Despite all the huffing and puffing over copy protection, making your own audio and video recordings is easier than ever. And for audio in particular, recording quality is also better than ever. The tough part is sorting through all the alternatives — a task we’ll strive to simplify here.


Audio Hard-Disk Recorders
Audio CD Recorders
Mini-Disk Recorders
Video Hard-Disk Recorders

* Listings compiled by Peter Pachal

     

Digital Audio Recording
For component-based digital audio recording, you have three choices: recordable CD (CD-R or CD-RW), MiniDisc (MD), and hard-disk recorders. Each has its strengths and weaknesses.

Recordable CD comes in two varieties: CD-R, which is write-once, and CD-RW, which can be erased and rewritten (the RW is for “rewritable”). CD-Rs are compatible with essentially all standard CD players. They play reliably in DVD gear that has separate laser pickups for CD and DVD but not in most single-pickup DVD players. You can send a CD-R recording to almost anyone and be confident he can play it. You can even play CD-Rs in your computer. But once you’ve recorded a CD-R, that’s the way it will be forever. Given how inexpensive blank discs have become, few people are bothered by that anymore.

CD-RWs can be erased and rewritten thousands of times. Erasure is an all-or-nothing proposition, however. You can’t go back to a completed CD-RW and erase or record over just one track on the disc — unless it’s the last track recorded, and then you can usually work back from there. Also, CD-RWs will play only in machines specifically designed for them — most CD players and some DVD players won’t play them. Finally, CD-RW blank discs cost more than CD-R blanks. So although all current CD recorders support both CD-R and CD-RW, you’ll probably use the former much more often than the latter.

One small “gotcha” to look out for with CD-R and CD-RW blanks is the difference between computer/pro discs and those labeled for music or audio use. Audio discs are slightly more expensive than computer discs because of a royalty paid to songwriters and record companies, and are the only discs that can be used for recording in stand-alone consumer decks. They will work fine in all other types of recorders as well, however, including pro decks and computer CD burners. But if you try to record onto a computer disc in a stand-alone consumer deck, the machine will reject it. (For the pros and cons of computer- and component-based CD recording, see “Burning Choices,” page 91.)

MiniDisc excels in the areas where recordable CD is weakest: editing and re-recording. You can add, remove, and reorganize the tracks on an MD to your heart’s content. The discs are also small compared with CDs and analog cassettes, which makes MD a great medium for portable players.

To fit CD-length recordings onto such small discs, a perceptual-coding system called ATRAC is used to achieve about a 5:1 data reduction relative to CD. In MD’s early days, ATRAC was justly criticized for slightly degrading the reproduction of some sounds. But the system has since been refined to such a degree that only the most persnickety listener could find anything to complain about. Recent MD decks also feature a technology called MDLP, which lets you record more than 5 hours of music on a disc.

But MD has never achieved the popularity in this country that CD has, so not many people own MD players. Indeed, when you first start making your own MDs, probably the only compatible com ponent you’ll own will be the one you’re using for recording.

The latest approach to home audio recording is perhaps the first not to rely on removable media. Instead, these recorders are built around high-capacity hard drives originally developed for computers. A 30-gigabyte (GB) hard disk, for example, can hold more than 50 CDs worth of music in its original, uncompressed 16-bit/44.1-kHz format. Apply an audio data-reduction system, such as MP3, and the amount of music a drive can hold soars. Suddenly you can have a personal jukebox capable of storing thousands of songs and retrieving any of them almost instantly.

There’s no defined, standard format for hard-disk audio recorders. Some have built-in CD or DVD players in addition to digital and analog audio inputs and outputs. Others have Ethernet ports and other features designed for integration in to home computer networks, where they function as music servers. So it’s very important to carefully consider what’s available and how each product’s features and capabilities fit into how you want to use such a device.

