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2. Installation/Package

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YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W - Page 2

- The package

The package included the bare drive among with the essential media for the tests and the CDR software. We got 40X CD-R CD-R media from Fuji-Film, two pieces of 24X HS-RW media (from Mitsubishi Chemicals) and several media especially for the DiscT@2 'print' tests (Mitsubishi Chemicals).

The price of the retail package (MSRP) for the US market is around $179 and for European users is Euro 199 (CRW-F1 ATAPI version). The actual retail price probably would be even lower.

The Japanese retail package will include burn software from Ahead: Nero (5.5.8.13), InCD 3.32, Nero Toolkit, Nero Cover Designer with DiscT@2 function as well as the owner's manual , software guide for Nero, standard E-IDE 40-pins flat cable, audio cable, mounting screws , jumper cap (shunt), one blank CD-R disc and one blank CD-RW disc. The initial package will include 24X HS-RW media.

There will be several other CRWF1 versions with different connection interface:

• CRW-F1UX (External USB2.0/1.1)
• CRW-F1DX (External USB2.0/1.1 + IEEE1394)
• CRW-F1SX (External Ultra SCSI)

The CRW-F1 external models will be available in August 2002, beginning with the USB 2.0 model. The dual interface FireWire/USB 2.0 model and the SCSI models will follow shortly.

The US retail package will include: Ahead Nero 5.5.8.13, InCD 3.32, NeroMix, Nero Toolkit, Nero Cover Designer, MusicMatch Jukebox 7.0 (Yamaha edition), Dantz Retrospect Express, Adobe PhotoDeluxe and Adobe ActiveShare, 1 blank CD-R, 1 blank CD-RW (24x), a Quick Start Guide, installation map, IDE cable, and hardware kit (screws, washers, audio cable).

The US codenames are slight different:

- CRW-F1ZE (Internal E-IDE w/ Platinum White faceplate)
- CRW-F1ZEN (Internal E-IDE w/ Black faceplate)
- CRW-F1ZS (Internal SCSI w/ Platinum White faceplate)
- CRW-F1ZSN (Internal SCSI w/ Black faceplate)
- CRW-F1ZUX (External USB 2.0)
- CRW-F1ZDX (External FireWire/USB 2.0)
- CRW-F1ZSX (External SCSI)

In the front panel of the YAMAHA CRW-F1 is white and you can find the "YAMAHA" logo, the headphone jack, the volume selector and the eject button. The drive continues to include the special "intense blue" LED that lights up when recording. The LED will change to a purple-white (fluorescent) colour when the drives are idle. There aren?t any logos of the drive's features, since YAMAHA wants to keep the design of the drive "classic". Lastly the drive has a black tray, similar to the previous CRW3200E series:

In rear panel, you will find the power connector, the IDE cable connector, jumpers for setting up the MASTER/SLAVE/CABLE select status and finally, the analog/SPDIF connectors

Below are the full specifications of the Yamaha CRWF1-E:

Interface	E-IDE / ATAPI (Internal)
Data Capacity	700 MB (80 min.), 650 MB (74 min.)
Write Speeds (CD-R)	44x (19x-44x Full CAV); 16x, 12x, 8x, 4x, 1x, (CLV)
ReWrite Speeds (CD-RW)	24x, 10x (Full CAV*); 24x (Partial CAV); 16x, 12x, 10x, 4x, 2x (CLV)
Read Speed	44x (Full CAV)
Digital Auto Extraction	44x(Full CAV)
Data Buffer Size	8 MB (3176 sectors)
Data Transfer Speed	150 KB/s ~ 6600 KB/s (44x)
Access Time	130 ms (Average Random Access Time)
Disc Loading Type	Front Auto-Loading Tray
Writing methods	Disc-at-Once, Session-at-Once, Track-at-Once, Packet-Writing, Advanced Audio Master Quality Recording, CD-MRW
Supported Formats**	CD-DA, CD-TEXT, CD+G, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-Bridge (Photo CD), Video CD (VCD), CD-I, Mixed Mode CD-ROM, CD EXTRA, CD-MRW (Mount Rainier)
Buffer Underrun Protection	Yes, SafeBurn
Operational LED Colour	Ice Blue
Dimensions / Weight	146 (W) x 41.3 (H) x 193.1 (D) mm / 0.9 kg (drive only)
Minimum Hardware Requirement	PC: Pentium II-Class or higher, 300MHz or faster, 64MB RAM (Windows XP: 128MB)
Supported Operating System	Windows 98/ 98 SE/ Me Windows 2000 Professional / XP

- Installation

The YAMAHA F1 was installed as a Master in the primary IDE BUS. The drive worked in UDMA-33 model. After booting, it identified itself as a "YAMAHA CRW-F1E". WinXP activated DMA without our interference.

