For the last few years, I have been producing CUE/WAV file sets for authoring audio CDs using the RML Labs SAWStudio DAW, with the JMS Audioware CSG (Cue Sheet Generator) plug-in. The CUE/WAV fileset is a convenient archive format, and can be used directly by Nero Burning ROM software to burn CDs, complete with accurate track timing and embedded CD text.
Recently, I was requested by a CD manufacturer to provide a CD master as a DDP file set. Although a proprietary format, typically requiring costly software packages to create (most of which facilitate the complete CD compilation process), I came across a set of Windows command-line programs called ddptools, distributed as freeware on the Internet.
ddptools is not a full-featured CD compilation tool; it simply converts a CUE/WAV file set directly to a DDP file set. I believe someone has created a GUI for these tools for use in Reaper, but although I have a Reaper licence, it's not part of my preferred workflow. So I am using ddptools as command-line executables via a Windows Command Prompt.
Although SAWStudio has recently been ported from its original 32-bit form to 64-bit, the third-party Cue Sheet Generator has not yet been recompiled for 64-bit operation, so I continue to use the 32-bit version of SAWStudio. However, that's perfectly adequate for the purpose of compiling CDs.
This video shows, firstly, the process of compiling the CD from source tracks, creating the CUE/WAV files and, secondly (11:20), the creation of a DDP fileset from the CUE/WAV files using the cue2ddp tool. It goes on to show the use of the ddpinfo tool to verify the integrity of the DDP component files via checksums (which are created by cue2ddp as part of the DDP fileset), and the extraction of a CUE/WAV file pair for comparison with the originals.
At the end of the video, I show that a two-second gap is present at the start of the raw audio data file in the DDP fileset, but is absent from the source and extracted WAV files. This difference can be seen by comparing the source CUE file and DDP's internal CUE file; in the former, all tracks have only an "Index 01" reference; in the latter, the first track (only) has an "Index 00" reference at 00:00:00, and an "Index 01" at 00:02:00. Also, in the DDP's CUE file, the subsequent tracks' "Index 01" start points are 2 seconds later than their counterparts in the source CUE file.
I neglected to mention in the video that it is common practice to combine the DDP file set into a single ZIP file for distribution to a disc manufacturer. This saves individual component files getting lost in transmission. It also provides an opportunity to secure the fileset by password-protecting the ZIP file.
For access to the programs mentioned in this video, I recommend you google the following keyword phrases:
- SAWStudio rmllabs
- JMS Audioware CSG
- ddptools
- Audacity DAW
5 Sept 2019
