Serial Computer Management System

[Alan F Brookes]

Serial Copy Management System, was created to prevent people copying minidisks. If you record your own live music onto minidisc, then copy it onto another minidisc, it will contain information that it's a copy. If you try to make copies of the copy your recorder won't let you. I record a lot of my own music using a Yamaha MD8, then I usually mix down onto CD-RW. I'm thinking of mixing down onto another minidisc, but will I run into problems with SCMS? Also, if I make backup copies of my work by copying from one MD8 onto another MD8, will I have problems if I mix down the backup? Since Sony designed the Minidisc with these restrictions, but the MD8 uses Data MD disks, I'm wondering if this is still a problem.
Being brought up on reel-to-reel I'm not used to these sort of problems !

 

[TAE]

As per Rob's response below, I misread the OP's question...so deleted this response

 

[rob aylestone]

As far as I was aware SCMS only adds the flag to two track consumer recording, so if you master onto MD, that would, on a consumer recorder, have the copy protect flag added then. You would then be able to make a CD from that, as it allows one copy. That CD would not make another.multitracks were not. It’s safe to treat the MD8 as a safe source. Of course, back in the day, loads of people who used MD got around it with an analogue transfer, and few people ever knew that had been done. I think I was alone in quite liking the ATRAC compression system used on the second generation machines. It was not too good on the originals on ‘busy’ music. Probably why I’ve never worried too much about mp3’s!