Hi Team,

My Tascam Cassette/CD Recorder is starting to get very fussy about what discs it will write to.
This week its doesn't like verbatim but does like ASDA blanks.

I was looking at a replacement CD recorder but they're not cheap.

Then I thought it's just a CD ROM drive in a prettier box, right?

Theoretically I can swap the entire drive with another one the same?

Worse case I buy a replacement from Tascam...

Has anyone done this?
Have I missed something?

Cheers

Lizardpoint

Goodness! Two questions from two different people with the same piece of antique gear in two days! Are you related?

Do you really need a stand-alone CD recorder hard-wired to a cassette machine? What does it do that your computer doesn't do faster and better?

Quote Lizardpoint:

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Then I thought it's just a CD ROM drive in a prettier box, right? Theoretically I can swap the entire drive with another one the same?

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Now you come to mention it, I'm surprised I haven't seen more discussion on CD writers, or companies selling overpriced varieties to musicians. Maybe there's a gap in the market.

My instincts tell me that you don't need a standalone recorder but that expensive CD writers are better than cheap ones. There are plenty of SOS references to burn rates and media quality, but the only mention of the actual drives I've turned up is an old plug for Plextor.

Quote BJG145:

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My instincts tell me that you don't need a standalone recorder but that expensive CD writers are better than cheap ones.

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I need more customers like you! :-)

There is no market for premium CD/DVD drive mechanisms these days. For a very good reason.

Quote BJG145:

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There are plenty of SOS references to burn rates and media quality, but the only mention of the actual drives I've turned up is an old plug for Plextor.

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That's because Plextor were the only company into making better quality drives for more demanding customers. Everyone else was chasing the highest speed for the lowest price - and Plextor have now stopped making their own drives.

Tascam's parent company, Teac, made their own CD drives so I suspect that the drive in your unit will be a Teac drive but it will probably have its own custom firmware.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Quote James Perrett:

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Tascam's parent company, Teac, made their own CD drives so I suspect that the drive in your unit will be a Teac drive but it will probably have its own custom firmware.

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That does anything except reject media not flagged as "audio"?

James, would you say that there IS a "better" drive on the market today, beyond the ubiquitous £20 units from Pioneer and the like? And what's inferior about the £13 LiteOn ones? Has anyone done tests recently?

I think most mastering engineers are hanging on to their ancient Plextors for as long as possible although that's mainly for the CD testing features. Plextor kept on making the Premium2 in small quantities in Japan up until a couple of years ago but that was the only high quality drive in recent production that I know of. I'm a little out of touch with current drives but I've heard good things about the Pioneers and even the Lite-Ons are capable of good quality burns with the right media.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Quote Exalted Wombat:

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Goodness! Two questions from two different people with the same piece of antique gear in two days! Are you related?

Do you really need a stand-alone CD recorder hard-wired to a cassette machine? What does it do that your computer doesn't do faster and better?

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Not related and you're right, I don't need the cassette/CD recorder combo.

However I do need a CD Recorder.
Its at my church and it gets used every sunday and the CD then plops into a Duplicator tower so copies are available within minutes of the service finishing.

So option 1, I take off the lid and see what CD drive mechanism is inside the Tascam with a view to replacing it.

Option 2 buy a new CD recorder.

Option 3 .... Insert option 3 and any other ideas here ...

Cheers

Lizardpoint

Record your audio to the HD of a laptop, then after the service burn it to CD and drop it in the duplication tower. Will take a few minutes more before the copies will be ready.

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Preamps are Class A by default

Quote Lizardpoint:

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Its at my church and it gets used every sunday and the CD then plops into a Duplicator tower so copies are available within minutes of the service finishing.

So option 1, I take off the lid and see what CD drive mechanism is inside the Tascam with a view to replacing it.

Option 2 buy a new CD recorder.

Option 3 .... Insert option 3 and any other ideas here ...

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Sure, have a look. I suspect you'll have trouble finding a drive that can burn at 1X though.

How long does it take to burn a master disk from a recording made to computer, or maybe to a memory card? A minute or two - even including a quick glance at it in a wave editor to trim the beginning, insert track markers (you can note down during the service the timing points of the various sections), normalise if necessary? Is that really an issue?

If the church is throwing "But this is how we've ALWAYS done it!" at you, just tell them real-tine burners are obsolete technology, 1X media is no longer available and a few minutes delay is preferable to the strong possibility of a failed recording.