the funny thing about sacd vs dvd-a is that (and, i think, not many people realize this) they are both exactly the same format as it stands right now. 24/96 multichannel and 24/192 stereo pcm format.

sony's format is dsd. the cool thing about dsd is that it can be converted into any digital format. that's why it's backward compatable. converting dsd to 16/44.1 is no problem. the current sacd players convert dsd to the above mentioned formats.

we won't hear dsd until players and receivers/prepro or outboard converters show up. the point, to me, is that sacd is future proof and backward compatable...dvd-a is not.