Focus

Cdrdao records audio or data CD-Rs in disk-at-once (DAO) mode based on a textual description of the CD contents (toc-file).

Advantages of Disk-At-Once (DAO) Recording

Recording in disk-at-once mode writes the complete disc, i.e. lead-in, one or more tracks and lead-out, in a single step. The commonly used track-at-once (TAO) mode writes each track independently which requires link blocks between two tracks. Older CD-recorder models forced a two second pause (pre-gap) between two tracks whereas newer models allow adjusting of the pause length in TAO mode reducing the number of link blocks to a minimal amount. However, with TAO it is generally not possible to define the data that is written in pre-gaps. But exactly this feature makes audio CD recording interesting, e.g. by creating hidden bonus tracks or track intros in pre-gaps like it is common habit on commercial CDs. 
Finally, DAO recording is the only way to write data to the unused R-W sub-channels for e.g.  CD-G or CD-TEXT. 

Features

• Full control over length and contents of pre-gaps (pause areas between tracks). Pre-gaps may be completely omitted, e.g. for dividing live recordings into tracks.
• Control over sub-channel data like:
  • catalog number
  • copy, pre-emphasis, 2-/4-channel flags
  • ISRC code
  • index marks
• Support for exact audio, data and mixed mode CD copying.
• Support for R-W sub-channel writing.
• Tracks may be composed of different audio files supporting non destructive cut.
• Accepts WAVE and raw audio files.
• CD-TEXT reading and writing with drives that support it.
• CDDB access to automatically create CD-TEXT data.
• Support for on-the-fly copying.

Platforms Reported to Work

• FreeBSD
• Irix
• Linux
• Solaris
• HP-UX
• Win32
• OS/2
• Unixware

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