The drive is a June 2002 model and came with initial firmware revision v1.0a. YAMAHA send a newer version (v1.0b) that was used for all reading/recording tests. Lastly, we used Nero v5.5.9.2b, CloneCD v4.0.1.9 and Ahead InCD v3.32 for the recording tests.

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3. Data Reading Tests

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Data Tests

- Pressed CD results: (Click to see the CD Speed Graph)

At the Nero CD Speed test, the YAMAHA CRW-F1 gave a 32.33X average reading speed. The drive started reading at 19.38X and stopped at 42.56X, not exactly at 44X as it was supposed to. YAMAHA drives reach maximum speed with 80min discs, a different approach than from other manufacturer. The starting speed could be higher and that would give a faster average speed by the end. YAMAHA commended that "...While this statement is true, it does not accurately reflect Yamaha's intention with this drive. The speeds that the drive utilizes (both starting and ending) have been decided to optimize writing and reading quality, while also delivering the best experience possible. The Yamaha Dynamic Damper System (YDDS) was developed to keep the drives operation extremely quiet by counteracting the specific vibration caused while spinning a CD at 8700RPM constantly...". The Asus CRW4816A is the fastest drive in this test due to the 48X supported speed, and LiteOn LTR-40125S and CyberDrive CW078D follow.

In the same test, the seek times of YAMAHA CRW-F1 were higher than the other drives. The drive was faster than PleXWriter PX-W4012A in the Random and 1/3 seek mode, but showed a different behaviour in the Full seek mode. YAMAHA commended that "...The equipment is capable of lower seek times, however because of some functions of the drive (AudioMaster, DiscT@2, etc), it is necessary to keep the seek times slightly higher to allow for better positioning during these operations...". The fastest drive in this test is Asus CRW4816A and LiteOn LTR-40125S.

- CDR Media: (Click to see the CD Speed Graph)

All drives improved their reading performance with CD-R media, except from the Plextor drive, which was slightly slower. The speed classification remains the same, and Asus continues to lead with 38.08X average reading speed.

The seek times of the drives with CD-R media were slightly increased.

- HS-RW media: (Click to see the CD Speed Graphs)

In the HS-RW reading tests we used the HS-RW media that come with the retail package of each drive, recorded in the correspondent maximum speed supported. For the YAMAHA drive, we used Ultra speed 24X HS-RW media. The YAMAHA CRW-F1 read the disc at 33.05X average speed and was the fastest reader in the test. LiteOn LTR-40125S follows with 32.03X and Plextor PX-W4012A comes third with 31.59X.

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4. Error Correction Tests

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Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we examine the error correction capabilities of YAMAHA CRW-F1. We use the built-in Nero CD Speed CD Quality test and CDVD Benchmark v1.21 software. The reference test media come from ABEX and Philips.

- ABEX TCD-714R

This test disc has been produced for measuring and adjusting the tracking servo characteristics of the drive, against the eccentricity of compact disc. The fundamental characteristics of this disc other than on eccentricity are compatible with the standards in "Red Booklet". The test examines the ability to trace eccentricity of the compact disc player.

In reference to a zero eccentricity disc, we check the following phenomena:

a. There is skipping of sound tracks
b. Requires excess time to locate or cannot locate the starting point of the tune.
c. Mechanical noise is heard from the CD player
d. Requires excess time to read or cannot read the TOC information
e. The spindle motor runs wild

Physical characteristics of disc:

• Eccentricity: 280 micro meters
• Daviation: 3 micro meters

Our tests did not show any of the above negative behaviours from the YAMAHA CRW-F1.

- ABEX TCD-721R

This test disc is produced with the objective of measuring and adjusting the CD player's tracking servo characteristics and error correction ability against scratches on the disc. Artificial scratches with lengths from 1.8 mm to 3.0 mm are found on the disc. The phenomenon that may occur during playback of the disc contents are:

a. Noise is created
b. The sound skips
c. The same section is repeatedly played
d. Start of the tune cannot be detected
e. The spindle motor rotates erratically (reverse rotation, change in revolution, e.t.c)

Nero CD Speed showed that the drive slowed down the reading process when the size of the errors on the disc became large enough. However, no errors were occurred.

- ABEX TCD-726

This disc is produced for measurement and adjustment of error ability and tracking / focusing servo characteristics of a CD player against defects included in some discs. Three kind of defects, interruption, black dots and fingerprints are prepared in this disc. The interruption defects are sized from 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm. The black dots are from 0.4 mm to 1.0 mm. Lastly, the fingerprints are from 65 to 75 micro meters.

