Totally off-topic I'm afraid, but I'm sure there is some expertise here:
Can anyone point me in the direction of a DVD recorder (i.e. standalone unit; not a device for a computer) which will record standard CDs as well as DVDs? Having assumed that most would (every single PC drive writes CD-R) I now find that *none* of the models I've so far looked at do! Why? They all use PC drives internally so surely it's only a matter of adjusting the software slightly?
I have a specific application which requires recording onto standard CD-DA for use in ordinary CD players, and occasionally requires DVD video too. I am loathe to buy two devices, and besides which CD recorders are few and far between these days, and incredibly are also more expensive than DVD recorders. I do not want to have to use a computer of any description in the process unless it is absolutely necessary as there will be non-technical people involved.
Yeah, I'm not sure you'll find any DVD recorders for telly programmes that will write to CDs as they have a different file structure or something equally technical. There was an idea around a few years ago that CDs could be used for recordeing short clips of DVD video, but due to this different fettlement (technical term) and the need for different lasers for each of the differing fettlements, it was never implemented on DVD recorders for telly programmes (AIUI, YMMV, etc etc.)
Are you wanting to record digital radio through a set-top box onto CD by any chance? I just record onto my minidisc using the digital audio output, then transfer this to a computer for editing/CD burning.
That is a software issue. CD-DA as a standard was laid down in the Phillips "Red Book" way back at the tail end of the 1970s IIRC. Developing software to dump audio to CD in linear 16-bit 44.1kHz stereo is hardly going to task the sort of processor fitted to a DVD recorder which has to (near)real-time encode MPEG video and audio. I would have thought it would take a trivial amount of extra programming and (see below) absolutely no extra hardware to implement.
Are you perchance thinking of VideoCD? Still around.
The hardware point may have been appropriate some while ago, but certainly isn't now. It looks to me as if most (all?) of these DVD recorders use bog-standard DVD recording drives as available for under £30 to fit into your PC. When was the last time you met such a drive which *couldn't* also write CDs? Different lasers may well be needed for writing, but it's obviously pretty easy to fit them as that is what happens by default.
No, it's church services for people who can't make it and want to katch up. We used to record directly onto Compact Cassette which was great as just about everyone has a cassette player. Our recorder broke though and at the moment we're recording onto MD. The disadvantage is that even if someone just wants to borrow the recording to give back later, you still have to copy it. With CC you just gave them the original. My idea with CD was that just about as many people have CD players these days as CC, and so if you can originate onto CD you can (once again) loan out the medium without having to copy.
Thanks for the reply anyway, I'm off to check out the LiteOn recorders mentioned elsewhere...
According to the Dabs site they record (S)VCD onto CD-R etc. Mention is not made of plain vanilla audio, but that model is the closest I've yet come to something which will do what I want.
I feel a minimum spec. PC (or minimac) coming :-(((((
The lite-on LVW5004 or 5005 will do it (available from Argos and other places). It has a feature they call "all-write" which allows writing of DVDs (on DVD media) and audio CDs (on CDR media).
The CD writing works well. The only bad thing is, it doesn't have any way of showing the recording level, so you have to do a bit of experimenting to get the correct level. They play back fine on every CD player I have tried.
It's not the best DVD recorder/player, it does not understand widescreen switching and constantly switches the TV back to 4:3 mode whatever the source aspect ratio. The 5004 does not record RGB from the scart but the
5005 does. It's cheap though, about 120 quid last time I looked.
However for your church application it might not be so good as you really need a TV connected to it to know exactly what it is doing - there are several onscreen menus to get it into the audio CD record mode. I would save up and get a proper audio CD recorder, especially if not-very-technical people are operating it. We got one at our church and it works well, just press record and you're off, just press stop and it ends. Plus you can rip the cds for putting audio on the web and making CD copies etc.
After my experience, I will never touch Liteon again. The one I bought (5001 I think) was obviously not fit for purpose and needed a bit more development work on the software.
Thanks for that, CD-DA doesn't seem to be anyone's high priority recording format. Although some specifications I saw last night suggested that the 5006 wouldn't do DA, I've seen a few today which imply that it does. Ho hum. Off to find the manual methinks :-)
I'm planning to feed it via a compressor and DA. Presumably the thing has some kind of input level control. If so, once set it should be ok so long as no-one fiddles with the compressor settings.
