Taking the mystery out of mastering since 2001:

"Glass Master" : The process commonly known as mastering is actually called "pre-mastering" as we do not physically create the glass master, we just prepare the audio for reproduction. The replicators (CD manufacturers) actually take our "pre-master" and produce a physical image of the pits on a coated glass substrate. The glass master is then destroyed in a process called metallization in which a metal-plated version is made. From this version, all manufactured CD's are made.

"Orange-Book" : Same as Red Book, it just applies to CD-R's and Recordable CD's. Orange & Red Book define the industry standard for CD Audio. Any CD-R burned as an audio CD with commercially available software is orange book compliant.

"PQ Codes" : Part of the track length and spacing of your CD... assuming you're hiring a professional, it should be seamless and invisible to you. No sheet of paper containing "PQ Codes" is necessary or required by replicators/duplicators as long as it's clear that the mastered CD-R is to be reproduced as an exact clone (Disc at Once mode).

"ISRC": (International Standard Recording Code) is a free, unique, digital "fingerprint" for each track supplied by either the RIAA or IFPI (for international) for the purpose of collecting royalties. This information is encoded within the metadata of the song-file during the mastering stage. No matter where or how the digital file is reproduced, this metadata remains tied to the track. If you choose to do this, I advise you to apply for the codes ahead of time and I can insert them during the mastering process. It usually takes about 3 biz days to get your codes once you've submitted the proper paper work (http://www.riaa.com/whatwedo.php?content_selector=whatwedo_isrc_codes).

"PMCD" : An antiquated file format that allowed error-protected CD metadata to be embedded on an Orange Book CD-R so that data could be recovered, without error and at high speed, during the glass mastering process. The process itself has been discontinued (for a cheaper, more reliable method known as DDP) but some replicators and mastering engineers still incorrectly refer to orange-book CD-R's as PMCDs. Don't let it confuse you.

"DDP" Short for "Disc Description Protocol." This format has completely replaced the PCM-1630/DMR-4000, PCM-9000 and PMCD formats used by professionals in the past for premastering delivery to the plant. It is the worldwide standard for the safe and low cost delivery of CD and DVD files to replication facilities. And yes, our masters are all orange-book CD-R and/or DDP formatted files (some replicators have not updated their equipment yet).