1. Introduction
Sony is one of the largest manufacturers worldwide and its name has been associated with reliability and quality, after all it's a Sony.
Lately, Sony has been using LiteON OEM DVD burners and the latest LiteON SOHW-1693S is behind the new Sony burner, branded the DRU-800A.
The drive can burn at 16X speed, both DVD+R and DVD-R media. With RW media, the supported speeds are 8X and 6X for the DVD+R and DVD-R respectively. The most important feature is DVD-R DL recording at 4X. DVD+R DL is also at the same speed.
- Features
- Burns 8.5GB DVD±R Double/Dual Layer
discs at 16X max, capable of burning a full
disc in about 6 minutes.
- Burns 8.5GB DVD±R Double/Dual discs up
to 4X max. Double/Dual Layer discs capable
of storing up to 4 hours of MPEG-2 Video
on single sided disc with 2 recording layers.
Recorded DVD±R Double/Dual layer discs
compatible with most consumer DVD players
and DVD-ROM drives.
- Burns standard 4.7GB DVD±R and DVD±RW
Discs and CD-R/RW too - One drive does it all.
- Maximum flexibility & compatibility – Choose
the optimal DVD recordable media for your
project without sacrificing compatibility with
your playback hardware.
- Award winning Nero Software bundle for
burning all your video, music, and data to
DVD or CD.
- Includes black replacement front bezel for
matching the drive with a black PC case.
- Specifications
PART NUMBER |
DRU-800A |
DRIVE TYPE |
Internal DVD±R/±RW Double/Dual Layer,
Dual Format DVD/CD Recorder |
MEDIA & MODES SUPPORTED |
DVD-R/-R DL/-RW, DVD+R/DVD+R DL/+RW:
DVD-ROM, DVD-Video
CD: CD-DA, CD-ROM (XA), CD Extra, Video
CD, Photo CD*, CD Text, multi-session |
READ/WRITE SPEED |
Write (DVD-R) 1X, 2X, 4X, 6X CLV, 8X,
12X P-CAV, 16X CAV max.**
Write (DVD-R DL) 2X, 4X max. ***
Write (DVD-RW) 1X, 2X, 4X, 6X CLV max. **
Write (DVD+R) 2.4X, 4X**, 8X ~ 12X P-CAV
max. **, 16X CAV max.**
Write (DVD+R DL) 2.4X, 4X max. ***
Write (DVD+RW) 2.4X, 4X, 6X CLV, 8X Z-CLV
max. **
Write (CD-R) 8X,16X, 24X ~ 40X P-CAV max.**,
48X CAV max**
Write (CD-RW) 4X, 10X,16X, 24X Z-CLV max. **
Read (DVD-ROM) 16X max.
Read (CD-ROM) 48X max. |
SUSTAINED DATA TRANSFER RATE |
21MB/s max (16X DVD-ROM) |
AVERAGE ACCESS TIME |
130 ms (DVD 16X)
135 ms (CD 48X) |
INTERFACE |
EIDE (ATAPI |
BURST TRANSFER RATE |
66 MB/s Ultra DMA66 |
BUFFER MEMORY |
2MB |
POWER CONSUMPTION |
+5V 1.5A max., +12V 1.5A max. |
DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) |
5.75 X 1.63 X 6.75 inches |
WEIGHT |
2lbs. |
PACKAGE CONTENTS |
Internal DRU-800A Double/Dual Layer
DVD Recorder
NeroVision Express™ DVD video editing
& authoring software
Nero™ Burning ROM SE CD/DVD mastering
software
Nero™ InCD™ drive letter recording software
Nero™ Showtime™ soft DVD player software
Nero™ BackitUp™ backup software
Black front panel replacement kit
ATAPI cable and mounting hardware
User’s Manual |
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS |
Pentium® III 800 MHz or faster (or equivalent)
CPU minimum. Pentium IV 1.6GHz or faster
(or equivalent) CPU is recommended for real
time video authoring/editing
128 MB of RAM (256 MB or more for Windows
XP Systems)
10GB of hard disk space.
