I've been planning on doing some hard-core subcode research, and now that I've got a long weekend, I can sit down and get busy. But I've noticed that there are a lot of flags and/or tags in the subcode data other than PMin, PSec, PFrame and PLBA. Here's a snippet of subcode.
As for Session, I'll probably work with single-session CDs anyway. Point seems to match up with the number of the track from Entry 3 forward. ADR - no clue on this one Control - no clue TrackNo - no clue; this isn't track number, since it's always at 0 for the audio CD I'm looking at AMin, ASec, AFrame, ALBA - no clue; might be lead time for the track (when your CD player counts down in negative seconds at the beginning of a track)? Zero - um... no clue
[And, yes, I know some of the numbers are in hexadecimal, and PLBA = (PMin x 60 + Psec) x 75 - 150.]
If anyone has some insight on what these tags/flags stand for, could you please share it? And are they important? Should I just leave them alone?
By CatsGodot on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 06:15 am:
If you had asked me about a year ago, Quin, I could have told you in detail, along with points and references in the all-coveted Red Book.
Now, however, I have only vague ideas.
Most of those flags *are* the subcode. You see, calling this information *subcode* really isn't correct. I've kept my mouth shut, tho, because Lisa used it as her term, and it was used widely out here. If you note my previous posts, I refer to it as the Table Of Contents, 'cause that's what this really is.
Anyway, the A-code are like lead-in information. And they differ, depending on what kind of information is presented. Dittos with the P-code. Those are the most two relevant pieces of information, and if you really want to know what they are, do two things:
1) Refer to my research. That is how I hand-burn CDs.
2) Burn a CCD. Print out its information. Then take a close look at your CD via PSX, your PC, whatever. You'll notice that each track starts at each p-code spot. (or is it a-code? I don't have a CCD handy to refer to).
Btw, thank you for reminding me what LBA was. I couldn't remember that for the longest time...and I never bothered to just ADD UP THE VALUES. Yes, and now you say it, I used it quite frequently for burning (it's easier to use that value than mulitplying myself--plus, it's good for error-correction).
Anyway, if you want any of my lectures, catch me at a good time in the chat, and I can muddle the specifics with ya.
--Cats, first to burn a cd, given only subcode information, and who worked on CD-burning software, hence his involvment in the monster-pulling experiments.
By CatsGodot on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 06:20 am:
Btw, to clarify the subcode vs. TOC terminology: first off, Sony/Whoever decided to leave 26+ tables of information for future reference. They only used something like 7, two of the most common being A and P. (Look familiar)? And, even then, the only relevant info in *them* was the times (since you need to know the start time and the track length; which, ironically, from what's been posted, the length has been omitted).
Anyway, a better analogy is a Apple tree. What is being done here is that we're calling the whole tree an Apple. It's not. It's a *TREE*. It holds Apples.
But I've avoided this as much as possible, simple so researchers here wouldn't get confused.
--Cats, original researcher.
By Quincunx on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 07:12 pm:
Cats: Just found a post of yours I'd missed before somehow, and it makes things a bit clearer.
Sorry about propagating the use of the word "subcode" to refer to the ToC.
Since the research I'm doing at the moment doesn't involve looking for rares, I feel safe starting with a CCD file from a regular audio CD and not touching any of the "mystery" parts.
Sure. However, like i said earlier, feel free to use the term "subcode." I may not like it, it may not be technically correct, but I have the feeling that enough people have a hard enough time with the actual burning and understanding of the technicals that they don't need to be burdened by a change in the lexicon.
In other words, since "subcode" has been so thoroughly used so far, let's just keep using it. Consider it slang. Whatever.
And, yes, I kinda wish I had CloneCD at my disposal; it would make research a hell of a lot easier. (Instead, I've gotta adjust x tracks by a very minute amount; it's far easier to change a value in the p-code table. Everything, then, would lay out correctly, or at it might.)
So wait a minute it still doesn't explain it to me completely, is the PMins and PSecs the length of the song? and if those are, then what are the AMins and ASecs?That link didn't really help me any.
By Lisa Shock on Sunday, March 2, 2003 - 02:08 pm:
"the A-code are like lead-in information. And they differ, depending on what kind of information is presented. Dittos with the P-code. Those are the most two relevant pieces of information"
They vary by what is on the CD, and they tell the player where each track begins and ends on a disc and how much space is between them. In other words, they mark out the in-between spaces.
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