Ok folks, it appears my Apex 7701 combo player is arriving soon, so I'm trying to figure out what my initial software purchases will be.

SACD or DVD-A, it doesn't matter, it can do both. I basically like Blues and Jazz and some traditional (Garth who?), Country stuff like Willie Nelson. Any suggestions? What's better? SACD or DVD-A?

I 'm not planning on getting a new player for some time but I read that SACD seems to have more software at around 450 titles worldwide - possibly because of industry fears concerning copy-protection (Dolby Digital stream on current DVD-Audio may be too accessible).

Try http://www.superaudio-cd.com/ (the site worked better for me with java/scripting turned off).

Hey Eric!

I have a Sony SACD player, so all these recommendation are SACDs:

Jazz:
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (surround)
Duke Ellington Meets Count Basie (stereo)
Return To Forever - Romantic Warrior (stereo - Japanese import only)
Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy (stereo - Japanese import only)
McLaughlin, De Lucia, Di Meola - Friday Night in San Francisco (stereo)
Duke Ellington - Blues in Orbit (stereo - MFSL, rare, hard to find)

Rock:
Alice In Chains - Hits (surround)
Santana - Abraxas (stereo)
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Texas Flood (stereo)
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Couldn't Stand The Weather (stereo)
Billy Joel - The Stranger (surround)

And here's one I haven't heard but might be interesting:

Roger Waters - Live Flesh (the Wall played live, I believe) (surround)

Hey, thanks PictureMan. Someone was selling Satch Plays Fats used for $14.99 on Amazon so I grabbed it.

So how do the remixes of old material sound? We're talking 50yr old material here, so I wonder just how good it can be? Doesn't the newer DDD recorded material lend itself better to the new DVD/SACD formats?

It sounds great! But, I do tend to prefer the original stereo (just the purist in me!)

Actually, the old stuff recorded on late 50s - even through early 80s - on analog tape sounds AMAZING. Indeed, lots of artists still prefer to record to analog multitrack over digital because they feel it sounds better.

Definitely check out Blues In Orbit if you can, it's just like it was recorded yesterday.