From my experience, EVERY DVD-Audio disc can be played straight away, just like a CD. It will automatically choose the best option your DVD-A player is set to support and you simply use the audio language button on the remote to change between surround/stereo. I too wish that content creators would just leave the video/menus alone and make it like SACD/CD, because all I want is the music. I'm very passionate about this, because an audio format should be an audio format, and it will be weakened/complicated if any video is mixed in with it. In order to not confuse the consumer and the entire market, they should be making a separate DVD disc for any video supplements, or somehow distinguish it VERY clearly on the packaging.

My understanding of blu-ray profile 3.0 is that it's EXACTLY the same as the blu-ray video format, just with no obligation for advanced blu-ray video features (BD-J, and maybe PiP). I.e. you could manufacture a "Blu-ray profile 3.0 ONLY" player if you wanted (which is a bit silly anyway as you'd want to have movie playback as well). In other words, Blu-ray video IS Blu-ray audio, it's exactly the same format (unlike DVD-Audio compared to DVD-Video). It's more comparable to Audio CD vs. CD-ROM, but even better - NO new physical technology is required ANYWHERE, industry or consumer-side. ALL that would be required, is for the recording/CES industry to market it and call it something like "Blu CD" with its own logo. EVERY blu-ray player ALREADY out there supports it, NOW. And every tool which allows you to make a BD disc (of which there are already numerous free ones) can already make a "blu-ray audio" disc. We just need to give it a good name and logo so that average consumers can understand what it is.

I'm all for it. But the question is, is Sony up for it, or are they too scared everyone will be able to copy the discs just like, oh, the enormously-successful CD and DVD formats, and unlike the not-so-successful SACD (and DVD-Audio) formats? Sometimes Sony annoys me.