This title is the first of possibly many highlighting high resolution recordings not otherwise available on disc (other than CD), available instead for streaming and/or download. No attempt will be made to cover all such digital content as this is well beyond the scope of the site. Rather the aim is to showcase significant recordings, those which the site's reviewers propose for review etc. The level of implementation will depend on interest in having this content available. Any feedback is welcome.

Stephen, thank you for listing a selection of hi-res classical music albums not available on SACD or Blu-Ray audio. I believe that site users will benefit from links, reviews and comments about non-SACD high resolution recordings.

The downward trend of SACD production may be viewed by some audiophiles as a loss, but in a time when economic and logistical challenges to independent classical record labels have driven many to discontinue SACD releases, the turn to downloads and vendor-based streaming services offers viable channels for distributing new recordings and providing exposure to younger artists.

It does not require advanced computer skills to listen to hi-res recordings through dedicated audio systems. SACD collectors who own Marantz, Oppo, and Esoteric disc players that have USB access to the unit’s internal DAC can stream in high resolution by simply connecting a cable from a laptop computer to the back of the SACD player and launching Presto Classical or other streaming services.

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Use the code:

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I wish to record my objection to this unilateral action by the site owners and its implications for the future of SACD especially as there has been no consulation or discussion with colleagues.

This site should be reseved for physical (SACD & Blu-ray) discs only. FULL STOP

Hi John, I understand your frustration. At the same time, though, we must recognise that times have changed and that whoever wants to stay in business must change with it. NativeDSD takes in almost anything now. Indeed, gone -or nearly gone- are the days of the superior SACD recordings from Pentatone, Challenge Classics (especially those done by Bert van der Wolf), Channel Records, and other prime sources. SACD manufacturing plants have followed suit. ‘Surround’ is on the way out as well. Not your concern, but mine.

Hi Adrian
On what evidence do you base your statement that "surround is on the way out" when labels such as BIS, Eudora, Chandos , Ars, LSO Live and even (occasionally) Pentatone etc. continue to offer surround? I don't think classical surround sound recordings are disappearing, they are just metamorphosing into a dedicated, audiophile ecosystem that’s slowly evolving toward immersive formats. What do you think?

Graham, we must indeed be glad that some labels continue to do ‘surround’. Especially the smaller, new labels like Eudora, Base2Music, and Prelude Classics, all managed by passionate music and surround lovers like you and me. However, saying that “even (some) Pentatone”, once one of the flagships of Super Audio in Surround, are still produced in surround, sounds ominous.

Take Channel Classics. Another flagship. No more physical multi-channel SACDs since April 2024, although more recent recordings (some, but not all) are available in surround as downloads from Native DSD.

Many other labels have turned their backs on SACD altogether, like Challenge Classics (their last ‘multi’ SACD dates from November 2024), Myrios (superior quality but forced out by the market), and a dozen or so more. Some that are still listed, like Exton, Universal and Warner (both Japan), are stereo-only. There are even (and possibly for a good reason) mono hi-res (?) recordings listed on HRAudio. With the decline of Super Audio in its physical format, in favour of downloads & streaming, with its limited resolution, the surround, as we have come to appreciate, disappears as well.

The view that ‘surround’ is slowly evolving into immersive formats may be true, but I wouldn’t call it “metamorphosing into a dedicated, audiophile ecosystem”. I do not see it as an improvement. Perhaps great for a life-like cinema experience, but it would not enhance my listening to a String Quartet, and being in the middle of an orchestral bubble is not my thing either. Let alone having a ceiling with multiple speakers. But that is, of course, a very personal observation. Moreover, Dolby Atmos is (often) produced at the lowest Hi-Res (24/48) level and can, therefore, not compete with the top-of-the-shop SoundMirror’s well-balanced multi-channel recordings.

We cannot stop the wind of change, but more artificial equals less real.

Adrian
I think in your reply to my question of 'evidence' you are conflating with what you see as the demise of physical SACDs with 'surround sound' as a means to bring the concert hall ambience to the listener.

Like you I have no time for Dolby Atmos and, in fact, I never mentioned it. (Does anyone listen to MDG in their 2+2+2 format I wonder?)

You rightly pick out Soundmirror as a producer of top flight recordings but as far as I know all their recordings include the 'surround sound' element and long may it continue.

I agree, hard evidence is difficult to produce, but sometimes, looking behind the curtains, a trend is visible. Not all Reference Recordings seem to be available in surround. Presto announced Mahler 5, Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles, which you reviewed so eloquently, as a hybrid-stereo release. At Native DSD’s site, once the champion of original DSD recordings, this PCM 192k recording is, like Presto, only available for download in “Stereo & Dolby Atmos True HD Immersive Audio”. It’s perhaps wise to check before purchasing.

