"Nath" wrote in message



I very much doubt SACD and DVD-Audio will ever replace CD.

I agree.

They've
been out for a few years now, and the lack of software, confusion
regarding setup, and inability to see any in the high street means
they'll both die off (IMO) a bit like HDCD.

You forgot the most important that they can reasonably expected to fail: The
new formats provide zero audible benefits. There may be some legacy music
that is remastered to some audible advantage when it is retrofitted to the
new format, but that's another matter entirely. IME any piece of music can
be remastered as often as one desires to do so, and a different sound and
something that pleases some people more than others can be expected.

I read that
(DVD-Audio/SACD titles) in the biggest music store in NY were located
in the corner, incorrectly labelled and basically forgotten, with
only a few titles.

I can count the number of SACDs and DVD-As that I've actually held in my
hands in a store on two hands. I saw no serious effort to hype them in the
stores. OTOH, you should be able to find about *anything* online.

If huge stores have a small collection- what's the
chance your local woolies/whsmith store has a dedicated
DVD-Audio/SACD rack?

Slim and none. Note: there used to be three stand-alone record stores within
walking distance of my house. Some were large, long-term businesses with an
excellent reputation. They're all gone.

Most audio shops don't even know what HDCD is,
let alone these two new formats. And they think all DVD players play
DVD-Audio discs (again confusion)

IME that's true. A regular DVD player will usually play a DVD-A. I've never
seen it fail. Most DVD-A's are multi-format, and one or more of the formats
is a legacy format.