Windows® 2000 or Windows® XP Home or
Professional Operating Systems |
WARRANTY |
One Year Limited |
*Not supported with the bundled software, additional software required.
**High-speed DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW CD-RW discs required.
***Requires DVD+R DL & DVD-R DL media. |
Below are the drive's main specs as given by NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro:
The drive also uses the RPC II region control, allowing a
user to change the drive's region at most 5 times. However, since this is a
Mediatek based drive, you can set the drive to region free using
several readily available utilities.
- Retail package
The
retail package includes the drive, a second bezel coloured black, a 40pin IDE cable, four mounting screws, a quick installation guide, a front panel replacement guide, instructions manual and the warranty card. There is also a software disc that includes Nero Burning Rom 6, InCD 4, Nero Vision Express, Nero BackitUp and Nero Showtime. Finally, there are also quick installation guides for the software.
The front panel is the same as on previous Sony models,
with the transparent front bezel which in our opinion makes it the most impressive panel for a DVD burner.
The rear has the usual analogue and digital outputs (SPDIF), IDE connector and power input.
Opening the device's case will void the warranty, so we advise against it. Instead, use the photos in this review for a closer look under the hood. Clicking on the image below will reveal a high resolution image:
..
- Installation
The drive was installed as secondary master and under WindowsXP,
recognized as "SONY DVD RW DRU-800A ". The drive arrived at our labs installed with firmware version KY01 installed.
For this review, we will be comparing the drive's performance and capabilities along side two other burners, the NEC ND-3520A
and Plextor 716S drives.
- Testing software
In order to perform our tests we used:
- Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.80
- CDVD Benchmark v1.21
- ExactAudioCopy v0.9 beta5
- Nero Info Tool v3.00
- PlexTools v2.23(Reader: Plextor PX-712A firmware v1.05, Reading speed 8X CLV for CD-R)
- DVDInfoPro v3.51
- Nero Burning Rom v6.6.0.13
- DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0
- CopyToDVD 3.0.54
- Alcohol 120% 1.9.5 build 2802
2. Transfer Rate Reading Tests
- CD Format
The Sony DRU-800A supports up to 48X reading speed for CD-R media and 40X for
CD-RW media. Below are the transfer rate graphs, where we compare its performance
against the other two drives:
In all cases, the NEC drive seems to be the fastest reader for the CD and CDRW formats.
- DVD Format
Similar performance for all three tested drives with the DVD-ROM format. When however it comes to DL media, Pioneer dominates with NEC close behind. The Sony DRU-800A had satisfactory performance. A while back, this performance would have been considered as good, but now it is just on average.
Once again, the Sony drive showed average performance with the recordable and rewritable formats.
In this section, when it comes to ripping a DVD-Video, the Sony drive was very good.
- Appendix
Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs
3. CD Error Correction Tests
In the following tests, we check the drive's behavior when it comes to reading
scratched / defective discs. The test discs we use are the ABEX series
from ALMEDIO.
- ABEX TCD-721R
Errors total
|
Num: 1176122
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 53465
|
Avg:-73.2 dB(A)
|
Max: -34.9 dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 3774
|
Avg: 1.0 Samples
|
Max: 11 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 6.0 Samples
|
Max: 6 Samples
|
Total Test Result |
76.5 points (of 100.0 maximum) |
C2 Accuracy |
99.8% |
The overall performance according to the graph is rather good. The total error count is not high, which is good, and the maximum error loudness just on the -35 dB(A) limit. Also, no samples were skipped and the total test result of 76.5 out of 100 is good.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total
|
Num: 0 |
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num:0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Max: 0 Samples
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Max: 0 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Max: 0 Samples
|
Total Test Result
|
100.0 points (out
of 100.0 maximum)
|
The behavior of drive was much better in this case where it managed to correct
all the disc's errors. The result was a perfect 100.
- CD-Check Audio Test Disc
The CD-Check Test Disc is a very useful tool for evaluating the Sound Reproduction
/ Error correction capabilities of a CD player. The disc offers a signal combination
with disc error patterns to rate the drive's ability to read music and reproduce
it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a sequence of progressively
difficult tests. These tracks are referred as Check Level -1 through Check
Level -5.
