Tascam MD-801R/P Mk II General notes on recording using the MD format, Rebuilding the TOC

MD-801R model only.

4.3.1General notes on recording using the MD format

Because the MD method of recording is somewhat different to a linear recording method, such as tape, you should note the following points.

•The message Disc Full may appear on the display before the available recording time on the disc has all be used.

This may be because more than 255 tracks have been recorded on the disc.

•The sum of the total recorded time, and the dis- played remaining available time may not equal the theoretical total capacity of the disc.

This is because of the nature of the MiniDisc track structure. At least two seconds are used for every MiniDisc track, regardless of the audio structure. In addition, “bad sectors”, caused by dirt, scratches, etc. are automatically skipped and ignored, which means that they are unavailable for recording. We always suggest that you leave some “safety net”, and do not attempt to record a program of exactly 74 minutes on an MD marked as 74 minutes.

•Erasing a track will not make the time the exact length of the erased track available for recording.

This is on account of the nature of the MD recording format, and has to do with block size, etc. If you are familiar with computer systems, you may be aware of a simiular limitation with regard to file size on some operating systems.

4.3.2 Rebuilding the TOC

It is possible to rebuild the TOC, which will free up recording space if a heavily-edited disc is being used.

1With the MD-801 stopped, press the EDIT key

[18].

2Turn the DATA dial [12] until the display shows:

TOC REBUILD?

3Turn the SHUTTLE wheel [13] clockwise to rebuild the TOC (counterclockwise to cancel the operation).

4When the display shows Complete, and the TOC WRITE indicator [19] lights, press the TOC WRITE key to write the new TOC to disc.

4 - Recording operations

NOTE

Depending on the condition of the disc (how many edits have been performed, etc.), it may take a considerable amount of time for the TOC to be rebuilt. In rare cases, the recording capacity of the disc may not be increased, even after the TOC has been rebuilt in this way.

•The number of tracks that have been intentionally recorded, and the number of tracks displayed may not match.

When the transport encounters dirt or scratches, etc., the current track is ended, and a new track is started. This automatically-created track is marked by the let- ters “Cont !!” being added to the end of the track title. This “track” cannot be combined using the editing methods available. To avoid the occurence of such “tracks”, it is important to keep the MD media clean and dust-free.

NOTE

Every time recording is halted, the TOC is updated. As always, avoid turning off the power while the TOC is being written. In addi- tion, you should be aware that if you have performed editing operations that you do not want to commit to disc, and then do some recording, the edit operations will be saved to disc when recording stops. You may want to eject the disc without writing the edits (see

[3]) before recording, to avoid this situation.

Like most other forms of recordable media, MDs incorporate a write-protect tab, which can prevent you from accidentally overwriting precious record- ings. If you try recording with a disc that has had the tab set to the “protect” position (open), the display will show:

W _ Protected!

If you want to record on this disc, you must eject the disc, close the write-protect tab and record again.

4.3.3 Basic recording

This gives the basic instructions on how to record. There are a number of different recording-related options which may be selected, as described else- where in this section.

TASCAM MD-801R/P Mk II 4–5