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
