Machinehead - thanks for the link! The whole article is well written and presents the current (confused) situation well I think.
Overall, it still seems awfully murky out there. There's only 1 unit (by Apex??) that will read DVD-A and SACD discs. I'm sure other units will appear in the next year but with different manufacturers having a vested interest in one or other format it's hard to see who will produce these.
Until there is less risk for the consumer, and more benefit too by more titles becoming available (I'm not sure I'd want a very high fidelity, multi-channel version of the Bangles Greatest Hits - don't get me wrong, they were a fine band but they're not the first people I think of when wanting to test out my new audio hardware) in moving to 5.1 channel audio it's hard to see either format really taking off.
Also, the legal limitations placed on manufacturers who implement either of the two formats to only allow 6 channel analog output seems rediculous to me. We've dicussed RIAA enough in this forum.
It's just as well that the whole consumer electronics field in the US doesn't appear to be suffering the recession like so many other fields. There are lot's of $'s to go around I suppose.
Luckily I don't need to replace my trusty Panasonic DVD player at the moment (waiting for budgetary approval to switch to HDTV, then I'll need a progressive scan DVD-V player). I guess I'll keep my $'s in my pocket and keep an eye on the market.
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Topic: OT: DVD Audio vs SACD? (Read 1579 times)