DDP Software for MAC

[SoundReplay]

Hi,
I am looking for a software to create DDP files and Audio CD's from my masters. These are my requirements:

DDP creation
MD5 checksum
PQ generation
CD Burning & CD Text Support
MAC OS Compatible
Core Audio I/O


Any other build-in functionality for me is a nice to have. Price is not so important but sound quality, stability and support is very important.
I've been looking at these products:

SonicStudio Premaster CD

Sonic Studio :: Digital Audio Mastering and Authoring Tools for PCM, DSD&SACD

495$

Sonoris DDP Creator Pro

Professional Mastering Software - Sonoris Audio Engineering

229€

Steinberg Wavelab 7.2

Wavelab

609€

Bias Inc. Peak Pro 7

Peak Studio - Edit. Restore. Master. Deliver. The Evolution Continues.

485€

DSP_Quattro 3.5
http://www.i3net.it/dspquattro/asp/homepage.asp

150€ (75€ now in promotion) - Last updated in July 2010

Audio File WaveEditor
http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/waveeditor/

80€

Any guidelines or alternatives?
Thanks!

[recall]

DSP Quattro or Audiofile Wave editor.

[SoundReplay]

Thanks, I've added those to my list.

[Jerry Tubb]

Originally Posted by SoundReplay

SonicStudio Premaster CD

Sonic Studio :: Digital Audio Mastering and Authoring Tools for PCM, DSD&SACD

495$

Sonoris DDP Creator Pro

Professional Mastering Software - Sonoris Audio Engineering

229€

Thanks!

Excellent choices.

However Sonic PreMaster is now called soundBlade LE.

Sonic Studio : Pro Audio : soundBlade LE

I think they're offering it at a reduced rate.

You get extensive audio editing capabilities with this app,

Long history dating back to the origins of DAW desktop mastering.

I use soundBlade HD daily, very powerful & sounds great.

Requires a bit of study for those accustomed to Pro Tools or Nuendo workflow,

but well worth the effort.

Sonoris DDP Creator-an excellent choice as well, for pure assembly & delivery.

Quick & easy to learn. Powerful features, but no real audio editing capabilities.

Best, JT

[thermos]

Hold up, this just got my interest.

"Create secure player for client approval (Q1 2012)" under the export and deliver section. Is that the case for LE as well, or is this going to be a super pricey add on feature?

Edit, just emailed the company. What a novel idea.

[Thor]

soundBlade HD and LE both in daily use here.

It will do all the editing, assembly, DDP delivery and burning you need. It's core audio compliant/aware, does all the PQ and metadata stuff, and sounds great (i.e. it doesn't mess up the audio you've worked so hard on).

For MD5, there are a plethora of free apps for the Mac to do that, or you can do it from the terminal if you prefer.

Cheers,
Thor

[SoundReplay]

So prices are between 8o$ and 2000$. Will the price difference make any difference in sound quality or is it just more features you get for the extra money?

I am using currently Bias Peak Pro on a MAC PPC, but cannot deliver DDP in the (old) version I have.

Thanks!

[Thor]

Price differences reflect features, stability, support, maintenance, product maturity, flexibility, workflow and reliability, IMHO. I would personally add sound quality as well, but YMMV.

Don't most apps these days have free trials so you can see what works best for the way you work?

At the risk of repeating myself (from another thread), while I like (and own) WE and other products from that company, I wouldn't buy WE to do what you asked for, it's just too many hoops to jump through and unintuitive, again IMHO.

I.e., yes, technically it can do what you ask, but if you're interested in working efficiently (i.e. you're time is worth something) I would recommend something else. Any of the other programs you list would work fine, and get you delivering DDPs in no time.

Just my 2 cents, YMMV, etc etc.

Thor

[ONDRAY]

Originally Posted by recall

DSP Quattro or Audiofile Wave editor.

To assemble album masters, Including DDP's, I use Quattro. It gets the job done. Haven't used SoundBlade. But used Wave Editor before for DDP's. The version of Peak I had a few year back didn't have DDP, and haven't really look into changing software lately.

[Cinnamon]

I've been looking primarily at Sonicstudio's PreMaster CD and Peak Studio... Both have a similar price point (~$500).

Between the two, it seems like PMCD has the better reputation (definitely the best track record), but Peak Studio seems to be improving rather rapidly... yet Peak has a multitude of great plugins that it comes with, as well as allowing other plugins to be used (I have iZotope Ozone & it works in Peak). Does PMCD have similar capabilities? The trial version of PMCD I used a couple months ago didn't seem to have any special capabilities (compression/expansion, EQ) beyond creating fades, assembly, DDP creation and printing PQ data.... Am I missing something?

[SoundReplay]

I am trying Sonoris this week. Downloaded the trial version of DDP Creator, and I must say it does the job nicely. No fancy plugins and stable. I am considering Sonoris, but in February they will release the Pro version (including Wave file display and a couple of more features).

Elsewise, my local dealer of Wavelab (but also other mastering software) is surprised to hear that Wavelab 7.2 is unstable. He never received a complain before... Although I think that Wavelab is the most professional option to go (Steinberg has these many years of experience developing Wavelab), I am still wondering what added benefit it would give me compared to other software which can deliver DDP.

I am still puzzled with the fact that some of the vendors are claiming that the sound quality of their software is the best. Shouldn't it be that all of this mastering software should not mess with the original source files (unless you use their additional software plugins or dithering algoryhtms??)

Need some more ZEN this week before I decide

[Petrus]

I do not quite understand why the program used to master the disk (place track markers and add CD-text) should be able to do anything than that, plus spit out a DDP? Certainly it is easier and more precise to use a real DAW to make one big CD file first.

My workflow: edit and compile and master in Reaper in 24/88.2 or 24/96 into a full CD length wav file. Use iZotope in Sample Manager to convert that into 16/44.1. Place markers and add CD-text in Wave Editor, export DDP. This ensures that the mastering program (sometimes I use CD Architect also for home burned CD-Rs) does nothing to the audio.

[mixerguy]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon

I've been looking primarily at Sonicstudio's PreMaster CD and Peak Studio... Both have a similar price point (~$500).

Between the two, it seems like PMCD has the better reputation (definitely the best track record), but Peak Studio seems to be improving rather rapidly... ........

I'm curious about this too.....

and

two very smart pals of mine have just recommended PEAK to me....

one of them mentioned to check that ALL the features you want are included in the version of Sonicstudio that you might buy... as historically they might tend to charge $$$ for certain features.

It is very cool that PEAK Studio is now bundled with a 3rd party DDP checking utility, for free.