardware.

Those greedy bastards can sit and spin. It may as well be a new format of microwave oven, for all they care. Release on the new formats everything that is available on CD? No, that would cost too much, they are not in the buisness of giving us what we want. They are in the buisness of taking our money. I guess it is foolish of me to expect them to realize as we do that music is as important in life as health care and food. They just want to take advantage of us all.

I'll be waiting for a look at 2cd and 3rd generation players and their quality before I would consider a purchase. A combination DVDA and SACD player may have to be forthcoming.