Feeling Blu?

I know I am, as I contemplate upgrading my SACD player. The download market seems to be growing - bog-standard MP3s are being replaced with higher-quality formats such as flac - and now 2L are offering Blu-Ray audio discs as well. Where will it all end?

Those of us who remember the shoot-out between video formats VHS and Betamax felt a certain sense of deja vu when SACD and DVD-A slugged it out in the pages of the hi fi press. It seems DVD-A is dead and that despite its sonic virtues SACD releases are still few and far between. And now we're faced with Blu-Ray audio just when most people are wondering whether they can make the mortgage, let alone invest in new technology.

Where does that leave the hapless reviewer? True, most of us are savvy enough to master downloads but how many of us are prepared to take a chance on untried technologies? Experience shows that even if we do take the risk we're likely to pay over the odds for early versions of said technology, which then start to fall in price faster than the Dow Jones on a Black Monday.

Sensing our agitation Denon have announced a player that does it all. For a mere $3,800 their latest piece of kit will play CD, SACD, DVD audio and video and Blu-Ray. Of course hardware is one thing, software quite another. As far as I'm aware 2L are the only label to offer Blu-Ray audio discs, so it's likely to be a very long time before the format catches on (if at all). In the meantime we can rest assured the humble CD will be with us for some time yet.