Hi John:
SACD has been un-embraced by most youngsters and many audiophiles. I think it's already an
antiquated format. Hi-rez audio can be had from downloads, offering many more playback options (plus
format-conversion, portability, etc). The last bastion of some of the SACD diehards seems to be this
phoney "debate" over whether DSD or high-rez PCM sounds "better." As much as I like some of my
surround-sound SACDs, I am in a tiny minority so small that, nowadays (after the major companies
dipped toes and found almost no buyers), it doesn't even justify a niche market by any but a very
few companies who mostly peddle inferior music products. The very few mainstream-release surround
products that have appeared in recent years have been lossy-encoded Dolby AC3 DVD productions
(example - The Beatles "Love", example - Rhino's very few Quad reissues). Apparently, there are a
few audio-centric products showing up on BluRay, another format I predict is doomed to fast
obscurity in the age of streaming, networked video.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Haley" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2014 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] 30,759,242 + Long Playing Records Pressed Worldwide in 2013
> Good comments. But it's funny. Just yesterday I was listening to a superb
> SACD on my relatively new Oppo BDP-105 SACD player (which has been
> described by a very knowledgeable source as the best CD player ever made,
> when it was new), and thinking to myself "There is no vinyl record ever
> made that could touch this."
>
> Best, John
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 9:57 AM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
>> Disclosure: I supplied Mike Fremer my list of vinyl pressing plants, which
>> included a couple he didn't have. I agree with his analysis, completely. I
>> don't think Soundscan captures what Acoustic Sounds and Music Direct sell.
>> It may capture Amazon's vinyl sales. I'm also not sure Soundscan captures
>> sales in those hearty few independent record stores out there. Based on
>> what I know about vinyl sales of Mercury Living Presence products, the vast
>> majority are sold in the US, Japan and Germany, with a few sales in the UK.
>> I don't assume this is the case for all titles because musical tastes vary
>> by country. But I think it's safe to say that the majority of newly-pressed
>> vinyl records are sold in those three markets.
>>
>> I especially agree with Mike's analysis about Crosley record-wreckers.
>> These things aren't as lethal to a record as an old Garrard changer, but
>> they aren't good for $30-60 platters. Also, I think all vinyl pressing
>> plants should include an insert inside the record sleeves about proper care
>> and cleaning. These are not commodity products like 1960s mainstream $3-5
>> records. These are investments, you could say they are art for the masses
>> because of the artifact/ritual aspects combined with music enjoyment and
>> listening. There should be some kind of alliance in the record-pressing
>> business that comes up with working for such an insert and makes it
>> standard. To be fair to the big record companies of yore, inner sleeves for
>> years carried advice about proper handling, cleaning and advice to always
>> use clean, sharp needles.
>>
>> I don't know this for a fact, but if you were to somehow amalgamate hi-rez
>> downloads to make it apples-to-apples against full-album LP records, I
>> think LPs are outselling hi-rez downloads at the current time. I do think
>> it's a safe bet that they are outselling SACD/DVD-A products.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roger Kulp" <
>> [log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Friday, February 07, 2014 9:14 AM
>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] 30,759,242 + Long Playing Records Pressed Worldwide in
>> 2013
>>
>>
>> http://www.analogplanet.com/content/30759242-long-playing-
>>> records-pressed-worldwide-2013
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>
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