The Mahler 5, Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles is, as I stated in my review, a 5.1 Multi-channel SACD. What Presto and Native DSD say is somewhat irrelevant to anyone wanting to purchase this recording on SACD.

I ony read this thread recently. There is much to say about this subject.

First of all. Downloading hi-res audio is a niche in a niche. This is not just my vision. An insider in the world of (former) sacd-prodcution told me that downloads attracts only a limited audience. Man of a certain age. Above avarage wealthy. What he meant, we're narrowing the audience.


But there are also hardware problems. Players that play native dsd without conversion to pcm are hard to be found. Especialy for mch display. A replacement for the famous Oppo-player is not to be found for less the 4K. Unless you make use of a sacd transport (only available via certified HDMI) and a few audiophile constructions, wich sum up to at least 3K.

Where at the introduction of sacd and dsd, there was the promise of simplicity. Wich suggestest availability for the mass. That promise seems te have disappeared, evaporated. The only remaing format for surroud seems to be Dolby Atmos, to be displayed on a home cinema: not listening to music, but watching it. Where suggestion in more important than authenticity of the music (-instruments).

Unfortunately even TRPTK stopped releasing sacd's. And its unlikely the will start again since the merged with Polyhymnia and Polycast.

For me DSD is still the preferential format. The problem is, there is no software developed to process it. And as Eelco Grimm once wrote me, its is the strength of the algorithms!. They are developed for DXD but not for DSD. This is real backlash for dsd: no development in the application of dsd, both on the recording side and the playback side.

As for downloads, I am not realy motivated for downloads. In fifteen years three NAS-devices broke down. Basicly you need to make backups all the time if you want te keep the files. There also priey. And there is also another solution for stereo-music. Convert wav files into dsf files with Audiogate software. Most times the music from those dsf files have a better display, at least on my Oppo.

And there is the long term development. For todays policy I understand the sale of downloads. The production ris in the hands of one player in the market, and monopoly is never good for healthy market functioning. So by offering downloads, the producers have more contol of the distribution of their production. But the significantly limit their reach on the market.

I have allways stated that downloading is the stone-age of streaming. World-wide sales of recorded music confirms this. Downloading is by far the most declining format. CD sales stabilize. One niche in a niche; hi-res downloads, will not stop this proces. Ad if they compete with physical discs, the will tear that market down as well. And more in paricular, the availabilty of hardware to play back sacd's. With multi-channel playback as the first victim.

Personally, I stick to physical SACDs as long as they are still available. They have been on the market for about 26 years. And the share of classical music on disc is fairly stable at 5%. As far as I can tell.

I would like to add some points to those already raised in this discussion thread.

There are, to my knowledge, only three remaining SACD production plants: Sony DADC in Austria and Japan, and Sonopress in Germany. It should not be surprising, in a marketplace dominated by a few streaming giants, that so many record labels we supported in past years have discontinued SACD production in favor of download and streaming.

Download purchasers may be the smallest niche within the already small niche of recorded classical music streams or sales, but downloading has the advantage of allowing the purchaser to play the music even if their Internet connection is slow or down, at the original resolution or converted to a higher resolution, or from PCM to DSD, including high rate DSD.

In 2026, new SACD and SACD-capable players are still being manufactured to serve SACD owners/purchasers. You haven’t been abandoned. The Magnetar UDB9000 MkII ($3,299 USD) has MCH analogue outputs and is regarded as a replacement for the discontinued Oppo BDP-205. For those with two-channel systems, there are many new SACD and universal players from Sony, Panasonic, Denon, Marantz, Shanling, Esoteric, McIntosh, T+A Elektroakustik, and other companies.

Those who prefer purchasing hi-res and DSD downloads, or streaming in hi-res, can select from a wide range of standalone two-channel DACs, and even a few MCH DACs. A computer-based audio system is initially more complicated to set up than a single-box SACD or universal disc player, but even a moderately-priced computer-based system has real sonic advantages.

My exaSound DAC plays hi-res PCM, DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 with remarkable transparency. The library/playback software I use, Audirvana Origin, performs sample rate conversion with user-selectable filter settings, so that 24/192 reissues of 1960s-era jazz albums can be filtered one way, and newly-recorded 24/96 and 24/192 classical music albums can be filtered with other settings. Because I listen to music recorded from the 1950s through to the present, such flexibility is invaluable. My large collection of physical discs now resides in three SSDs connected to a music server computer, and all the music files are backed up on external hard drives. It's space-saving and convenient.

If SACD purchases had no impact on the classical music market and reissue jazz and rock music market, there would be no more physical SACD production. As to the even smaller impact of downloading: the musicians, orchestras, engineers and record labels who record and release in hi-res but not on SACD need to know their efforts are supported, through download sales, streaming, and concert ticket sales.

This is a pastime for us, but the life's work for them.