Whats the Diff Between DAO and TOC?

[DivXExpert]

I have been using Disc at Once.
Is there any compatiblity issues between Disc at Once and Track at Once?

[MOVIEGEEK]

DAO means the laser never turns off while writing making the CD more compatible with players.TAO means the laser turns off and on between tracks(multi-session) and is less compatible with players.

[DivXExpert]

I'll stick with DAO. =)

Are there any advantages to TAO? I never use it, don't plan to, just wondering why anyone would.

[WeedVender]

U cant do Overburn with TOC...

other than that, I dunno...

[sterno]

If you're burning VCD/SVCD, you must use DAO to be compliant. Most audio players can handle TAO just fine, but you have a 2-second gap between tracks - you can't have one track go straight to the next with no pause.

If you're burning data, TAO allows you to create multisession discs. That means you burn what you've got, end up with 100MB of leftover space on the disc, and then burn a second session to use that leftover space. All modern CD-ROMs can read it, though if you have some really old ones (like back in the 1x days) they might have trouble. Of course, a lot of those couldn't read a CD-R anyway...

[DivXExpert]

I don't burn without filling up the whole cd. So no need for the multisession.
And you can overburn with DAO. In fact I find it more reliable to do so because it makes sure that the lead in and the table of contents get writen. but with TAO it could just burn all the files, and no TOC, then the files are no good.

[Greg12]

If you don't want TAO, you could use a CD-RW in DAO and just erase.

[vitualis]

DAO = disc at once. It means that the disc is written from beginning to end without turning off the laser. The disc is by definition closed and no new sessions can be written afterwards. As the laser isn't turned off, you have the greatest degree of control in the burning process. DAO burning is required for safe overburning. It is also required for true seamless tracks on an audio CD.

TAO burns each track once at a time. On many CD burners, it means that there is a default 2 second gap between tracks, though some burners can apparently adjust this. If you dont' close the disc, you can make a multisession disc. In TAO burning, the TOC (table of contents) is burnt last so if you try to overburn and you burn off the end of the disc, the disc is ruined as it doesn't have a TOC.

There is no reason to use TAO burning, IMHO, if you are making a S/VCD or mastering an audio CD.

The last option is SAO burning -- session at once. In essence, it's kind of halfway in between. Basically, you can burn each session without switching off the laser between tracks. Generally useful if you want seamless audio tracks on a CD Extra disc. Most newer CD burners support SAO burning.

Regards.

[EddyH]

Okay, let's maybe rephrase their original question


What's the difference between TAO and TOC?


Reason for this being, i wanna know if i can output something from VCDEasy but then burn it in Nero/CDRWin/etc, cuz still can't get that f$£&*(!! ASPI layer to work and CDRDao is... tricky.

[vitualis]

TAO = track-at-once

TOC = table of contents

TOC = also the name given to a particular type of image format.

If you want to burn with Nero, then use VCDEasy to create a CUE/BIN image. The newer versions of Nero can burn CUE/BIN images mostly correctly.

Alternatively, use VCDEasy to just create the XML file.

Then, download GNU VCDImager Tools GUI: http://www.michaeltam.com/vcdimager_tools_gui.html

In that proggy, one of the options is lkVCDxBUILD. Use that and select the XML file that VCDEasy created. Then, select the image option of NRG (the Nero image format). "Go"...

When it's done, you would have use the VCDImager VCD authoring system (VCDEasy / lkVCDxBUILD) to create a S/VCD in the Nero image format which all versions of Nero should be able to burn perfectly...

Regards.

[EddyH]

Handy!
Cheers

(rattles off to search the vcdeasy menu more thoroughly for bin/cue output, though the xml tool makes that obsolete..)