The
tracks are reproduced (played) through a software multimedia player
(i.e. Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone
coming
out
from the speakers is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or
looping. The higher the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction
of the tested device.
Error Level
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
Sony DRU-800A
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
0/5
|
0/5
|
The drive passed only the first three Check Levels of the test. The performance
reveals average performance with the specific test disc. The fourth and the
fifth levels include an error size of 1.125mm and 1.500mm respectively, and
the drive produced continuous audible clicks over those tracks.
4. DVD Error Correction Tests
In the following tests, we examine the DVD reading capabilities of
the Sony DRU-800A
drive with scratched / defective
DVD media.
For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The reference test
media
comes
from
ALMEDIO.
- Single Layer media
ABEX TDR-821
This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with 4.7GB capacity, and its
surface has an artificial scratch of dimensions varying from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The following transfer rate picture comes from the CDVD Benchmark v1.21 transfer
rate test.
Excellent performance. The graph is smooth, even at 16X.
ABEX TDR-825
This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of 4.7GB capacity. The
data structure of the disc is exactly the same as that of the TDR-821, with
the difference that there are no scratches on it but instead, defective areas
of dimensions ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There are also fingerprints sized
between
65 and
75 micrometers.
Good behaviour, however the drive dropped speed once, just before the start of the second defective region, in order to read the contents of the disc successfully. No errors reported.
- Dual Layer media
ABEX TDR-841
This is an 8.5GB dual layer, single sided DVD-ROM disc with artificial scratches
of dimensions ranging from 0.4 to 3.0mm, on both layers.
Reading was very good with the first layer. In the second layer, at the end of the defects area the drive dropped its reading speed. Fortunately no errors were reported and the process finished successfully.
ABEX TDR-845
This test disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc with a capacity
of 8.5GB. The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 discs is
that the first includes
defective areas and fingerprints. The dimensions of the defective areas ranges
from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micrometers.
Very good performance despite some minor speed falls.
ABEX TDV-541
The TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with a capacity
of 8.5GB. The disc is based on the TDV-540 series which is designed for inspection
and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The disc checks the layer switch operation
from layer 0 to layer 1 and also includes test pictures and test signals for
DVD sound files. The current TDV-541 also checks the error correcting
capabilities of the drive and includes scratches from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
This is supposed to be a difficult disc for many drives. The Sony drive however, managed to read it successfully.
ABEX TDV-545
The
TDV-545 disc is based on the TDV-540 series. It is a single sided, dual layer
DVD-VIDEO disc with a capacity of 8.5GB. The TDV-545 includes artificial black
dots on the data surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm. It also has 65 - 75
micrometer fingerprints.
Excellent, smooth graph.
- Conclusion
Generally, DVD error correction on the Sony drive is very good.
5. Protected Disc Tests - Reading Tests
Using Alcohol 120% and three protected discs, with the appropriate settings depending on the protection type of each disc, we measured the duration and transfer rate of the protected media given below.
Game Title |
Protection Scheme |
Duration |
Reading speed |
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme" |
Lybcrypt |
3:42 min |
407 sectors/sec |
Serious Sam The Second Encounter |
SafeDisc v.2.50.051 |
13:41 min |
408 sectors/sec |
VRally II |
SecuROM v.2 |
2:50 min |
2022 sectors/sec |
Only in the case of the SecuROM protected title was the Sony fast. In the two other cases it was very slow even if in case of Safedisc the two other drives were even slower.
- Writing Tests
The Sony DRU-800A supports the DAO-RAW writing mode. For checking the
drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 different game titles with different
SafeDisc 2 versions having the latest software patches installed. After making
the images of the various titles onto the hard disk, we burned them (maximum
speed) with Alcohol 120% v1.9.2.1705. Two different discs were created for
each title; one with the "Bypass EFM error" enabled and one more
with the function disabled.
