Soundhound, there was an article recently in Stereophile mentioning that the stereo PCM tracks on some hybrid SACDs are purposely degraded in order to make the stereo DSD tracks sound better in comparison. I too wish there were a way of comparing (optimally mastered) CD quality versus DSD.

Jeff M, personally I think the digital interface issue is a bit of a red herring. Suppose you woke up today and found that your disc player could play both the hi-res formats and could connect via one digital cable to your pre-pro; would you suddenly run out and buy a bunch of SACDs and DVD-As? If a digital interface existed right now, does anyone here think that this limited catalogue of overpriced software with somewhat dubious benefits would suddenly take off like DVD did? Just my opinion but I don't think that the use of 6 analog cables is really what's holding SACD and DVD-A back.

Best,
Sanjay