Cd Recording Basics; Disc Types; Cdr Terminology And Display Messages - Harman Kardon CDR 20 Owner's Manual

CD Recording Basics

CD Recorders (CDRs) are similar to standard CD
players, with the addition of the features and
controls needed for recording. Functions such as
play, search and programming for playback will
be familiar, but the recorder will function slightly
differently than what you may be used to for
magnetic tape recorders.

Disc Types

Unlike a conventional CD player, the CDR 20
uses three types of discs, and it is important to
understand how each one plays.
Both decks in the CDR 20 will play
back any conventional CD that bears this logo.
Discs that bear this logo or whose
Recordable
packaging is labeled with "Digital Audio" and
"CD-R" or "CD Recordable" may be recorded
on one time, and when they are finalized they
will play in either deck in the CDR 20 or in any
conventional CD player, including home, car and
portable models. The Record Deck
CDR 20 may also be used to record on these
discs, and it will play CD-R/Audio discs even if
they have not been finalized.
Discs that bear this logo or whose
ReWritable
packaging is labeled with "Digital Audio" and
"CD-RW" or "CD Rewritabel" may be recorded,
and they may also be erased and reused. They
may be recorded on or played on the Record
Deck of the CDR 20 and in other CD-RW
recorders or CD-RW compatible players.
CD-RW Audio discs will play on most DVD play-
ers once they have been finalized.
14 CD RECORDING BASICS
Recordable ReWritable
computer CD-R drives may not be used for
recording in the CDR 20. Only discs specifically
designed for use in consumer CD audio
recorders may be used. If you attempt to use a
blank-computer-type recordable disc for recording
on the CDR 20 you will see a NO AUDIO
message in the Information Display
Record or Dubbing
and recording will not be possible. However,
discs that have been recorded in the CD-R drive
of a computer may be played in the CDR 20,
provided that they have been properly finalized
in accordance with audio standard IEC958.
Note that the CDR 20 is specifically designed for
the recording and playback of consumer audio
discs, and cannot be used to copy data discs,
DVD discs, or other optical discs used by video-
or computer-game systems.

CDR Terminology and Display Messages

Compact disc recording has its own special ter-
on the
minology, and some of the messages you will
see when using the CDR 20 may be new to you.
Before using the CDR 20, you may wish to famil-
iarize yourself with some of the terms used by
the CDR 20. Additional error message displays
may occasionally appear. Please see page 23 for
a complete explanation of those messages.
Finalize: This term refers to the process
that completes the recording of a disc by record-
ing a final Table of Contents and preparing the
disc so that it may be played on other machines.
A CD-R disc may not be played on other CD
players until it is finalized. However, once the
finalization process is complete, a CD-R disc may
not be recorded on again. CD-RW discs only may
be "Unfinalized, " so that additional tracks may
be recorded on a disc.
TOC: Stands for Table of Contents and it refers
to the data recorded on each CD that tells the
Discs designed for use in
player how many tracks are on the disc, the total
time of the disc and the running time of each
individual track. Each time a disc of any sort is
placed in the CDR 20, you will see a TOC to
indicate that the unit is reading this data from
the disc. This is required to copy the track infor-
mation to any recording.
if
OPC: Stands for Optical Processing Calibration.
button is pressed
When you see this message in the Information
Display for the Record Deck
that the laser transport inside the unit is making
the calibrations and adjustments needed so that
the recording process is optimized for the specif-
ic disc in use.
BUSY: When you see this message, it means
that the Record Deck is completing part of the
record operation. When you see this message, do
not press any buttons; simply wait until the mes-
sage clears from the display.
DISC FULL: When there are only four sec-
onds of record time remaining on a blank disc, a
DISC FULL message will appear in the
Information Display
message, you will need to stop the recording
process and, when a CD-R is being recorded,
insert a new blank disc or, when a CD-RW is in
use, either use a new disc or erase existing
tracks following the instructions on page 22.
, it means
. When you see this