“DDD” compact cassette: was it a thing?
If you are old enough to remember compact discs, you may have seen this message on some of them:
The music on this compact disc was originally recorded on analog equipment. We have attempted to preserve, as closely as possible, the sound of the original recording. Because of its high resolution, however, the Compact Disc can reveal limitations of the source tape— a note on a compact disc.
This note implied that digital was superior to analog, and that CDs were capable of much more than LPs and cassettes when proper digital techniques were used.
To drive this idea home, the Society of Professional Audio Recording Services (SPARS) created a three-letter classification system, which described different steps of the audio production process with letter “A” indicating the use of analog equipment, and letter “D” indicating the use of digital equipment.
- First letter: the type of equipment used for the original recording.
- Second letter: the type of equipment used during the mixing phase.
- Third letter: the type of equipment used for mastering.
Of course, “DDD” was the Holy Grail.
This system worked well until someone decided to use a SPARS code for cassettes. The customers were confused. It seems that the labels themselves were confused too.
The cassette shown above reads “DDA”, where the third “A” implies that the mastering stage used analog equipment, but right beside the mark it reads, “Digitally Recorded and Mastered”, which means that the third letter should be a “D”.
A later release has fixed the discrepancy. I bet this confused customers even more, who got used to seeing “DDD” on CDs only as the hallmark of digital quality.
To understand the predicament, take another look at the three letters in the SPARS code. The first two letters are relatively unambiguous and easy to understand, but the third one that describes mastering, presents a challenge. What exactly is mastering?
Mastering is the process of putting the finishing touches on the tracks to make a cohesive sounding record. That could include some final equalization, compression, level balancing, fade-ins and fade-outs to create one final recording — the “master recording” — with all songs properly sequenced, ready for mass-duplication.
The master recording, which in the pre-digital days would always be on tape, was used to create record stampers to make LPs, to create cassette sub-masters to make pre-recorded cassettes, and even used to make a digital transfer for CDs.
In 1987, American Multimedia Incorporated (AMI) created Digital Audio Analog Duplication system (DAAD), which drastically improved the quality and consistency of prerecorded cassettes by using a digital file instead of analog tape in the duplication machines.
Cassettes made from analog masters are subject to the distortion and noise inherent in the analog format. These problems become more evident during high-speed duplication because noise and distortion increase as the master tape wears out. With DAAD, the digitized master never wears out, so there is no degradation in sound quality no matter how many copies are made. — from Popular Mechanics, March 1989
This quantum leap in manufacturing of pre-recorded cassettes could not be reflected by a SPARS code, because the SPARS code covered only the stages of music production that occur before manufacturing. It did not tell whether the final product — an LP, cassette or CD — was analog or digital, and whether it was manufactured using analog or digital techniques.
To inform customers about the new manufacturing technique and the improved quality, DAAD abbreviation was used on several cassette releases.
Later, the technology became better known under its consumer-friendly name “Digalog” — a portmanteau of “digital” and “analogue”. This trademark was coined by WEA group, which at that time comprised Warner Music, Electra Records and Atlantic Records.
So, a “DDD” cassette surely was a thing! Although the final product was an analog recording, all the preceding phases could be done digitally, and this shows in the audio quality: these tapes sound as good as a CD… well, as long as you have a decent cassette player in good condition, and the tape is not all chewed up.
It is ironic, that the SPARS system, originally designed to promote full-digital audio production, has been repurposed by vinyl snobs, who dismiss the progress achieved in the last forty years.
What is next: 78s and wax cylinders?
