Hi folks,

from my days of digital recording to DAT and MD, I remember that these recording devices were able to retrieve index marks/track changes from the subchannel data that is obviously being transmitted through SPDIF.

Additionally, my MD recorder is able to sync itself to the music signal start so the recording exactly begins once the CD player starts to play ...

These two functions would be very comfortable for digital harddisk recording (assuming I am e.g. unable to rip a copy-protected CD) ... unfortunately, I did not encounter a recording program that is capable of doing so ... does anyone know how to achieve that so I don't have to re-arrange the recorded wav after recording ?

Greetz ... JL

I don't have any suitable suggestion for you, but the similar topic is discussed here. But still no satisfactory advice...

Getting idices from anything to anything other has been the task of many of my test so far.
Unfortunately, I've found no method of getting any index from soundcard's dig out to anything other or from anything other to the soundcard's dig in.
I think your (our) problem, JeanLuc, isn't the software, it's the hardware. Soundcards aren't capable of detecting idices, as well as they can't recognize the copy bit of the SCMS system . A soundcard which recognizes the indices will possibly not be able to record copy protected CDs to HDD.(Yes, I've already found copy protected CDs which didn't allow the first generation of digital copying, a mixture between old and new copy protection. I suddenly wonder if those CDs were illegal.)
Be careful with that sync functions. It's much more sync than the analog sync record, but not perfect. My MD recorder needs a bit time and a special sample value to react. The order of magnitude is value ~5 and ~5 samples.
There's the additional possibility of connecting CD player and MD/DAT recorder using a remote cable (if the two are the same brand); I can cause the MD recorder to start the recording before the audio player's playback this way.

My soundcard can detect the SCMS bit (you can set the card to ignore it, too) ... thus I am not completely convinced that soundcards are incapable of retrieving the subchannel data.

I believe you're a bit wrong here.
My soundcard has this SCMS-bit option, too. But it only determines wether the SCMS bit is set on the digital output or not, it has nothing to do with the input.
Copy a normal (factory-pressed) CD to DAT or MD, then try to copy the copy to HDD, and all in a digital way. Set the copy bit option to "yes" or "recognize" or whatever. Then you shouldn't be able to record, if your opinion is correct.
Your soundcard may also work this way that it recognizes the copy bit (="the audio is protected by copyright law") but not the 'extra copy bit' (="the audio has already been copied digitally"). Then you can record but can only conclude your soundcard doesn't realize the 'extra copy bit'.
How do you think the subchannel data is stored in the resulting file ? *wav, *aif, *ape or whatever are *free* formats without any copyright restriction or copyright information.
In the manual of my brother's Terratec it's said that the SCMS bit on the dig input is ignored, no matter what the options are.
Do you have two digital audio recorders, a DAT an a MDR ? Then you can disable "set copy bit" on your soundcard's output and record to MDR or DAT. Try then to record the copy to the other device. If it works, you can be sure that your option works correct. I suggest this test, because my soundcard's software doesn't work correctly. If I select "set copy bit" it's actually not set (and vice versa).
I wonder how the transmission of indices and copy bit in principle works. Is there some space left between the 16bit samples or what ? Imagine 15bits for the audio, 2^15=32768, 1 bit for the polarity. But where are the two channels ? After each right sample a left one and vice versa ? And where's here the subchannel data ?