The YAMAHA CRW-F1 did not fin any problems with the defects on the disc surface. The artificial "black dots" made the drive lower its reading speed but no errors were present.

- Philips SBC-444A

This disc has built-in defects that can be used for checking error rates. In addition to providing known errors, it tests the player under maximum stress. The purpose of this disc is adjustment / checking of the CD player. Note that the disc is not within specification concerning local defects. The defects found on the disc are interruptions of the information layer, black dots at out-read area, and simulated fingerprint.

Disc SBC 444A provides two kinds of defects: Missing information, and black spots. The tracks with missing information should provide fairly repeatable results since these errors are encoded into the data. The sections with Black Spots have the information in tact, but obscured by the black spots. In this case, not only is there information lost, but the servomechanisms are stressed. For example, when the readout beam encounters the black spot, focus, track following, and clock recovery servo signals disappear. After the beam has passed the black spot and the signal is restored, the pickup is out of focus, off track, and the bit clock is at the wrong frequency. This causes many additional errors to be generated in an unpredictable way.

YAMAHA CRW-F1 did not have any reading problems with the specific disc. The 800 micrometer black dote was harder for the drive to read but no read error occurred.

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5. CloneCD Reading Tests

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YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W- Page 5

CloneCD Tests

- Procedure

We used CloneCD (v4.0.1.9) and 4 original CDs - Serious Sam 2 (SafeDisc 2), Desperados (LaserLock 2), V-Rally 2 Expert (SecuROM 2) and NBA Jam Extreme (PSX) - in order to test the reading time of the drives. We also tested the reading performance with backups of the original CDs, since the reading speed varies between original and backup media. The following pictures show the drive reading/writing capabilities as CloneCD reports:

- PSX Pressed Media

For this test we used the PSX game 'NBA Jam Extreme' and we ripped the image to the HD with CloneCD. The YAMAHA drive was not the fastest in this test and took 3:40 min to finish the task. The fastest drive in this test is ASUS CRW4816A with only 46secs.

- SafeDisc v.2 Results

The YAMAHA CRW-F1 was really fast in the SafeDisc v.2 test, and gets the second best position with a small difference from the PleXWriter PX-W4012A, that leads in this test.

- LaserLock v.2 Results

With the LaserLock v.2 protected disc, YAMAHA CRW-F1 was not as fast as in the previous test and is only slightly faster than the Plextor drive, at least in the original CD test. In the backup CD test, YAMAHA seems not to be very compatible to the other drives.

- SecuROM Results

All tested drives can read SubChannel data from Data/Audio tracks. The YAMAHA CRWF1-E gets the forth place behind CyberDrive, ASUS and LiteOn drives.

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6. DAE Tests

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YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W - Page 6

DAE Tests

- DAE features

- Pressed AudioCD

In this test we examine the speed of the DAE of the drives. The YAMAHA CRW-F1 supports up to 44X DAE. The results with pressed media were slower than the CyberDrive, Asus and LiteOn drives and reached 30.6X. The slower drive comes from Plextor with 30.1X, due to lower reading speed (40X).

- AudioCD-R media

All the drives except from Asus lowered the average DAE speed with CD-R media. CyberDrive CW078D seems to have some problems compared to the previous test, as it slowed down to 32.7X. However it is still faster than YAMAHA CRW-F1 (30.2X) and PleXWriter PX-W4012A (29.7X).

- EAC Secure Extract Ripping mode

EAC's secure extract ripping mode results, which ensures maximum produced WAV quality. Note that for each drive we used the build-in detection function:

Tested Drives	Average DAE Speed (X)
	Pressed	CDR
YAMAHA CRW-F1	7.2	7.3
Asus CRW4816A	10.4	10.7
CyberDrive CW-078D	8.5	8.8
LiteOn LTR-40125S	10.9	11.1
Plextor PX-W4012A	7.3	7

- Advanced DAE Quality

All tested drives got a 100 score (best) in the Nero CD Speed Advanced DAE test, except from CyberDrive CW078D, which produced 18320 data errors. The average speed for YAMAHA CRW-F1 was 30.66X. The drive can also read data from Lead-in, CD-text and SubChannel.

- CD-Check Audio Test Disc

Error Level	1	2	3	4	5
YAMAHA CRW-F1	5/5	5/5	5/5	4/5	0/5

The YAMAHA CRW-F1 partly fulfilled the forth level requirement of CD-Check test disc without perfect score (4/5). The drive didn't produce any pops during the playback process until that level.

- Bad CDR Media results

We used CD DAE 99 software to rip the whole disc (756539616 sectors) to the hard disk.

