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From: bourne@cwruecmp.UUCP (Dave Bourne)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Re: List of fully-digital (mastering, etc.) CD's requested
Message-ID: <1308@cwruecmp.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Sep-85 12:12:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: cwruecmp.1308
Posted: Mon Sep 16 12:12:21 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 18-Sep-85 03:23:28 EDT
References: <630@wjh12.UUCP>
Organization: CWRU Dept. Computer Eng., Cleveland, OH
Lines: 49

> Does anyone out there have a list of the CD's that are really totally
> digital?  That is, if the package has markings on the back, they should
> be "DDD".   Is there a list that's commercially produced?  If not, can
> someone put it together?
> 
> Thanks muchly.
> 		G. T. Samson

	Let me assume that one of the reasons Mr. Samson is requesting
	this list is because a CD labelled DDD inherently sounds
	better than one labelled ADD or AAD.  If this isn't the case,
	I wanted to make the following point anyway!

	I hate to rain on your parade, but just because the CD says
	DDD doesn't mean it's going to produce sonic perfection, or
	have a total absence of hiss for that matter.

	A few cases in point:

		My copy of Glassworks by Philip Glass on the CBS label
	says it's a digital recording, which should make the SPARS code
	DDD or DAD.  However, the first track could convince a deaf man
	that the digital master wasn't used when it came time to make
	the CD.

		On the other hand, the Fresh Aire series by Mannheim
	Steamroller on American Grammophone, Dark Side of the Moon
	and Meddle by Pink Floyd on Harvest, and some analog recordings
	on the Windham Hill label (George Winston and Liz Story, for
	instance) have "successfully" made the transfer to CD with
	almost unnoticeable amounts of hiss.

		The moral of the story is:  It doesn't matter how much
	quality went into the original engineering of the recording 
	(digital or analog), if the CD master tape is produced from
	an N-th generation analog tape, the CD is going to sound like
	$#@&?!.

		As for Mr. Samson's original request, ALL Telarc discs
	are DDD and I've never been disappointed with the sound quality
	on any of my Telarcs.  The liner notes tell how Telarc makes
	the transfers...the right way.  On the other hand, I would be
	wary of any CBS CD, DDD or otherwise.  Most of the sound quality
	ratings in Digital Audio for CBS disks, DDD or otherwise, are
	very low.
			
					dave bourne
				at
					decvax!cwruecmp!bourne