Yo-Yo to the Ma-x

The CD is slowly dying even with the classical audience, as Jeremy Eichler wrote in the Globe yesterday, but, um, holy crap! Look at this! Sony pinged me the other day looking for some PR for "Yo-Yo Ma: 30 Years Outside the Box," a massive collection of music from the world-renowned cellist who calls Cambridge home. Usually I ignore such requests, but this thing is the classical music equivalent of the alien ship hovering over Manhattan in "V." The set includes 90 CDs – every original album Ma has recorded to date, plus two bonus discs with the first release of John Williams’ Suite from Memoirs of a Geisha for Cello and Orchestra. It's all been remastered with "DSD technology," whatever that is, and the numbered, limited-edition set comes in a velvet-lined box and features a 312-page book. The perfect Christmas gift for the classical music fan on your list, eh? Ready to hear how much it costs? Better sit down. The set lists for $632.99, but shop around: Amazon.com offers a link to one vendor  selling it for $499.40, while Borders.com wants $754.99. In fact, Ma's own web site started selling the first 200 numbered editions in late September, for $789. And there are higher prices out there. I've emailed to ask how many sold.