	Average Speed (X)	Errors	Errors Of Total Disc (%)
YAMAHA CRW-F1	6	61230297	8.09
Asus CRW4816A	Drive locks when disc inserted
CyberDrive CW-078D	3.7	509053	0.07
LiteOn LTR-40125S	15.2	472459	0.06
Plextor PX-W4012A	22.6	86674027	11.46

The YAMAHA CRW-F1 ripped the disc contents at 6x and produced 8.09% errors of the entire contents. The results are not very good compared with other drives.

- Ripping 90 and 99mins AudioCDs

 

Tested drives	Ripping up to
YAMAHA CRW-F1	99 min

- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCDs

For the test procedure we used 2 protected AudioCDs, which we tested in both recognition and ripping (with EAC) processes:

* Pressed AudioCD with Sony Key2Audio (Celine Dion - New Day Has Come)
* Pressed AudioCD with Cactus Data Shield 200 (Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies Island)

	Key2Audio	CDS200
	EAC
YAMAHA CRW-F1	Cannot recognize disc contents	Rips entire disc without problems
Asus CRW4816A	Cannot recognize disc contents	Can recognize the disc contents but cannot rip!
CyberDrive CW-078D	Rips entire disc without problems
Plextor PX-W4012A	Rips entire disc without problems	Rips entire disc without problems under special settings

YAMAHA CRW-F1 can handle only CDS200 protected audio discs. The drive couldn't recognize the "Celine Dion" protected Audio disc and it kept blinking without any reading action. The strange is that the drive could rip without any issues other Key2Audio test disc. Future firmware upgrades can improve the Key2Audio compatibility...

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7. CDR Tests

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YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W - Page 7

CDR Tests

YAMAHA has chosen a rather short supported writing speed list. The drive supports 1X, 4X, 8X, 16X (CLV) and 44X (CAV) writing speeds. There aren't any selectable speeds between 16X and 44X.

Not all discs are created equal: quality can vary greatly from brand to brand, and even from batch to batch. Yamaha's Optimum Write Speed Control function takes care of this problems and makes it easy to record at the highest possible quality for the media you choose.

Simply choose to record at maximum speed and let the recorder automatically throttle down if it feels a particular disc should be recorded at a slower speed.

YAMAHA explains that when OWSC (Optimum Writing Control ) is enabled, the drive will select automatically the best maximum possible recording speed from 8X, 16X (CLV), 20X, 24X, 32X, 36X, 40X and 44X (CAV), as the right graph shows.

The Optimum Writing Control system, determines the optimum writing speed for the disc inserted. The feature can be disabled through Nero software, and as a result, user will be able to record all inserted media at the maximum speed (44X). With OWSC on/off, you can select all recording speeds (1X-44X). When OWSC in enabled and a low quality media being used, Nero will report the drop of recording speed, usually down to 16X

- Full CAV recording method

YAMAHA has chosen Full CAV as the main recording technology. Actually the drive supports both Partial-CAV (P-CAV) and Full CAV, for its various recording speeds. If the drive drop its recording speed from 20X-40X will use P-CAV, else for the 44X Full CAV. Using a 80min disc, we can see the drive's start, ending recording speeds, according to the Nero CD Speed software.

The drive starts writing at 19.66X and gradually reaches almost 44X at the end of a 80min disc. The theoretical average writing speed is 33.08X, making it slower than 48X (CAV) and slight faster than 40X (Z-CLV) recorders. As we explained earlier, YAMAHA chosen this write strategy to reduce vibrations and improve the writing quality during the entire disc. According to YAMAHA, the CRWF1 drive keeps its C1 error rate constant than other 48X and 40X recorders from competitors:

- Recording Tests

YAMAHA CRW-F1 finished the writing process in 3:03 minutes. The result came with Mitsubishi Chemicals 80min 48x media, with the OWSC enabled. The ASUS CRW4816A finished the same task at 2:41 minutes due to its 48X (CAV) writing speed. The CyberDrive CW078D is also quite fast and just one second slower (184secs) than the YAMAHA drive. The LiteOn LTR-40125S comes third with 195secs and PleXWriter PX-W4012A last with 206secs (best results). Below is the screenshot of the best recording result (3:03mins):

The following table shows the recording time results we got with various media. As you can see there are two results from each media with OWSC (Optimum Writing Control) enabled/disabled. The test results shows that the CRWF1 drive will

a) drop its maximum recording to 16X (OWSC on) with:

• SanyoDigital 80min 24x
• SmartBuy 80min 32x
• SKC 80min 24x
• Plasmon 80min 16x
• Prodisc 80min 32x

b) write at 40X (P-CAV) (3:17mins) with:

• Octron 80min 24x
• Emtec 80min 24x
• Philips 80min 40x
• Hitachi-Maxell 80min 40x

and

c) write at the maximum speed 44X (CAV) (3:03mins) with

• FujiFilm 80min 40x
• CyberDrive 80min 40x
• Taiyo Yuden 80min 40x
• Mitsubishi Chemicals 80min 48x

As we can see the supported media list for the maximum speed is limited, with OWSC on. Of course you can disable the OWSC and write any media at 44X, but this isn't recommended as our writing quality tests have reviled:

- Overburning Tests

Tested Drive	Writing up to
Yamaha CRW-F1	92mins

The drive can overburn up to 92min with 90min media. We could not test the drive with 99min media, because the drive could not recognize them.