Note the type and number of inputs and outputs. Check which au dio coding formats are supported and wheth er the software in the box can be upgraded to add new formats or improved versions of existing ones. Some hard-disk recorders support CD-quality .WAV files as well as compressed file formats, such as MP3; others support only compressed files. Which compression formats are sup ported also varies, as do the data rates you can select for them. You want to be sure you can get the level of sound quality you want. For instance, a data rate of 160 kilobits per second (kbps) or higher will give you CD-quality sound, but it’ll also eat up a lot of disk space. A rate like 96 kbps will free up a lot more room but also yield noticeably inferior sound.

If the jukebox contains analog inputs — most do even if you can’t set the recording level — you’ll be able to copy LPs or cassettes to the hard drive. You can even record radio programs from your receiver that are many hours long.

Finally, give the user interface a test drive. It’s no good having a thousand music recordings right there in front of you if you can’t organize them or find the ones you want quickly and painlessly.

       

Once you’ve decided on a recording format, it’ll be time to choose a specific recorder. Here are some key features you should consider:

      Video Recorders
The old reliable of video recording is a somewhat long-in-the-tooth analog tape format, the VHS videocassette. One variant of VHS is Digital VHS (D-VHS), which uses VHS-like videocassettes for direct recording from digital video sources, such as satellite TV. In that application, for example, the MPEG-2 digital bitstream from the satellite receiver would be recorded straight to videocassette for later playback through the satellite receiver’s MPEG decoder. The D-VHS format supports both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) digital video, and D-VHS decks also record and play standard analog VHS tapes.

Recently, two digital alternatives to VHS have arrived on the scene: hard-disk recorders and DVD re cord ers, both using standard MPEG-2 video coding. Hard-disk video recorders are built around high-capacity computer hard drives, typically in the 20- to 30-gigabyte range. These are perhaps the ultimate time-shifting machines, enabling you to play back a TV program at the same time you’re recording one. This gives you the feeling that you can pause, rewind, and fast-forward live TV. Point-and-click program guides let you easily schedule recording of a single program, a group of programs, or even a particular program anytime it’s on. The recorder prompts you when you start to run low on disk space so you can purge old recordings or archive any keepers to videotape or recordable DVD.

Hard-disk recorders are made by a variety of companies, which license the programming systems from the companies that developed them. Current providers include TiVo, ReplayTV, and UltimateTV. Some hard-disk recorders have built-in satellite TV receivers. These models normally can’t be connected to a broadcast or cable feed, so your only program source is satellite. UltimateTV recorders are always built around DirecTV receivers and are the only ones that can record two programs simultaneously. You have to pay a subscription fee to use both the TiVo and UltimateTV services, while this fee is built into the price of ReplayTV models.

DVD recorders are just beginning to appear on the market. Unfortunately, recordable DVD comes in four flavors, one write-once (DVD-R) and three rewritable (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW). DVD-R recordings will play on almost all standard DVD players, and DVD-RW and DVD+ RW recordings should play on the majority. DVD-RAM, on the other hand, is incompatible with DVD players not designed specifically to handle it.

Like DVD-R, DVD-RAM and DVD-RW are officially sanctioned by the industry’s DVD Forum, and they appear to have more extensive backing from hardware manufacturers than DVD+RW. Only time will tell which format, or formats, will have legs in the marketplace. Fortunately, all DVD recorders, no matter which rewritable formats they support, will play DVD-Rs.

Since they all have built-in TV tuners, clocks, and the other necessary time-shifting technology, you can use a DVD recorder to replace your VCR. They’re also useful for archiving programs recorded on other media or for creating DVDs from cam cord er footage. And they make first-rate DVD-Video players. Given their prices, though, it’s surprising none of them play DVD-Audio discs.

       

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re shopping for a video recorder of any type:

So there you are. Yes, it’s more complicated than the old days, when the only recorders were cassette decks and VCRs. The explosion of choices brings many benefits, however, in performance, versatility, and ease of use. What’s happening now in the world of video recording is particularly exciting. It’s good times for shoppers.