Starting now assembly and delivery of DDPi is FREE at Telegraph Mastering.  



DDP (Disk Description Protocol) is a standard that is used to encode a whole CD into an easily transmittable data format. A Disk Description Protocol image (DDPi) is essentially a software version of a complete CD, transitions and all, that can easily be zipped and supplied to replication plants for manufacturing.  Everything inside a DDP is error-protected and contains helpful meta-data (data about data).



Despite acceptance of DDPi within the professional world some clients still insist on having a Red Book compliant master disc created and mailed to a pressing plant.  A DDPi is musically identical to a master CD, and has several benefits over a burned disc.

It saves me time, which saves you money

While final assembly (PQ coding, sequencing, spacing, fades) is necessary for both a DDPi and CD master, a CD requires several extra steps.  Every CD contains read-errors that can be measured with Block Error Rate detection software.  These errors can vary in severity, so every CD needs to be scanned in a special drive that measures the disc and ensures no serious errors are present.  Then the disc needs to be auditioned in real time to be 100% certain that no anomalies from the burning process effect playback.  As you can tell, it’s a time consuming process, which is reflected in the cost to make a CD master.



It is better for the environment

Leaving aside the petrochemicals needed to manufacture CDs, let’s consider the carbon impact of shipping a CD master.  Disk Makers, which is the CD replication plant of choice for many of my clients, is in New Jersey.  Sending a burned master from Portland to the Northeast adds 0.44 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.  Even when using a local facility, the plant just makes a DDP from the CD I provide them anyway, and then throw the CD away.  Eliminating the CD master removes a step and minimizes waste.



It archives much more easily than a CD

DDPi are data, so they can be zipped and stored on a hard disk, server, or thumb drive indefinitely.  No more worrying about losing a CD backup.  If you need your album repressed in the future just break out the DDPi.  Easy peasey.

CDs are here to stay (for at least a while longer).  I don’t have anything against listening to CDs, burning CDs, or sending CD masters to replication plants that cannot accept a DDPi.  However, there are plenty of reliable plants that can accommodate DDPi, and if you’re using one of them you won’t be charged for it at Telegraph.



Keep on making great music!

Tags: CD, DDP, mastering