- CD-Text Results

The drive can read/write CD-Text without any problems.

- CloneCD Writing Tests

The CloneCD v4.0.1.9 reports that the drive supports the DAO-RAW feature. The drive when using the proper media, will write up to 44X (CAV). CloneCD doesn't offer any option to disable OWSC.

- EFM correction tests

For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 different game titles with various SafeDisc 2 versions. For getting the maximum of them, we used the latest software patches.

We used the Yamaha CRW-F1 both as reader/writer at maximum reading/recording speed. We burned two discs for each game (Amplify Weak Sectors On/Off) and the results are posted in the below table:

Game Title	Tested Drive	SD2 Build	Amplify Weak Sectors On	Amplify Weak Sectors Off
Emperor:Battle of Dune	Creative 52X CD-ROM	v.2.30.021	OK	OK
	TEAC 40X CD-ROM		OK	OK
	YAMAHA CRWF1-E + Hide CDR		OK	OK
	LiteOn LTR-32123S + Hide CDR		OK	OK
Max Payne v1.05	Creative 52X CD-ROM	v.2.50.020	OK	OK
	TEAC 40X CD-ROM		OK	OK
	YAMAHA CRWF1-E + Hide CDR		OK	OK
	LiteOn LTR-32123S + Hide CDR		OK	OK
Serious Sam - The Second Encounter v1.07	Creative 52X CD-ROM	v.2.60.052	NO	NO
	TEAC 40X CD-ROM		NO	NO
	YAMAHA CRWF1-E + Hide CDR		OK	OK
	LiteOn LTR-32123S + Hide CDR		OK	NO

As the test results showed, the CRWF1 drive can backup up to SD2 v2.50.020 version without the need of Amplify Weak Sectors. However with the latest v2.51.021+ builds it will not produce 100% correct playback disc. The backup media worked only in the LiteOn LTR-32123S recorder (with Hide CD-R activated) and the YAMAHA CRWF1-E itself. The results may trouble users. We don't know if this can be fixed with future firmware upgrade...

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8. Writing Quality Tests

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YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W - Page 8

Writing Quality Tests

We used many media and burned them either with OWSC on/off with YAMAHA CRW-F1. We used Nero 5.5.9.2b for all the recordings. The produced CDs, were measured from DigitalDrives and results are illustrated in the following table

Brand		C1		C2		Average Burning Time (mins)
		Max	Average	Max	Average
Octron 80min 24x	OWC On	26	2	0		3:17
	OWC Off	22	2.5			3:06
SanyoDigital 80min 24x	OWC On	30	2.9			5:31
	OWC Off	31	4.9			3:04
Emtec 80min 24x	OWC On	29	4.9			3:16
	OWC Off	203	13.8	4	0	3:05
SmartBuy 80min 32x	OWC On	55	5.7	0		5:30
	OWC Off	129	13.2	308	1.2	3:04
Philips 80min 40x	OWC On	26	1.7	0		3:16
	OWC Off	54	44			3:05
Hitachi-Maxell 80min 40x	OWC On	19	1.1			3:16
	OWC Off	20	1.8			3:05
FujiFilm 80min 40x	OWC On	16	0.5			3:05
	OWC Off	20	1.9			3:04
SKC 80min 24x	OWC On	26	2.7			5:31
	OWC Off	22	1.7			3:04
Plasmon 80min 16x	OWC On	33	2.1			5:30
	OWC Off	744	46.2	46	0	3:06
CyberDrive 80min 40x	OWC On	38	3.5	0		3:06
	OWC Off	31	3.5			3:04
Prodisc 80min 32x	OWC On	27	2.1			5:30
	OWC Off	19	1.9			3:04
Taiyo Yuden 80min 40x	OWC On	35	0.9			3:06
	OWC Off	48	1.3			3:05
Mitsubishi Chemicals 80min 48x	OWC On	13	0.7			3:03
	OWC Off	16	0.8			3:05

The general writing quality of YAMAHA CRW-F1 is more than adequate, in the maximum 44X recording speed. The error rate in most cases is low and no C2 errors occurred, with some exceptions with Plasmon, Emtec and SmartBuy (Prodisc) media, when the OWSC feature was not enabled. The importance of the OWSC system is clearly defined from the test results, where the quality was significantly increased when it was enabled. In cases were the inserted media did not support the 44X speed or a close to that speed, the OWSC lowered the writing speed to maintain better results, with a cost in the writing time, of course.

