The very best sound: Direct to Disc


Since I got a new cartridge (Clear Audio Virtuoso) i’ve rediscovered the Sheffield and RR Direct Disc albums in my collection.  
Wow! they put everything else to shame.  I picked up about twenty Sheffield D2D’s when Tower Records went out of business for a song (no pun intended.) I’m just now listening to them and find there’s nothing that sonically compares.  They’re just more real sounding than anything else.  Not spectacular but realistic.   
128x128rvpiano
I have a few discs  of the Angel 45 Sonic Series,  including the Ketelby.  Also, Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Symphony with Previn conducting and a few others.
On my system, it’s no contest; the direct discs are much better.
I keep mentioning these in my posts but no one, until now, seems to have mentioned them at all.

Thanks for reminding people that these are the vinyl items that show what can be done when people try to excel.

Cheers!
Dear @rvpiano : """ and friends i’ve rediscovered the Sheffield and RR Direct Disc albums in my collection. """

I own all RR ( Reference Recording LPs. ) and if you are refering to that label those are not D2D LPs, very good but not at the Sheffield or M&K true D2D ones.

@mikelavigne I own the Elio Villafranca " Dynamic Resolution " LP that it’s a D2D one but for me it’s weird that no where in the disc jacket makes mention of that instead to that it’s a half-speed master. I love Elio great composer and an artist as a player. The recording is very good but for me not at the same level of the other two D2D labels I mentioned. Same with the first 12-15 D2D LPs by own Acoustic Sounds label.

Now, what could be the nearest recording alternative to the D2D one?. I’m a full ignorant on the whole recording process but even that I think that the digital recordings, where the tape recorder has no influence, ( not all ) like some of the Telarc’s that are really extraordinary or something more comtemporary coming from WindMusic label as its sample " Paramita " , this one you have to listen it to know what I mean about because it’s down there in the land of D2D quality performance or at least the nearest I experienced: the MUSIC is extraordinary and even a true challenge/test for any room/system on reproduction of it.

As the D2D the digital LPs have not the same quality performance, the Teldec or Philips and almost all DG and many others are not only good but really bad recordings. I own one D2D Telarc that’s way bad.

Other very near to D2D recordings are the ones " Live to two tracks " as the ones by Sheffield Labs or Audioquest, both labels very good. It depends too of the engineering skills on the whole recording process.

Yes there are several labels with great recording quality but nothing like the D2D recordings.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.


rauliruegas,

I realized just after posting that the RR I was referencing was not a D2D, just a fantastic sounding Reference Recording.  
I also have several RealTiime D2D’s.
As a side note, not all the Sheffields are D2D. More specifically, there was some Sheffield  Lp's that came out of their earlier stuff called "Treasury Albums." These were made from the back up reel to reel tapes of the D2D sessions. I compared one of those titles, Dave Grusin Discovered Again! To my ears, the D2D was superior to the back up tape session.