- Fifa 2004 - Safe Disc v3.1x
- The Sims Superstar - Safe Disc v2.9x
- The Sims Unleashed - Safe Disc v2.8x
- Serious Sam Second Encounter - Safe Disc v2.51.021
- Max Payne - Safe Disc v2.51.020
The table below shows the results of the attempted backups and whether they worked (game installed / played normally), or not.
Drive |
Fifa 2004
SD v3.1x |
Sims Superstar
SD v2.9x |
Sims Unleashed
SD v2.8x |
Serious Sam-Second Encounter
SD v2.50.051 |
Max Payne
SD v2.51.020 |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
Sony DRU-800A |
No
|
Yes
|
The Sony drive managed to create working backups only up to v2.8. The newer versions are a problem for the drive.
6. DAE Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD
Using a pressed
AudioCD and its CD-R copy with EAC, we get the following results:
Similar performance for all drives.
-Advanced DAE Quality
The Sony drive reported the best results, with a quality score of 100 (perfect)
in the Nero CD Speed
Advanced DAE test and slightly behind the NEC drive in average speed which however, did not manage a perfect quality score.
- Reading 90/ 99mins AudioCDs
The drive could not read the 90mins media, producing the above error.
In this case, the drive managed to successfully read the 99mins audio CD, generating a drop in speed at the completion of the reading.
7. Protected AudioCDs
For this test procedure we used three audio discs with different
audio copy protection schemes. The ripping process for all protected
Audio discs was carried out with Exact Audio Copy v0.9beta5.
The tested protected Audio discs were:
- Sony's Key2Audio from "Celine Dion - New Day Has Come"
- Cactus Data Shield 200 from "Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies Island"
The Cactus Data Shield 200 contains artificial errors that are not
easy to bypass with a reader, while the Key2Audio contains a second session,
causing
problems for readers when they attempt to read the Table Of Contents (TOC).
The tested tasks are:
- Recognition of the inserted disc (Yes/No)
- Ripping all wavs (with EAC's Burst Mode) to the hard disk with copy&compare function.
- Listening to the produced wavs for any clicks/skips.
The LiteON SOHW-1637S recognized up to the 12th Audio track of CDS200 disc,
and with the "Retrieve Native TOC" option removed, it then recognized
the 13th track.
The test results are shown in the following table:
Sony DRU-800A |
Key2Audio |
CDS200 |
Ripping process completed, EAC reports
no problems, Read&Test CRC comparison successful for all tracks |
Ripping process completed, EAC reports timing problems, Read&Test CRC comparison not the same for all tracks |
The Sony DRU-800A will rip both Key2Audio and
CDS200 protected audio discs. Both discs were recognized and their contents
were ripped
at the maximum speed.
- Cactus Data Shield 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a (Aiko Katsukino - The Love Letter)
This
is a "special" CDS200 build, since it doesn't contain any artificial
errors during the ripping process. Most problems occur when trying to write
the ripped wav files, since the produced CD-R disc contains C2 and CU errors!
This "problem" is rumored to be associated with specific
chipset weaknesses.
We ripped the disc contents with EAC and burned the produced wav with the
latest Nero version as AudioCD+CD-Text. The burned media was checked for
C1/C2 errors with PlexTools using the Plextor PX-712A (firmware
v1.05).
Sony DRU-800A |
CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a |
Reading performed without any errors, writing produces few C2 spikes |
- C1C2 Error rate from PleXWriter PX-716A (8X CLV reading speed)
- BETA/Jitter Error rate with the PleXWriter PX-716A
The C1/C2 error graphs show that the drive did not manage to produce a 100% error
free disc.
We then tried to extract all the wav files with the Plextor PX-716A and PlexTools
DAE with Error Correction 5th Level enabled:
No errors were reported after extracting all files.
8. CD Recording Tests
The Sony DRU-800A supports 48X CD-R and 24X US-RW recording speeds. Sony insists the default writing speed for the CD to be at 40X and the only way to enable 48X is by pressing the eject button for a few seconds after you have inserted the disc.
The drive supports the following speeds for CD media recording,
illustrated in the screenshot below:
According to Nero CDSpeed, the drive confirmed the maximum 48X speed. The
test started at 21.69X and finished at 48.91X, having an average speed of 37.04X.
