Digital recordings are not made from analog tape. That would be AAD or ADD. Digital recordings (DDD) are made directly to digital (hard drive or digital tape).
(Of course to put old recordings onto CD, the mastering is done in the digital domain - that final "D" in the AAD or ADD).
In the case of Reference Recordings, I believe they have found a way to have a digital recorder at the mike and thus cut down on or eliminate losses from long cable runs.
Thin, shallow CD sound is partly due to the conversion to digital in the PCM format. Low sampling rate and the brickwall filter lead to the sterile sound.
However, the best CDs I've heard have either been RR's DDD recordings (with HDCD) or Mapleshade's direct to analog 2-track with no mixing and short cables, using custom a/d's...the sound has good depth and presence.
So both the quality of the recording and mixing and the format used play a part. The fewer stages of conversion and the fewer electronics are used, the better the sound.
(Of course to put old recordings onto CD, the mastering is done in the digital domain - that final "D" in the AAD or ADD).
In the case of Reference Recordings, I believe they have found a way to have a digital recorder at the mike and thus cut down on or eliminate losses from long cable runs.
Thin, shallow CD sound is partly due to the conversion to digital in the PCM format. Low sampling rate and the brickwall filter lead to the sterile sound.
However, the best CDs I've heard have either been RR's DDD recordings (with HDCD) or Mapleshade's direct to analog 2-track with no mixing and short cables, using custom a/d's...the sound has good depth and presence.
So both the quality of the recording and mixing and the format used play a part. The fewer stages of conversion and the fewer electronics are used, the better the sound.