Richard Pennycuick responds:

>But Donald, I really must make the point again - by insisting on DDD
>recordings, you are denying yourself some great performances."

I know that you are right about my fairly narrow focus on high quality
sound:  but, in the absence of a full orchestra in my living room, when
I come home from work and try to distract myself before bedtime, there
is just nothing like having 5.1 surround sound and immersing myself in
the illusion that I am at the conductor's podium.  Only good sound without
hiss and with proper presentation of timbre and dimension of the real thing
will truly do it for me.  There is nothing like it.

So, my first choice when I purchase a CD is whether it is on 5.1 surround
sound or not.  Then I look to be sure it is DDD.  Or, if it is ADD, I need
to know if it is good quality by asking someone (This list is clearly the
place to ask).  I figure that at the rate they are producing the high end
CD's, I've got so many things to listen to that I could just wait till they
come up with a strong performance on 5.1 or DDD.  I'm sure that I'll feel
the same about SACD when I experience it.

I guess we should all be demanding high quality audio when we vote for a
CD with our pocket.  But more on this subject here is just too much of a
digression on Shostakovich.

Donald Scarinci
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