Click on the image above for an enlarged view.
For the burning tests, we created an 80min data compilation through Nero
Burning Rom, recording the data on several 700MB discs. The Sony DRU-800A
needed 2:47 minutes to complete this task at the
maximum 48X writing speed.
In the following graph we can see the recording times for the Sony burner with various CD-R media inserted.
The Sony DRU-800A supports 24X Z-CLV rewriting speed with Ultra Speed Rewritable Media
(US-RW).
Below you can see the Nero CD-DVD Speed writing simulation test with blank
24X US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
The drive starts the writing task at 16.01X and reaches a maximum of 24.02X having an average speed of 22.48X.
9. C1 / C2 Error Measurements
We measured the C1 / C2 error rate on the recorded discs we burned at the
maximum supported writing speed of 48X. The software we used is PleXTools Professional
v2.23, and more specifically the built-in Q-Check utility. The
reader was the Plextor PX-716A (firmware v1.06).
- Intenso 80min 52X CD-R @ 48X
- Traxdata (black dye) 80min 40X @ 40X
- Summary
The CD writing quality, according to Plextools, is very dependent on the inserted media. With BenQ and Ridisc media, the Sony drive needs a lot of improvement. With Traxdata media however, even at 48X, with the current firmware the quality seems to be simply great.
- Appendix
Media Label |
ID Code |
Manufacturer Name |
Lead Out TIme |
BenQ 80min 52X |
97m22s67f |
Daxon Technology |
79:59.74 |
Intenso 80min 52X |
97m32s19f |
Prodisc |
79:59:71 |
Traxdata (black dye) 80min 40X |
97m15s17f |
Ritek Co. |
79:59:70 |
Traxdata 80min 52X |
97m15s17f |
Ritek Co. |
79:59:70 |
Ridisc 80min 52X |
97m15s17f |
Ritek Co. |
79:59:70 |
Verbatim 80min 52X |
97m34s23f |
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
79:59:73 |
10. Writing Quality Tests - Clover System Tests
The Clover Systems CDX Compact Disc Analyzer is a high-speed tool to quantitatively measure the quality of a CD. It will analyze CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-I, CD-R, Photo-CD, Enhanced CD and CD-RW discs at 4X, 8X, 24X, 32X or 40X speed. It effectively measures disc quality by examining the quantity and severity of CIRC errors generated during playback. It also provides the capability to measure signal parameters related to pit geometry, such as asymmetry and reflectivity. Together, all these bits of information provide a thorough analysis of disc quality. The Clover Systems Analyzers can also perform various format-checking tests on data discs, and do bit-for-bit data comparison on all types of CDs. All tests are carried out at the maximum speed of 40X.
CIRC error correction uses two principles to detect and correct errors. The first is redundancy (extra information is added, which gives an extra chance to read the disc), and the second is interleaving (data is distributed over a relatively large physical area). The CIRC error correction used in CD players uses two stages of error correction, the well known C1 and C2, with de-interleaving of the data between the stages.
The error type E11 means one bad symbol was corrected in the C1 stage. E21means two bad symbols were corrected in the C1 stage. E31 means that there were three or more bad symbols at the C1 stage. This block is uncorrectable at the C1 stage, and is passed to the C2 stage. Respectively, E12 means one bad symbol was corrected in the C2 stage and E22 means two bad symbols were corrected in the C2 stage. E32 means that there were three or more bad symbols in one block at the C2 stage, and therefore this error is not correctable.
BLER (Block Error Rate) is defined as the number of data blocks per second that contain detectable errors, at the input of the C1 decoder. Since this is the most general measurement of the quality of a disc, you will find BLER graphs for all media tested below. If you click on the images you can see a more detailed table, indicating error levels. The Red Book specification (IEC 908) calls for a maximum BLER of 220 per second averaged over ten seconds. Discs with higher BLER are likely to produce uncorrectable errors. Al low BLER shows that the system as a whole is performing well, and the pit geometry is good. However, BLER only tells us how many errors were generated per second, and it does not tell us anything about the severity of those errors.
