Welcome to the frustration of trying to create track ID's in a CD recorder while burning a disc.
"I'm trying to record to a stand-alone audio-CDR (Philips-880), or DAT for that matter, as it should be the same, using my soundcard's (Gina) S/PDIFs. I can get the audio to record, but I can't get my computer to send track IDs through the S/PDIF. I have two audio files queued up in some program (WaveLab, or WinAmp), and when they're played through the S/PDIFs I want a track ID (increment) to be inserted between them. I know WaveLab has a CD Program feature that does that, but it only seems to work for the computer CD-burners. Is there something that I'm missing or do I need a special software for that?"
The track ID issue has been a frustrating aspect of CD recorders from the very beginning. Early models wouldn't do it at all so the user had to manually insert them in real time while the CD was burning. You couldn't stop the CD to put one in because that meant a "track at once" burned CD as opposed to a "disc at once" CD, which is a critical issue if it is to be commercially duplicated.
Most modern CD recorders will usually utilize track start ID and increment information if it is actually in the subcode data. Notice I said "most" and "usually." Even today this is not completely bullet proof. Assuming your machine will do this the next step is to get your source equipment to send the data. I suspect this is where your problem is. Not all devices send this information as part of the S/PDIF data stream. Your software may have some ability to enable or disable this function, but it ultimately needs to be supported by the sound card and most inexpensive sound cards don't do it.
Three workarounds: The best overall workaround is outlined above. Just manually insert the track ID's on the fly. A corollary to this is more elaborate. If you can send MIDI data out with your audio data you can get a GPI device (such as a JL Cooper PPS-100) that will generate switch closures based on incoming data (SMPTE, MTC, etc.). If your CD recorder has wired remote capability AND that remote has the ability to create track ID's you can actually connect the GPI to the remote jack (wired properly of course) and "manually" create start ID's that are perfectly timed to the audio. Sounds complicated? It is, but I've done it and I know it works.
The second workaround is to use the auto track ID function built in to most CD recorders. It will automatically create a start ID and increment the track number each time new audio occurs after a silence. On more expensive CD recorders the precise behavior of this feature is user adjustable, but even in the best cases the placement of the start ID is never exactly at the very beginning of the track. It usually occurs sometime after the audio begins because it has to sense an audio level to insert the ID.
The third workaround is to record the material to your DAT, place the ID's in afterwards when you can get them exactly right. Then use the DAT's S/PDIF to drive the CD recorder. There is a pretty good chance that your DAT, if a professional machine, will transmit the proper data to make the CD recorder write the ID's (assuming it's capable of reading the data).
And now you know why so many DAW users have CD burners connected to their computers.