In the charts below there are some C1/C2 graphs showing the worst behaviors we had from the drive, when we used Plasmon, Emtec, SmartBuy and Taiyo Yuden media.

- Emtec 80min 24X @ 44X with OWC on

- Emtec 80min 24X @ 44X with OWC off

- Plasmon 80min 16X @ 44X with OWC on

- Plasmon 80min 16X @ 44X with OWC off

- SmartBuy 80min 32X @ 44X with OWC on

- SmartBuy 80min 32X @ 44X with OWC off

- Taiyo Yuden 80min 40X @ 44X with OWC on

- Taiyo Yuden 80min 40X @ 44X with OWC off

In the following table you can see the manufacturing details of the media we used for our tests.

Name	Real Manufacturer	Code	Capacity
Mitsubishi Chemicals 80min 48x	Mitsubishi Chemicals	97m34s23f	79:59.73
Taiyo Yuden 80min 40x	Taiyo Yuden	97m24s01f	79:59.72
Prodisc 80min 32x	Prodisc	97m32s19f	79:59.74
CyberDrive 80min 40x	Postech	97m26s11f	79:59.73
Plasmon 80min 16x	Plasmon	97m27s19f	79:59.74
SKC 80min 24x	SKC	97m26s26f	79:59.74
FujiFilm 80min 40x	Fuji	97m26s45f	79:59.73
Hitachi-Maxell 80min 40x	Hitachi Maxell	97m25s29f	79:59.74
Philips 80min 40x	Ritek	97m15s17f	79:59.73
SmartBuy 80min 32x	Prodisc	97m32s19f	79:59.74
Emtec 80min 24x	Unknown	97m25s07f	79:59.00
SanyoDigital 80min 24x	Plasmon	97m27s19f	79:59.74
Octron 80min 24x	Ritek	97m15s17f	79:59.73

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9. RW-Packet Writing Tests

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YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W - Page 9

RW Writing Tests

The YAMAHA CRWF1 is the first ever recorder that supports 24X (P-CAV) recording speed with of course new Ultra HS-RW media. The new re-writing speeds are comply with Orange Book Volume III Part 2. In the near future its expected that re-writing speeds will further increased up to 32X (CAV).

We used Nero 5.5.9.2 for writing CDs at the maximum RW speed for all the tested drives. YAMAHA send us two pieces of 24X HS-RW media (made from Mitsubishi Chemicals) that used for the re-writing tests.

Nero reports that the drive can write at 10X, 16X and 24X with Ultra HS-RW. With 4X-10X HS-RW media, the supported rewriting speeds are 4X, 8X, 10X and 12X (CLV). The negative point here, is that the current firmware (v1.0b) the drive supports 12X re-writing with selected HS-RW media - Plextor's bulked 4-10X, made by Digital Storage (97m27s00f ID code).

We tried several 16X HS-RW media from:

• ASUS 80min 16X (ACER 97m22s6f)
• CyberDrive 80min 16X (Plasmon 97m27s11f)
• Daxon 16X (ACER 97m22s62f)

, and the CRWF1 drive supported only 4X and 10X re-writing speeds. The above media can be re-written from the ASUS CRW4816A and CyberDrive CW078D at 16X without any issues.

YAMAHA replied that "...We have tested the above 16X High Speed CD-RW media, but unfortunately we have found that its quality does not meet with our standard when we rewrite data on the media at 16x. We continue to evaluate several new High Speed CD-RW media. We will release new firmware to accept rewriting at 16x or 12x when we find the HS-RW media to be rewritten at such speed...» That means future firmware upgrades will support more media for the 12X with normal HS-RW and maybe even 16X with normal HS-RW media.

Below, we can see the writing graph with a Ultra HS-RW media. The YAMAHA CRWF1 drive starts writing at 19.71X and reaches 24.06X at 10mins. The average theoretical re-writing speed is 23.75X, making it almost equal to a 24X CLV drive.

With the use of Ultra HS-RW, YAMAHA CRW-F1 finished the task in 221 seconds, breaking any previous record. The ASUS CRW4816A and CyberDrive CW078D gave approximately the same results at 16X, and LiteOn and Plextor drives share the last position at 12X.

At 16X (Ultra HS-RW), the ASUS CRW4812A is faster by 6-7 seconds from YAMAHA CRW-F1 and CyberDrive CW078D.

