Recording error on Tascam CD-RW900SL

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Nick_G, Feb 22, 2009.

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  1. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I recently had an error message come up when starting to record a track on the above CD recorder (REC ERROR!) and the machine spat the disc out. On re-inserting the recording went fine, and the disc also finalised with no problems.

    My question is, is this something worth worrying about, or do these things happen from time to time? Is it more likely the machine or the disc? The Tascam was bought in early January and I was using an HHB CDR80 CD-R disc.

    Thanks for any info.
     
  2. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Rarely will one of these do it! If it does it again, get it in for warranty service. My old CD-RW 750 only did it once. A CD-RW which was corrupted and wouldn't record. I ejected it and turned it off and back on. Put in another disc and no trouble afterwards.
     
  3. rushed again

    rushed again Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I have the CD-RW900, which I've had for about 4 years or so. The REC ERROR you described happened once to me. No problems since.
     
  4. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for the info. Fingers crossed that it doesn't happen again.
     
  5. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Well it's just done it twice on the trot now.

    I watched it whilst recording - it suddenly came up with 'PMA Writing', this went on for maybe 30 seconds, then 'REC ERROR!' came up and it spat the disc out. First time was 3 min 8 sec into the recording, the second time was 48 sec. Again it was on one of the HHB discs. This was on the 14th disc I've made on the machine, so it's not exactly a lot of hours.

    I wonder if it's the write laser that's dodgy? Pretty annoying, whatever the cause. I think I'll have to contact the shop I ordered it from.
     
  6. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Try contacting your dealer or Tascam. I would expect one or two if you were using really poor grade media, but for it to happen with HHb Gold media that's an indicator of something out of kilter. Never had it happen with my old 900, 750, or the wife's 900SL. And they have a good number of hours use on them. Best of success and please update us on it.
     
  7. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for the reply.

    It wouldn't be something as simple as a dirty lens would it?
     
  8. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I contacted the shop I bought the recorder from today, and they suggested I contact Tascam, so I phoned them and explained the problem to one of their tech support guys. He said that they had had a couple of emails very recently from users experiencing exactly the same problem using HHB CD-Rs. He suggested that there might be a dodgy batch of CD-Rs from HHB going round at the moment, and to try standard TDK discs, as that was what they were using in their studio.

    Very interesting. I will try one of my TDKs tomorrow and if it works fine with those, then I think I shall email HHB about this. It's pretty frustrating if it is the HHB discs as I bought 4 packs of 10 of these.

    At least if it is the discs I won't have to have the player looked at.
     
  9. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Well it look to me like it's the HHB discs that are dodgy. I am having no problems recording on to a standard TDK blank, and the OPC adjustment and PMA writing are both quicker, which to me suggests that the player is working 100%.

    I emailed HHB's tech support person on Thursday but am still awaiting a reply. I'm hoping that I can get a refund. There's no batch number or anything similar on the boxes so I really don't know what percentage of the 30-odd discs that are left are going to give me problems.

    Any advice much appreciated.
     
  10. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Nick, I'm glad it looks like the media was the problem, rather than the Tascam, but I'd recommend you don't buy any more TDKs and get yourself some Taiyo Yudens, TDKs are now made in India and the quality has really dropped, I wouldn't even use them for freebie giveaway discs.
     
  11. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for that. The problem is I'm skint at the moment and can't afford to spend much on more CDs. This is why I'm hoping for either a refund or replacement discs from HHB which won't cause me problems. I could of course copy the TDKs I have done using my computer and Roxio Toast Titanium (an old version) but I'm doubtful it'll copy the CD Text info I've put on them.

    I will call HHB if I haven't had a reply by Monday lunch time.
     
  12. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I spoke to the service manager at HHB today and one of the things he mentioned could very well be the root of the problem. The CD recorder has a 'high speed' logo on the front, and the manual says that high speed media is supported. Apparently this means that the recorder uses a PC burner. This burner is probably happier using high speed media. The TDKs I have used are standard 52x blanks, whereas the HHBs I bought are low-speed 1x-12x. Possibly this is the cause of the recording error messages.

    I have emailed HHB asking if I can return the 3 unopened boxes of discs and replace them with high-speed equivalents. These are cheaper so fingers crossed I will be refunded the difference. Hopefully I'll get a reply about this in the next day or so.

    This explanation does make sense but I have a couple of questions. What's the difference between low- and high-speed media that could cause problems? Also, the recorder obviously burns at 1x speed so why would it still prefer high-speed media?

    This is contrary to most of the material I have read about stand-alone CD recorders in that they are designed for low-speed discs. I've not come across any literature that mentions the Tascams preferring high-speed media, but if this is the case then shouldn't they mention this in the manual?

