Compact discs were introduced in 1982. They were great for their time, but it is long past time to move forward. The sound quality of CD-DA is good, but it only supports a maximum of 2 channels of lossless PCM audio. DTS-CD allows 5.1 surround, but can only achieve it through lossy compression so it is more of a novelty than a serious contender for a music format. When 5.1 surround is done well, it is far superior to stereo. Technology was ready to make this leap 20 years ago, but unfortunately it still hasn't been fully realized.

There have been a few feeble attempts at introducing new music formats (SACD, DVD-Audio, and HFPA), but obviously none have them have succeeded. The first problem was consumer ignorance. The average consumer didn't know that these formats existed, let alone what benefits could be had. In order for a new format to succeed, it needs to be promoted aggressively. The average consumer isn't likely to seek out this information on his own. The second problem was a lack of available content. There just weren't very many albums released on those formats. The consumer needs to feel like there is going to be an abundant supply of desirable content to justify purchasing new equipment.

Digital distribution formats such as MP3 and AAC are notably inferior and therefore a step in the wrong direction. The popularization of these formats has undoubtedly hindered the forward progress of audio technology standards. Both of these formats are lossy so they intentionally discard information based on a psychoacoustic model in order to reduce file size. These are certainly not ideal distribution formats. Furthermore, these formats don't provide the tangibility of a physical format.

Fortunately, new physical formats have already been developed which are more than adequate to serve as the successor to CD-DA. Therefore, no money has to be spent on research and development activities. The important thing is that 5.1 surround needs to become ubiquitous for music releases, thereby providing adequate content for all musical tastes, and it should be distributed via physical format, providing the consumer flexibility in how the content is enjoyed.

The DVD-Audio format is the most ideal and logical progression in music formats. It is based on the same PCM encoding as CD-DA, but supports higher bit-depth (24) and higher sampling rates (96kHz 5.1 surround/192kHz stereo). Most importantly, it supports 5.1 channels of lossless audio. Also, being developed specifically as an audio format, it does not require systems to have a screen to play back the media, making it ideal for car audio systems and dedicated listening rooms. Even the standard packaging of DVD-Audio (Super Jewel Box Plus) looks like a next-gen jewel case so it actually looks like a next-gen music release.

Getting a new format to be adopted as a standard is obviously not easy, and requires support from both hardware manufacturers and content producers. However, if this becomes reality, then everyone benefits. It is time to move audio technology standards forward by adopting DVD-Audio as the new standard format for music.