[anrug]

Originally Posted by mad demon

Though that does not change the fact that the DDP format itself does not use checksums (neither does CUE/BIN) so if the plant will not run the checksums (or there software does not) it doesn't help.

Absolutely correct. Like all CD audio image formats I've seen, they were invented without network transmission in mind, that may explain, why neither of them has checksums built-in. But even if it had, a plant could still be dumb and not verify the checksums.

By the way, the CD Text part of a DDP always has checksums integrated. I hope plants verify them.

Also DDP is very restricted to audio CDs only and we do a lot of CD-Extra (Enhanced CDs, which have a data track in addition to the audio track) which DDP can't do ... or can it?

It can. In fact, the very intention of the DDP specification was to completely describe all types of optical discs. So, Red Book is only a very small part of the DDP specification.

Industrial standard ... like ProTools session files? ... that must not mean it is the best for the job.

Completely agreed. DDP has indeed been the industry standard in the professional filed as far as I can tell. But technically, if we only talk about Red Book, e.g. Pyramix images (pmi), Sequoia Images (hdp/wav), Nero Images (nra), Jam Files, or cue/wav would all do. In fact, many plants accept some of those formats.

However the problem is, e.g. if I have a damaged DDP file or some software screws the DDP file creation up there is no way for me to even see nor fix that. Even if I had the computer knowledge to do so because the DDP specification is not release to the general public.
With a cue sheet I can fix it myself because just like the REAPER project files it is human readable. Plus its definition can be found in Appendix A of ftp://209.113.146.144/public_ftp/cdr.pdf

The open documentation and simplicity of the format is a big plus, I agree. But just for the record: the cue sheet specification is not very precise, it leaves out important information, like which encoding the file should be stored in, or how to use double quotes in CD text. Also the being able to edit the cue sheet easily only applies to the three most important CD text fields (TITLE, PERFORMER, SONGWRITER). (But I personally think that's enough.) Technically the DDP spec--which is not free, but at least does not cost money--is slightly more precise.

(By the way, I've gone the route of signing the DDP license many years ago and checking my DDP masters myself. But to tell you the truth: it has only helped my understanding of how different software uses the format, but it has not changed the quality of my masters in any way. I've used Pyramix and Sequoia and those DDP could always be sent straight to the plant. Also I usually proof-listen after I generate a DAWs native CD image, but before I convert that to DDP.)

But let's not to confuse or scare jake the snake anymore/any more ... either way is fine. DDP or CUE/BIN. Just make sure to zip it up so an error detection mechanism, that does not depend on someone or some software actually running the checksums, is in place.
I would recommend asking the plant which of DDP or CUE/BIN they prefer and then go with that. Because sending them a DDP when they are not familiar with it can be as fatal as sending a CUE/BIN they have never heard of.

100% agreed.