    What do people on here think? A likely explanation or not?
     
  13. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Sounds like B.S. to me. The Tascam should be able to handle any speed blank
    media. I have a CD-RW 900 SL, and it has had no problems with any of the
    blanks I have used (Maxell, TDK, Sony, MAM, T.Y.).
     
  14. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Are these discs you have used standard high-speed media though (e.g. 52x)?
     
  15. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    The guy from HHB also said that I could send in the problems discs so they could test them for faults. However, as the TDK discs seem OK it might be easier to try the high speed HHBs.

    Help please! I'm confused here :confused:
     
  16. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    I have to agree with Chris Schoen on this, it does sound like BS, the Tascam is designed to burn at 1x, regardless of whether it's a computer drive or not it is optimised for 1x burning, the suggestion that HHB have a bad batch of discs in the market is much more plausible. With the exception of TYs and TY manufactured Verbatims etc I've come across all sorts of batch variations from other media brands.

    Does it state the country of origin on your HHB discs, if it's Taiwan, China or India I'd definitely suspect they are the problem.

    Nick I know you don't want to throw good money after bad on discs, but as someone who used TDK blanks, alongside TYs/Maxells/Verbatims for ten years I can categorically state that since they moved production to India the quality and reliability has gone down the toilet, don't use the TDKs for anything critical and back them up as soon as you can. I hope HHB refund you, in my limited experience their customer service was pretty good.
     
  17. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Nick, if you bought the HHBs in a shop take them back and ask for a refund, they aren't fit for purpose, I don't think the shop will argue over a few Pounds and if they are individually sealed, (they used to be), they can resale them anyway.
     
  18. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for the replies.

    I bought the HHBs at the HHB media store so they should be OK, in theory. I can't see them selling fake or replica discs. There doesn't seem to be any indication of the country of origin on the packaging, though, so I can't be sure.
     
  19. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Nick, they won't be fake, but may well be a bad batch that slipped through quality control, I'm surprised they haven't put the country of origin on the packaging though.
     
  20. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    An update on this - I am now on to my second pack of HHB CD-Rs and have had another problem with one of the discs. I had the 'REC ERROR!' message about three times but persevered and manage to finish the disc (with 10 seconds left to spare after the final error message). The disc finalised OK and the CD recorder reads it with no problems but there must be a bad sector between tracks 20 and 21 as the recorder freezes up trying to find the start of track 21. I had to switch it off at one point as it had become completely unresponsive. I know there was a recording error that aborted track 20. This has to be a disc problem doesn't it?

    I emailed HHB about 4 weeks ago to see what they had found with my bad discs I'd sent them but the guy dealing with it was away on business and I've still not heard anything yet.

    I think I will contact them again next week.
     
  21. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Have you inspected the disc Nick, problems are often obvious visually, I always check blanks before I record as it's easier to prevent a problem than redo the recording, although TYs are almost invariably perfect.

    I would copy the first 19 tracks on a new blank and then rerecord the other tracks on the end, if you have a problem with that disc the chances are it may get worse/become unplayable.

    Definitely contact HHB again, your discs may not be the most expensive thing they sell, but you still deserve proper customer service and a prompt reply, I'm not impressed that you haven't heard back from them in all this time.
     
  22. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Well a close inspection reveals a small scuff mark about 2mm across quite near the edge of the disc - probably about the right place for the recording glitch - I think it's about 12 minutes or so from the end of the disc.

    Not good for a CD-R that was only opened about a week ago. It would have happened before I obtained it as I always make sure I treat discs with care.
     
  23. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I finally spoke to the engineer at HHB who tested my discs yesterday, but only after phoning HHB up to find out what was happening.

    The engineer told me that the discs were all fine: reflectivity and jitter were OK. The burns I made on them were also absolutely fine: error rates were within spec and they were perfectly good burns. The engineer mentioned that the testing system or apparatus was called Pulsetech. Has anyone heard of this? He did say that if I continued to have problems I could send the discs back.

    All this suggests that both the recorder and discs are both fine, so what was causing the problem remains a mystery. I will order some high-speed discs next time from HHB as not only are they cheaper, they may be more compatible with the Tascam, as I've had no problems at all using cheap standard high-speed data blanks.
     
  24. namahealani

    namahealani Forum Resident

    I think there are some settings that must be made before the disc is inserted into the Tascam, not while the disc is in.
     
  25. Nick_G

    Nick_G Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Do you mean settings on the Tascam? What sort of settings?

    Thanks for any help on this.
     
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