Giles

www.thedigitalbits.com reports that the SACD release of "Darkside" is slated for a March 3rd release. Question: I thought this was going to be a DVD-Audio release??

Jepthah

It's probably because the music is being licensed by Sony, who are the proprietors of the SACD technology.

I wouldn't buy an SACD player even if I had the money, but it would be interesting to hear this version. Multichannel PF releases were inevitable...

RichardW

I wish either one of these formats would win or DVD players capable of playing both formats would become affordable (i.e. ~$200).

Brain Stew

Well, according to thedigitalbits, the disc should be hybrid which means it will work in old players.

TheMadMonk

I also read today that a bunch more companies (Onkyo, I remember for sure, and they mentioned 3 others) are now going to be making players that play both DVD-A and SACD. I think I saw it in USAToday.

edclem

the latest issue of Home Theater magazine reviews several combination SACD/DVD-A players:
Onkyo, Marantz, and Pioneer models were all present. I believe there are others as well.

AtlDVD

I have a Sony that plays SACD and DVD-Audio

Dont all DVD players play DVD Audio?

El Kabong

It's supposed to come out in March, but I haven't heard anything lately about final specs, date, etc. The only site I've found so far with SACDs is Amazon- DvdEmpire has DVD-A but not SACD. Is there a better place to order them? Amazon has been horrible lately- I got 2 SACDs that were in-stock, they took 4 days till they even shipped then 2 days for UPS to lose. They made a replacement order that took another 4 days to ship, so it took over 2 weeks to get my SACDs. I just ordered 2 in-stock/ships-in-24-hours dvds & they took 5 days to ship too. What the hell is up with that? And both times they emailed to say they were having a problem locating an item (even though they still showed as in-stock) & both times my packages had actually just shipped when they emailed me to say they wouldn't. Amazon really sucks lately! Where's a good place to get SACDs (and not a week after the release)?

das Monkey

It's not supposed to be released until March 25th (in the US).

Anyway, you can check www.AcousticSounds.com or www.ElusiveDisc.com or www.MusicDirect.com to pre-order it now.

das

tha_dvd_man

I'm not too knowledgable on "SACD". Would it basically do nothing for me if I have a regular CD player? Although it is DSOTM, and it is supposedly limited-edition, so maybe I should just get it anyway.

El Kabong

Unlike Dvd-A which will play 5.1 on any dvd player, most SACDs will only play on an SACD player. Some are hybrid & will play a regular stereo track on any cd player (I think DSOTM is), but no multi-channel. I've had a DVD-A player for a while & just got the SACD player (mostly just for DSOTM). It came with 3 samplers & the stereo SACD stuff didn't impress me very much (unfortunately most of the best titles are NOT surround). I got Bowie's Heathen & Billy Joel The Stranger & both had very good mixes. I was especially impressed by Billy Joels' since it isn't the type of music you would think of for reference surround. I think they do sound slightly better than the DVD-A, but it mostly comes down to the individual mix. At the same time I got Neil Young Harvest on DVD-A, and while it sounded nice & full, the mix sounded weird with the drums seeming to come from the front & rear left. The whole mix sounded off-center & awkward with some instruments sounding out of place when isolated. I'm hoping DSOTM will have a great mix & that The Wall & the rest of Floyd's catalog will follow (in surround hopefully). I'm pissed that all the recently announced Police & Peter Gabriel SACDs (except for Gabriels new one) are only stereo.

Brain Stew

If you have a Borders store near you go to:

www.borderstores.com

Select "My stores", do a search and add all local stores to your "My Stores" list.

From there, go to:

http://www.bordersstores.com/search/...srchType=Title

Then on the right side click pre-order next to the store of your choice. You have to fill out your name, email and phone. Come release day, they will have a copy reserved for you at the front desk and will call you about 4PM that day. This reservation system is very helpful for releases that may not get millions of copies.

Giles

Refresh my memory, Gabriel's "Passion" is coming out on SACD, right? 2-Channel stereo...?...

Empire_Man

el kabong -

we have it....
http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_ite...657018&redir=1

El Kabong

Thanks. I usually order from you guys. I just added it to my dvd order for that date. Do you know if you'll get them early, like the dvds, so I'll get it on the release date? Also, are you going to carry SACDs now? I couldn't find them before.

Ergyu

Is this coming out on DVD-Audio too or not? I keep seeing links on the internet about it, but wasn't floyd on a Sony label? I don't think they would like it much if they gave one of their top artists to their competition.

Richard Malloy

Some of Pink Floyd is Sony/Columbia (Animals, Wish You Were Here), but not DSOTM, which is on EMI. EMI supports both formats worldwide, but this is the first SACD release of theirs in the US that I'm aware of. Sony most certainly did NOT give Floyd away to the competition (Sony is one of the primary SACD developers), but rather subsidized the very expensive production costs, as well as the price you'll be charged at the register, to help persuade EMI to go the SACD route. Reportedly, the biggest factor persuading EMI to go SACD is the hybrid aspect: the disc will also include a CD layer that can be played in car stereos, walkmans, etc. This may have been what's prompting the DVD-Forum (the backers of DVD-A) to request a change to the "Red Book" cd specifications to one day include hybrid DVD-A/CDs (not sure exactly how they hope to do that--maybe a flipper disc?).

Also, just like the 22 ABKCO Stones remasters, DSOTM will be a "single-inventory hybrid disc", which means you'll find it mixed in the bins with all the regular CDs.

Richard Malloy

BTW, I think circuitcity.com has the best preorder price presently at $13.99, but I think I'll take a quick trip down the block on that Tuesday, hoping to find them at Newbury Comics (which was the cheapest place I found for the Stones SACDs), and then onto Circuit City if they don't have 'em.

El Kabong

It comes out in a week, so I was hoping for anearly review on the surround track. I'm really looking forward to this one. I got an SACD player 2 months ago mainly for this.

das Monkey

I haven't seen a review yet, but this article may interest you:

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/ne...umber=15589155

Can't wait for this release.

das

bigjim25

$11.99 at Bestbuy next week & www.bestbuy.com right now.

das Monkey

Holy carp, that's a good price! My Best Buy's SACD selection consists of three shattered discs in a crate in the break room, so I fear they may not have it.

das

zeppelin

This title is a 'single inventory, hybrid disc' which means this replaces all previous CD versions of DSOTM, instead of a SACD (or SACD hybrid) version and regular CD version.
For instance, I bought the Police: Every Breath you Take (SACD hybrid) last week at BB and couldn't find it in the SACD section. They put in with the Rock/Pop music section. The same will apply to DSOTM. Don't worry there should be plenty to go around

zeppelin

Here's an early review.
High fidelity review was very impressed: http://www.highfidelityreview.com/re...umber=19939611

Rypro 525

Question for an idiot, I have a regular dvd player, but I have a decent surround sound system, can I play this or a dvda on my system.