Geez, I really --- I don't want to ---
If you're not absolutely 100% certain that you're writing a compatible disc and you're absolutely 100% certain on what you're doing with it, you'd be a fool to use the resulting disc as a production master.
No, WMP won't write a compliant disc. Neither will iTunes, neither will a dozen other popular "burning" programs out there. I
hear that certain versions of Nero will author a compliant disc "in the background" -- But again, if I can't see and edit a frame-accurate PQ log, it's not a compliant disc (period).
It's not rocket surgery - But it's a very (VERY) precise process where "the rules" are regularly bent but without breaking. And when you're talking about hidden tracks, CD TEXT data and what not, it gets even more precise and the rules need to be flexed even more.
I'm not saying not to go out and get a
proper, compliant PQ editor, but it's not something you want to be "experimenting" with on something that's actually going to the plant. Especially these days, when a lot of plants aren't running the same type of QC they were a decade ago.
I've seen non-compliant discs go through - And I've seen bands replacing 2500 CD's, one-by-one, and then paying a small fortune to have them re-wrapped because they sent in an improperly formated master disc. Don't be another one of them... Although if you do, please tell me about it so I can add you to the pool.