- Traxdata (Black Dye) 40X @ 40X
- Summary
The specific test didn't confirm Plextools' results. The Sony drive with the BenQ disc seems to PASS this hard test.
- Appendix
Media Label |
ID Code |
Manufacturer Name |
Lead Out TIme |
BenQ 80min 52X |
97m22s67f |
Daxon Technology |
79:59.74 |
Intenso 80min 52X |
97m32s19f |
Prodisc |
79:59:71 |
Traxdata (black dye) 80min 40X |
97m15s17f |
Ritek Co. |
79:59:70 |
Traxdata 80min 52X |
97m15s17f |
Ritek Co. |
79:59:70 |
Ridisc 80min 52X |
97m15s17f |
Ritek Co. |
79:59:70 |
Verbatim 80min 52X |
97m34s23f |
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
79:59:73 |
11. DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance
The maximum supported speed is 16X for both the DVD+R and DVD-R formats, while for DVD+RW the speed is 8X and 6X for both DVD+RW and DVD-RW.
The supported burning speed as given by Nero,
By using Nero CD-DVD Speed with DVD-R and DVD+R media, we are able to see the supported speeds of the drive.
- 8X DVD+R Single Layer writing
Click for details
- 16X DVD+R Single Layer writing
Click for details
- 8X DVD-R Single Layer writing
Click for details
- 12X DVD-R Single Layer writing
Click for details
- 16X DVD-R Single Layer writing
Click for details
- 8X DVD+RW Single Layer writing
Click for details
- 6X DVD-RW Single Layer writing
Click for details
- Burning Tests
The fastest burn was accomplished in 6:01 minutes with a Maxell disc certified for 16X. All media were burned at their certified speed. No overspeeding though.
With a CMC Magnetics disc, the Sony drive managed its lowest recording time for the plus format at 5:52 mins. Once again the drive supports all media at their certified speed.
- Comparison with other drives
Similar performance between the drives. The few seconds separating the drives is negligible.
The Pioneer drive could not perform an 8X burn with DVD+RW media, which explains the bloated time in the graph above.
- DVD Overburning Test
Unfortunately, the drive does not support DVD overburning for either -R or +R media, giving the above error messages.
- DVD+MRW Tests
The drive does not support the Mount Rainier feature.
12. CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 1
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we
used two readers with two software applications:
- The LiteON SOHD-167T
with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to 16X CAV and DVD9 up
to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests we used the latest Nero CDSpeed
version.
- The Plextor PX-78A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed, BURST mode, with middle accuracy.
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve,
very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times however, even though
a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth
containing dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities
of the LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer
area of the disc.
Writing Quality for DVD+R burned at 8X
- Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD+R @ 8X
- Verbatim(MKM) 8X DVD+R @ 8X
- CMC Magnetics 8X DVD+R @ 8X
- Summary
The PIE error levels were low in almost all cases. However, according to CDSpeed, only three out of the ten tested media reported very good writing quality. In all other cases, the writing quality was average.
13. CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 2
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we
used two readers with two software applications:
- The LiteON SOHD+167T
with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to 16X CAV and DVD9 up
to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests we used the latest Nero CDSpeed
version.
- The Plextor PX+712A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed, BURST mode, with middle accuracy.
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve,
very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times however, even though
a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth
containing dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities
of the LiteON SOHD+167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer
area of the disc.
Writing Quality for DVD+R burned at 16X
- Verbatim( MKM) 16X DVD+R @ 16X
- CMC Magnetics 16X DVD+R @ 16X
Cannot access disc
- Summary
The writing quality for 16X recording with the DVD+R media we tried, was not as good as it should be. Although once again the error levels are within limits, or even lower, in CDSpeed the reading graphs reported many speed falls and difficulties while reading the discs.
14. CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 3
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we
used two readers with two software applications:
- The LiteON SOHD-87T
with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to 8X CAV and DVD9 up
to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests we used the latest Nero CDSpeed
version.
- The Plextor PX-712A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed, BURST mode, with middle accuracy.
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve,
very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times however, even though
a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth
containing dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities
of the LiteON SOHD-87T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer
area of the disc.
