'AAD' vs. 'DDD' CD test

[Jonboy]

I have Fleetwood Mac "Tango in the Night" which is the very first cd i bought and as far as can remember it is AAD (i can't find the Cover at the moment), it still sounds very good to me maybe a bit thin sounding if i'm being critical if you know what i mean, i love the Eric Bibb Stuff as well complete with pops and crackles, all very well recorded.
I tell you what it did do and that was to record a Keb Mo cd direct onto my Revox Reel to Reel, that sounded mighty fine giving a very nice anologue sound and so it should

[Ali Tait]

Yes,I have a hi res Keb Mo which sounds superb.

[DSJR]

"Tangle" in the Night is an interesting one. the jangling sequences at the start of "Everywhere" were very difficult to reproduce properly on many Philips 1541 based machines, most sounding grainy and jumbled on this section of the track...

[Alex_UK]

Not got round to this yet - sorry Marco - could we have a few more suggestions (I'll try Tangle in the Night ) of good AAD recordings? (As I don't keep the jewel cases with my CDs it is hard to tell) - from memory, the Fleetwood Mac album was fairly rubbish on CD compared to the vinyl copy but I'll revisit that at least.

[Marco]

Hi Alex,

'AAD' discs were also usually marked as such on the disc itself

Do you like Donna Summer (when you have a wee boogie around the house with 'avatar' - lol)?

If so, check out the first albums she released on CD. Those were 'AAD'. There's a greatest hits one that is particularly good, featuring the classic 'I feel Love', which sounds absolutely stunning!!

Marco.

[The Grand Wazoo]

From The Grave

I reckon there could be some interesting discussion and discoveries to be had from some adventures around this topic.
Anyone heard the recent Neil Young with Crazy Horse album 'Psychedelic Pill' on vinyl & compared it to the CD? The vinyl is all analogue, I think.

[synsei]

I missed this thread the first time around. I have a fair few AAD CD's and some modern poppy stuff so I will give them a listen tomorrow and will report back in due course...

[Marco]

Yeah, I don't think Alex could be arsed comparing, so we never really got anywhere with this the last time!

Nice one, Dave. I'd be interested to know what you think

Marco.

[freefallrob]

I used to be fascinated by the DDD etc thing back in the day, I used to be quite disappointed when it wasn't mentioned on the CD.

I have the original Jean Michel Jarre - Zoolook CD which is DDD, I was always impressed with the sound on that, I think he used the best stuff he could at the time, but I also like Fleetwood Macs CD's.

I think digital done well is good and so is analogue, they both need to be done well.

[synsei]

An early start for me so here goes: Firstly, I do not have as many AAD CD's as I thought which is a shame. I have obviously replaced them over time as they perhaps got lost, mauled by hungry CDP's, used as coasters by the kids etc, etc. All is not lost however as I have discovered two confirmed AAD disks and a probable, based on its age and astounding SQ.

First up is Level 42 and more specifically their first album which is self-titled. My copy is a German pressing - Polydor - 821 935-2 (Discogs)



I will be comparing track six (Love Games) with a digitally remastered and shorter version of the same track which can be found on the compilation album, The Very Best Of Level 42 - Polydor – 559 373-2 (Discogs)




Conclusions: Absolutely no comparison. The AAD master is head and shoulders better than the ADD version of the track. Initially the shorter ADD version of Love Games grabs your attention as it is louder and more compressed which does lend it some immediacy but once the initial gloss is out of the way the ADD version shows itself to be less open and dynamic with none of the sense of ambient space present in the album version.

I am ashamed to admit that today was the first time I have listened to the self-titled Level 42 album since I picked it up from ebay for 99p nearly nine months ago and I really enjoyed it

I will get around to listening to the other CD's later on today