AUDIO IN ACTION

Introduction:

Have you found yourself in any of these scenarios?

1)  You have a CD of mixes for final review, and every band member wants a copy to hear the mix and give input.
2)  You completed your mastering session, and each band member wants a copy of the final master reference CD.
3)  You are waiting for your manufactured CDs to arrive, and friends/family wish to have copies of your mastered release.

To address these circumstances, the answer may seem simple:  Make a playlist in iTunes, import the audio, and burn an audio CD.

Easy right?  No, not quite.

While it seems easy enough, iTunes is not actually making a 1:1 copy of your reference CD, but rather it is making an approximation of the reference CD.  To achieve a true 1:1 copy, the solution is to use a software application that supports the “Disc-At-Once” (DAO) protocol to create a genuine audio CD copy.

Why bother with a DAO application? A few key reasons:

1)  Fidelity.  By using a DAO application, you will ensure that fidelity and audio integrity are maintained using a linear PCM audio stream.  You will not have to wonder or worry that copies of your reference have been compromised in any way by a lossy encoder such as AAC (the iTunes default encoder) or WMA (the Windows Media Player default encoder).

2)  Disc Metadata.  By using a DAO application, you will ensure that the disc layout will be identical, thereby carrying-over any included metadata such as CD-Text into the copied discs.

3)  Online Metadata Recognition.  If your CD metadata has been submitted to an online metadata system such as Gracenote’s CDDB (used by iTunes and other software applications for recognizing audio CDs and showing their artist/track information), then an exact copy of the CD is necessary in order for the requesting software (eg: iTunes) to properly identify your music in the online metadatabase.  Simply put: If you want your reference copies to key-off the metadata-recognition systems the disc was submitted to (eg: CDDB), then you will need an exact copy of the disc that was submitted, and using a DAO application will ensure that.

Your next step:  How to solve this dilemma easily and quickly with Roxio software.

This article will provide you with a tutorial for using two popular DAO programs from the same vendor:

- Roxio’s Easy CD Copier (PC)
- Roxio’s Toast (Mac).

By following these steps, you will ensure the copies you make will retain the fidelity of the source, and be compatible with all metadata systems the disc has been submitted to.

On the PC:  Creating DAO CD-R copies using Roxio “Easy CD Copier” in 3 easy steps:

1)  With your Reference CD in your computer’s CD drive / launch CD Copier, select your source & target drives, then click “Copy” to begin.

2)  CD Copier will ask you to swap the source disc (your Reference CD) with a blank CD-R.  Swap discs and continue the copy.

3)  CD Copier will prompt you when your disc copy is complete.

On the Mac: Creating DAO CD-R copies using Roxio “Toast” in 3 easy steps:

1)  With your Reference CD in your computer’s CD drive / launch Toast, select your source & target drives, then click “Copy” to begin.

2)  Toast will automatically eject your source disc (your Reference CD), and prompt you to insert a blank CD-R.  Swap discs and continue the copy.

3)  Toast will prompt you when your disc copy is complete.

Why Roxio?

There are a plethora of CD burning applications available on the web;  however, when reviewing the current options, the Roxio suite of products met the needs of:

1)  Maintaining audio integrity
2)  Performing DAO copies
3)  Offering an easy-to-use User Interface

Conclusion:

Now that you are armed with the knowledge and tools to make DAO copies of your reference CDs, you will always know that when you are reviewing mix or master references of your music, you are listening to all your audio, uncompressed, at its full potential.

Sidebar:  Why DAO & the need for maintaining audio integrity:

The Audio CD “Red Book” standard requires that the disc be created via the DAO (Disc-At-Once) protocol.  Some audio CD burning software, some drives, and stand-alone players use the TAO, or “Track-At-Once” protocol.  The easiest way to understand the difference between DAO and TAO, is that DAO creates the audio disc in a single pass;  the laser is engaged at the beginning of the CD creation, and only turned-off when the CD burn is complete, whereas during TAO the laser is turned on and off at the completion of each audio track of the audio CD.

Sidebar: How to determine if your audio CD quality has been compromised:

If you suspect your reference CD is not of Red Book audio quality, follow the steps outlined in the article below to determine if your audio is truly a Red Book audio CD:
http://www.mikewellsmastering.com/article_is_my_cd_full_redbook_quality.php

Additional Information:

Roxio CD Copier:http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/creator/suite/overview.html
Roxio Toast: http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/toast/titanium/overview.html
DAO Defined:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk-at-once
TAO Defined:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track-at-once