Writing Quality for DVD-R burned at 8X
-
Ridisc 8X DVD-R (TTG02) @ 8X
-
Ridisc 8X DVD-R (RITEKG05)@ 8X
-
Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD-R @ 8X
-
Verbatim( MKM) 8X DVD-R @ 8X
- Summary
Once again, average writing quality, although the error levels are low.
15. CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 4
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we
used two readers with two software applications:
- The LiteON SOHD-167T
with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to 16X CAV and DVD9 up
to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests we used the latest Nero CDSpeed
version.
- The Plextor PX-712A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed, BURST mode, with middle accuracy.
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve,
very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times however, even though
a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth
containing dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities
of the LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer
area of the disc.
Writing Quality for DVD-R burned at 16X
- Verbatim ( MKM) 16X DVD-R @ 16X
- Summary
Low error levels with Plextools, messed up graphs in CDSpeed. Same old story...
16. CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 5
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we
used two readers with two software applications:
- The LiteON SOHD-167T
with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to 16X CAV and DVD9 up
to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests we used the latest Nero CDSpeed
version.
- The Plextor PX-712A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed, BURST mode, with middle accuracy.
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve,
very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times however, even though
a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth
containing dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities
of the LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer
area of the disc.
Writing Quality for DVDRW burned at 6X & 8X
- Summary
In all cases, the readings up to three quarters of the way through are smooth, but after that it seems that something isn't quite right. The reading speed reduces and cannot recover. The PIE errors are between the limits.
17. Writing Quality Tests - Almedio AEC-1000
The AEC-1000 consists of a DVD Drive and the "ALChecker" error measurement application which can check the written data quality. The application is capable of 1X CLV measurement as well as 4X CLV on DVD-Video/ROM and finalized DVD+R/-R media.
There are three measurement modes:
- Fine Mode: checks a series of eight consecutive ECC blocks,
- Rough Mode: checks eight consecutive ECC blocks every 100h ECC blocks
- Quick Mode: checks three specified areas
The checking status is shown graphically in real time while you can save the error graph at the end of the test. The reported errors are the PI and the UncPO. In the case of PI, it counts the number of rows corrected by the PI error correction in each group of eight consecutive ECC blocks. In the case of UncPO, it counts the number of ECC blocks in which more than one byte is uncorrectable in eight consecutive ECC blocks. For our quality scans, we set it for 1X CLV and Fine Mode which is the slowest and with the safest results. Also, we chose to measure all the media burned at the maximum available writing speed, namely 16X.
Mitsubishi Chemicals DVD-R @ 16X
Maxell DVD-R @ 16X
Traxdata DVD-R @ 16X
Mitsubishi Chemicals DVD+R @ 16X
Ricoh DVD+R @ 16X
Traxada DVD+R @ 16X
- Summary
Judging from the quality scans above, only Traxdata DVD-R and Ricoh DVD+R reported good writing quality. With the rest of the tested media, the results were not good.
18. DVDR DL - Page 1
- Writing Tests
We burned two DVD+R DL discs with DVD-Video content. The source
disc was "Gladiator Movie - Special Edition" disc1 with a total
size of 6.86GB. First, we transferred the movie to the hard disc with DVD
Decrypter in ISO format (single file). Afterwards, we used CopyToDVD, latest available version by the time of the review.
After choosing the "GLADIATOR.ISO" image we selected the LiteON SOHW-1673S recorder.
CMC DVD+R9 media @ 2.4X
Maxell DVD+R9 media @ 4X
Traxdata DVD+R9 media @ 2.4X.
Ridisc DVD+R9 media @ 2.4X
Verbatim DVD+R9 media @ 4X
Verbatim DVD-R9 media @ 4X
For comparison reasons, we post DL burning times for
other writers, with the same disc content and same recording software:
Drive |
Time (mins) |
Pioneer DVR-109 |
16:29 |
NEC ND-3530A |
17:48 |
NEC ND-3520A |
22:35
|
Sony DRU-800A |
22:48 |
TDK 1616N |
22:51 |
NEC ND-3500A |
22:52 |
ASUS DRW-1604P (4X) |
23:10 |
Pioneer DVR-108A (4X) |
23:10 |
Pioneer DVR-108A (2.4X) |
38:23
|
Sony is fast at 4X burning, however there already burners that supports 6X.
