My blu ray audio collection is really something now

[CatManDo]

IMHO, the main marketing problem with Blu-ray Audio releases was that most releases were stereo only, including some reissues by Universal Classics albums that were previously released on multichannel SACD (true multichannel recordings, not processed stereo material). A complete waste of the technical possibilities of the format.

 

For stereo material, mostly in 24/96 (i.e. just ca 1GB of data), the BD-A format is pointless, since the same material can be put in the same resolution on a DVD-Video, which plays in every DVD player. And of course it can be sold as hi-rez downloads, which are much more flexible than the BD-A format with it's copyright restriction (no S/PDIF output above 24/48) that is a problem for stereo DAC users.

 

For multichannel material, BD-A is the logical choice, as a successor to DVD-A.

 

Concerning packaging, they should not put BD-A discs in Blu-ray cases, which makes them often land in the video section in shops. Maybe too costly, but it could have helped to sell them as BD-A + CD packages, as is now often the case with multiple CD sets (BD-A as bonus disc with hi-rez versions).

 

IMHO, the marketing problem also shows that for audio-only, hybrid SACD is actually the best physical format dedicated to hifi fans ("normal" music fans don't care about hi-rez anyway), because it doesn't require users to change their setup.