- Packet Writing Tests

We used Ahead InCD v3.32 for the packet writing tests with the 24X Ultra HS-RW media.

The formatted disc had 534 MB of free space. We copied a 403 MB file (403.147 kbs) from a Hard Disk (on the same PC as the writers) to the formatted RW media using Windows Explorer (we dragged and dropped) and we completed the test twice to eliminate any possible time measurement faults and user errors:

The performance of the CRW-F1 under packet writing mode with 24X Ultra HS-RW media is impressive. The drive reaches 17.35X when writing and 12.94X while reading. Other drives that support 16X re-writing are much slower with 11.28X and 11.45X from ASUS and CyberDrive respectively.

With normal 4-10X HS-RW media, the drive reached 8.45X at the writing part and 12.94X at the reading part.

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10. Mt. Rainier Tests

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YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W - Page 10

Mt. Rainier Tests

For testing the Mt. Rainier performance of YAMAHA CRW-F1, we performed two types of tests. The software we used was InCD by Ahead Software.

First Test

After the format process, we immediately start the recording process (drag & drop). When the drive finishes, we start the reading process back to the HD. At this mode, the drive writes, reads the quality of the written data and background formats the disc at the same time. For the YAMAHA CRW-F1 we used both 10X HS-RW media and the Ultra Speed 24X HS-RW. The recording performance of each drive is displayed in the below table:

YAMAHA CRW-F1 gave a 3.08X average writing speed, slower than the Teac CD-W540E and TDK Cyclone 401248B. In the reading part, the drive was the fastest with 8.33X and the TDK drive follows closely. With the 24X media, the YAMAHA drive was faster in the writing part with 4.86X.

Second Test

At the second test, we left the drive alone to complete the background formatting and afterwards, we repeated the above tests. The recording/reading performance in this case is higher for all the drives, since now only record & read are performed. The disc has been scanned for bad sectors during the format process:

With the 10X HS-RW discs the YAMAHA drive was slower than the TDK in the writing part and faster in the reading test. Mitsumi CR-485C TE gave exactly the same writing performance with YAMAHA. With the 24X HS-RW media the YAMAHA CRW-F1 wrote the file to the disc at 12.4X.

-Easy Write tests

The Philips Easy Write tests checks the quality level of the implementation of Mt Rainier feature. For more info about the testing methodology please refer here

Tests with Blank HS-RW media

Below are the test results for all tested drives with the use of blank HS-RW media

Remarks:

0 = success, any number above shows failure in particular test
N/A = Could not be tested
FE = Fatal Error

The YAMAHA CRW-F1 seems to have some problems with the complete implementation of the Easy Write tests. The drive gave managed to pass only the Basic Command Set and gave a fatal error in the Background Format test. As a result, no further tests could be done. Fatal errors also occurred during the Heavy and Light R&R tests. However, YAMAHA promised that future firmware upgrade will improve this poor performance.

The test with the Philips artificially defected media could not be performed and the drive refused to accept the test scripts. YAMAHA said that this behaviour is under investigation and probably a newer firmware upgrade will fix this. As soon we have this firmware, we will re-test the drive and post the results...

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11. AudioMASTER Tests

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AudioMASTER Tests

YAMAHA CRW-F1 features the new generation of "Advanced Audio Master Quality Recording". It's main purpose is to offer high recording quality for disks intended to be used for the seer reproduction of audio on regular home CD and car players.

- What is Jitter?

A CD-R/RW drive writes audio in the form of pits and lands on the recordable layer of the disc. The digital information in the pits and lands is decoded by the scanning unit in the CD player and played. Various factors (e.g. crystal oscillators, component tolerances, ADCs and DACs frequency mismatch, electromagnetic fields, the inconsistency of the lands and pits?their length or width and the uneven gaps between them) can prevent these signals from reaching the CD-player's scanning unit at exactly the intended time. This timing inaccuracy is what is known as "jitter".

The top waveform is perceived as a perfect digital signal, the wave definition and timing are heoretically flawless. The lower waveform represents the exact information but with jitter. In contrast, he waveform is distorted and the timing is inaccurate. In the worst case, such jitter can be heard as udible clicks or pops during playback. High jitter values are responsible for inaccurate sound positioning, poor bass frequency and unclear sound.

- How does Audio Master Quality Recording work?

Yamaha's claims that Audio Master Quality Recording reduces jitter. Using this feature, the recorder will write longer pits and lands than when in standard mode. Thanks to a variable linear speed, CD-players will read CDs created with the feature at the same speed even though pits and lands are considerably longer.

