DDD CD Recordings

Ditto to the above. DDD just mean all Digital. The first D is for Digital Recorded, 2nd D for Digital Mix, and 3rd D is for the final format on the CD. "A" is analog and includes all pre-digital recording put on CD and some artists who still record using analog equipment. If you see AAD for a CD reissue of a recording that was once on a record, it means the original master was just put directly on a CD. If you see ADD, it means the recording was digitally re-mixed before it was put on the CD. For classical music I really like the AAD or ADD better than DDD. There are some recent 1990s EMI recordings that are ADD.

If you are looking for sources you can start with TowerRecords.com or even Amazon.com --- For rare finds and imports try CDChoice.com I am not sure if you can tell if they are DDD though. There is lots of used stuff on eBay.

So, is ADD a better sounding recording then the all DDD format? My friend let me borrow an old Sting CD that was recorded in Q-Sound DDD and it blew me away with the sound.

Very intersting question, I've thought about it a fair amount before. I think one important thing to remember is that you can have exceptional recording/mixing/and mastering in any of the formats, so it is unfair to make a blanket statement that one format is better than another based on one or a few recordings. I personally agree with Jorge, Kelly and Sugarbrie in that most recordings (esp Classical or music with a lot of timbre)I have that are AAD or ADD sound better than some of my DDD recordings. On the other hand, I have some exceptionally good DDD recordings. I personally think that analog recorded +/- mixing tracks sound more natural than DDD ones. I also think that the best vinyl sounds better than the best CDs. That's purely my opinion, and opinions are like... Anyway I think most of a CD's quality is based on the efforts put into making the music, recording equipment, number of discrete tracks, mixing ability of the folks at the company, etc. more than just the format. I would just look for CDs I really like. Hope this was helpful. Happy listening,

Todd