Method for synchronizing recording and reproducing devices

A method for synchronizing a recording and reproducing system including a master device and a slave device in which a reference clock frequency of at least the slave device can be changed and a playback speed of the slave device can be controlled in accordance with the reference clock frequency, the master and slave devices each having a reference clock and an internal counter, said method comprising the steps of:

• recording position information, which synchronized with the reference clock of the master device and has a larger period of change than the reference clock, in both the master and slave devices;
• and
• recording, simultaneously with the position information recording step, information to be recorded in the master and slave devices;
• reproducing the position information from the master device in accordance with the master device reference clock and from the slave device in accordance with the slave device reference clock;
• counting up the internal counters in the master and slave devices in accordance with the master and slave reference clocks, respectively;
• resetting the master and slave internal counters in accordance with the position information reproduced in the respective master and slave devices;
• comparing a reproduced value of the position information and a count value of the internal counter in the master device with a reproduced value of the position information and a count value of the internal counter of the slave device;
• and
• changing a frequency of the reference clock of the slave device so that a difference between the compared values become predetermined values, whereby a recording and reproducing position of the slave device is synchronized with a recording and reproducing position of the master device.