DDP (on CD-R) Advantage?

[mark4man]

Now hitting the mastering stage on my CD; & was thinking about buying Gear Pro...which is an audio mastering app that can take an assembled track list & create a DDP image.

My replication house doesn't do FTP...they accept DDP on exabyte (1/4") tape & CD-R. They also accept CD-DA on CD-R.

I'm not going out & spending 2 grand on an exabyte machine...

...So, is there a real advantage (in quality) to burning a DDP image to CD-R...as opposed to burning my red book track list to CD-R (using my existing mastering app: WaveLab)?

I'm thinking that the drawback here is the CD-R medium, which is subject to block errors. Digital audio is written in a continuous data stream, just as DDP is...the possibility for errors comes from the CD-R, right?

My burner is Plextor Premium, which does a great burn & sports industry standard error checking software...so now I'm not sure I want to spend $400 on Gear Pro, if I can get the same quality from CD-DA on CD-R.

Is there something I'm missing, here?

Is there still an advantage to sending in a DDP image on CD-R over digital audio on the same medium?

Thanks,

mark4man

[dolphinius_rex]

speaking as someone who is quite involved with the replication industry, I can tell you that more then 99% of all CD replication jobs are done with CD-DA masters. If you want to be really careful, use a Mitsui Gold Pro Audio Mastering disc, which is rated for 1x-12x recording. Burn it at 4x on your Plextor Premium, and use that as your master. Otherwise, get some Taiyo Yuden and use that.

I don't think there is really any advantage to buying super expensive mastering software, unless you feel the need to play with ISRC codes, or something like that.

Good luck with your CD!!

[mark4man]

dolphinius_rex...

Thanks, man.

So...there's no real advantage to DDR, unless I use FTP & send it right up the rep house's server?

How about a sound quality advantage?

(ahhh...don't mind me...I'm just being paranoid. If 99% of the music we hear is done that way, it's of good enough quality.)

I have Taiyo Yudens all set to go.

Thanks again,

mark4man