What is a DDP image?
A DDP image is the master for a CD, delivered as a small set of files rather than a physical disc. DDP stands for Disc Description Protocol. It holds the music and everything the plant needs to press it as you intended: the track order, the gaps, the codes and the text. It’s the usual way premasters are delivered for replication, and we send it with a checksum so the plant can confirm it arrived intact.
What goes into a CD master
- 16-bit, 44.1 kHz audio, dithered once, and properly, from the 24-bit master.
- Track order, gaps and index points, as you want the record to play.
- ISRC codes for each track, so sales and radio plays are tracked. Your distributor or label issues them, or you can register your own in Australia.
- CD-Text, so the artist and track names show on players that read it.
- A DDP image and its checksum, the format replication plants ask for. It travels as files, and the plant can verify it arrived intact.
Replication or duplication
Replicated CDs, pressed from a glass master at a plant, need the DDP. Short runs of duplicated CD-Rs can work from the same image. Ask your plant which they want, and we’ll deliver to suit.
What you get
- The DDP image with its checksum, and a listening copy
- A PQ sheet: track list, times and ISRCs
- The 24-bit masters for streaming and download