19. DVDR DL - Page 2
- Writing Quality
In order to test the LiteON SOHW-1673S DVD+R DL writing quality, we used the LiteOn SOHD-167T and the Plextor PX-712A drives.
CMC DVD+R9 media @ 2.4X
Maxell DVD+R9 media @ 4X
Traxdata DVD+R9 media @ 2.4X
Ridisc DVD+R9 media @ 2.4X
Verbatim DVD+R9 media @ 4X
Verbatim DVD-R9 media @ 4X
In most cases, both Plextools and CDSpeed reported very good recording quality.
20. Sony DRU-800A vs. SA300
For checking exactly what
the Sony DRU-800A reports, we used four different media, burned with other
recorders. The three media have been measured with the well known AudioDev
SA300 DVD
CATS system at 1X.
The drive is capable of reporting PI/PIF errors, so we will compare those
measurements at 8X reading speed.
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested DRU-800A drive. Using other drives, even another DRU-800A, can produce totally different
results. Be aware!
#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
#3rd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
#4th Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
From the above graphs, we can see that the error trend lines follow the same pattern as the original CATS scans, in most cases. In absolute values however, there is a lot of difference.
21. BookType Setting
All Mediatek based drives support the Booktype setting, allowing the user to maximize compatibility. Users should
change to
the preferred booktype setting prior to burning +R, +RW or +R9 media.
We used several utilities to confirm this feature, such as Kprobe, DVD Decrypter and DVDinfoPro. In all cases, the booktype was changed successfully.
22. Conclusion
An average CD reader when it comes to speed but with decent CD error correction. The Sony also has decent DVD error correction and good reading speed with pressed single layer DVDs. Its reading speed with double layer discs or DVD±R/RW is low. It could have been considered as a better than average drive some time back, but now...At least the ripping speed is good.
According to our DAE tests, the drive showed good performance and a perfect score in the Nero CD Speed
Advanced DAE test. It managed to read the 99min test disc but it failed with the 90min. Apart from this, the Sony DRU-800A won't let you down when it comes to reading and ripping CDS200 and Key2Audio protected AudioCDs.
It can handle game protection schemes only up to the usual level. Safedisc protected games with version newer than 2.8 are a problem for the drive. There are some software programs, such as Blindwrite which might help you to do it but in this case, it would be mostly the contribution of the software and not the drive's chipset.
The CD writing quality of the Sony is much dependent on the inserted media. There were cases where we saw good writing quality while other times quite appalling. However, recording at 48X speed is not the best choice and this applies to just about all the burners on the market.
We burned 35 different DVD single layer media from all formats and at all supported speeds. Although the error levels were low with PlexTools, in most cases CDSpeed had a different idea about the quality. The writing quality was good only in a very few cases while in most cases it was average. We expect most of these cases will be fixed with a newer firmware upgrade.
The drive hopefully supports booktype setting for all the plus format media and this can be done with almost all the available utilities. Hence its ability to measure the writing quality with CD/DVD media as well as to be set as region free are an advantage. We would also like it if we could read the drive's firmware media support list with Omnipatcher.
The retail package is very good but a couple of blank media would be welcome. Its retail price at the time of the review was US$115 from Newegg.com and US$122 from Amazon.com, which is rather high.
- The Good
- Decent CD/DVD error correction
- Supports protected Audio discs (CDS200, Key2Audio)
- Can overburn up to 99mins
-
Region free utilities
- Can be used for DVD media error measurements
- Supports Booktype setting
- The Bad
- Doesn't accurately backup SafeDisc2 v2.9x+ protected discs
- Doesn't support DVD overburning
- CD writing quality at 48X with specific media
- Like to be fixed
- DVD writing quality for sure
Retail Package |
|
Reading |
|
Error Correction |
|
Protected Discs |
|
Writing |
|
Features |
|