Price is certainly an issue. Widescreen switching probably not so, as it'll mainly be feeding 4:3 devices with 4:3 signals. Chances are it'll go through a scan converter to upconvert to SVGA before the video projector projector too, so widescreen switching isn't likely to survive anyway.
Hmmm... that could be a problem. There is a list of "nice to have but" for the system which involves a small monitor at the PA end which could be relatively easily switched to view the output of the DVD recorder though...
Unfortunately, "saving up" isn't really an option. We've had a one-off offer for the system upgrade and so I want to get as much stuff in place as possible in one go. Justifying moving to recording services onto CD has been relatively easy given that we need to install a DVD recorder anyway; total outlay around £150. Justifying an *additional* £200 for a CD recorder would be very difficult when I can get a nice(ish) cassette recorder from Richer Sounds for £50. Not only that, but CD recorders seem to be a dying breed.
No, it really has no input level control at all. I ended up burning a CD with some test levels then stuck it in Soundforge to work out what level had been written to the disk. If you can set and then fix the level going into it, you'll be OK.
It'll be fine then. It definitely has a built-in preference for 4:3!
Well it's not too bad, I think you press "Easy Guider" on the remote then 2 down arrows to select "Audio CD", then Enter or something like that. I just wanted to make you aware it was not as straightforward as a proper CD recorder.
Visit the cdfreaks forum for more info on it, there are a few threads running. There are region-free, macrovision and "EP" hacks for it (EP adds a 3 hour recording mode to the existing 2 hour and 6 hour modes).
And the 'I am loathe to buy two devices, and besides which CD recorders are few and far between these days, and incredibly are also more expensive than DVD recorders'
Shame, that would be by far the cheapest and most capable option. A free P2 PC and a DVD burner drive, total cost =A340.
BTW why is someone at demon.co.uk recording church services? What should we know? :)
.CDA is becoming obsolescent now. Its increasingly hard to find any reason to record in .CDA, backwards compatibility with old kit being the only reason left.
portable B&W TVs are free, ditto 14" monitors.
Ideal for now, but realise you'll quickly find CDA a truly outdated format. So ensure you get something that will record in the better formats as well, particularly mp3.
Huh? That is what everyone was saying about the LP when cassette came out, and it didn't happen. I don't see sales of (non singles) CDs dropping significantly in the near future. As you say, CDA is a "backward compatible" thing, and there is a heck of a lot of installed hardware out there. We have eight CD players in our house, and only the three attached to computers have any chance of playing anything other than bog-standard CDs. (Singles are different, as has been proved by the likes of iTunes)
Now it is *just* possible that DVD players will take over from CD players, but there is as yet no standard (i.e. playable by the vast majority of players) audio-only format for DVD, and there certainly weren't any audio-only DVDs in MVC last time I visited. Sure it'd be nice to get the Messiah unedited on one disc instead of two, but where can I buy it? And with a video release, how the heck do I navigate the menus if I don't have a display device attached, such as might be the case for an in-car player?
Then there's the "golden eared" brigade to worry about. They're only just coming to terms with CD now that "dithering" technologies are spuriously claiming to make an inherently 16-bit system sound like 20 bits. The few reviews I've seen of SACD have been less than glowing, and many of the other formats on offer are data-compressed which is an immediate "no go" for these people. Where are the 24-bit 192kHz
7-channel releases from Deutsche Grammophon?
On what market information do you base your assertion that CD-DA is a thing of the past? And where do I find a CD/DVD recorder which will put down MP3s?
Oh yes, the Demon thing is historical. Never quite understood why it was called Demon, but I've been with them since 1996. My mum, who was a missionary with the Baptist Missionary Society in northern India in the
1960s, is a theological scholar and lay preacher with 40-odd years of experience behind her is also with Demon and has never complained ;-)
Backward compatibility with 'standard' CD players of indeterminate age is exactly what is needed here. Even so there may be problems with some parishioners finding their CD player doesn't play CDRW.
How is MP3 (lossy compressed) better than CDA? If anything, Ogg/Vorbis would be better, as more efficient in storage space and an open format.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.