Sound waveform comparison:
Yamaha technology	Conventional technology
Clear wave pattern	Wave pattern is blurred
A clearer wave pattern displays higher sound quality and lack of background jitter

While the CD player's laser unit reads the data, the photo detector covers a wider rea per pit or land. The jitter factor remains under 20ns (i.e. very low), or a reduction of up to 30%. The recording mode of audio disks is expected to offer reproduction of music with reduced jitter on devices whose power supply subsystem is sensitive to electric current fluctuations due to abrupt motor/pick-up movements in those cases where the reading of a disk is problematic. YAMAHA claims that the Advanced AudioMASTER Quality Recording system reduces Jitter as the abovegraph shows, compared to normal AudioCD authoring.

The newest Audio Master Quality mode supports 1X and 8X writing speeds as well as the original 4X speed mode. In addition, it supports higher media capacity than 80mins:

• 63mins with 650MB
• 68min with 700MB
• 79mins with 870MB discs)

User can select AudioMASTER writing method, when authoring an AudioCD, under the 'Write Tab' -> 'Write Method' -> 'AudioMASTER'.

Nero Burning Rom allows selecting from all the writing speeds mentioned above and additionally users can choose the CRW-F1 to determine the appropriate writing speed, with the "Best WriteSpeed" option.

When using high-quality media, and selected the 'Best WriteSpeed' method, drive will automatically select the best recording speed from 1X, 4X and 8X. In most cases, the writing speed will drop at 4X with the use of lower quality media. In the below Nero screenshot, we can see that with the inserted media (Mitsubishi Chemicals 80min 48X), the drive selected the 8X writing speed. In case you don't select the 'Best WriteSpeed' option, the 8X recording speed is still available for all media:

- Recording Tests

We used two types of media in order to examine the Advanced AudioMASTER technology. The first comes from Plasmon and the second from Mitsubishi Chemicals. We also burned the same project, under normal AudioCD authoring (4X, 16X and 44X) in order to see if there are any major differences. The quality of the produced discs is illustrated in the table below.

The test results showed that AudioMASTER recording technology is mainly affected from the inserted media. When used Mitsubishi Chemical's 80min 48X certified media all test results were very good and the C1 error rate is very low. between the three supported AudioMASTER recording speeds (1X, 4X, 8X) the media performed best with the fastest speed (8X, that was selected in the first place from the "Best WriteSpeed" setting). Burning at normal speed also doesn't seem to affect the C1 error rate.

When used Plasmon 80min 16X certified media, the AudioMASTER system does make a noticeable difference. The 4X speed gives the best writing quality results, (that also was selected from the "Best WriteSpeed" option). At the 1X speed as the following graph shows.

Burning the same media at 44X (with OWSC off) also produced high error rate.

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12. DiscT@2 - Page 1

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YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W - Page 12

DiscT@2

As we mentioned in the first page, YAMAHA has developed the DiscT@2 system, allowing the laser printing on a CD. Users can sacrifice some of their data space on a CD in order to print any info in the outer area of the CD, which can be song titles, company logos, or even more complicated pictures.

DiscT@2 is quite straightforward to use. First, create an image on the template (which shows you which area of the disc is already taken up by data). The bitmapped image consists of colour or grey-scale information with x-y coordinate information such as RGB values. The DiscT@2-capable application (bundled with the CRW-F1) converts the x-y coordinate information to polar coordinate information. The application then sends the grey-scale data with polar coordinate information to the CRW-F1.

The CRW-F1 stores the graphic data in its 8 MB buffer memory. It sends sequential graphic data in polar coordinate order to the Yamaha YDC132V LSI chip. The YDC132V converts the grey-scale information pertaining to the graphic image into special patterns with a minimum size of 0.1 mm, or the equivalent of 250 dpi. The CRW-F1 burns these patterns to disc.

Since the CRW-F1 is not a printer (it doesn't use ink to print), the result of DiscT@2 writing varies with CD-R media dye.

There are 3 types of dye used in CD-R media:

• Azo: blue or deep blue. DiscT@2 images can be burned with high-contrast on Azo media.
• Cyanin: light blue, light green, or yellow. DiscT@2 images on Cyanin dye resemble a light water coloured picture.
•  Phthalocyanine: gold. This media is not suitable for DiscT@2 because it is very difficult to see the difference between the unused area and the already burned area.

YAMAHA adds "... DiscT@2 can be done to any CD-R, however the results are different depending on the dye type and a few other factors. For high visibility/contract, Yamaha recommends the use of Deep Blue AZO media (in the US market, Yamaha will sell a DiscT@2 media specifically formulated for the best results with this technology. This does not mean that DiscT@2 cannot be done to Cyanine or Phthalocyanine, but rather that with each dye you will receive different results. Some people prefer the mild DiscT@2 effect which results on Cyanine, while others have been extremely pleased using Phthalocyanine, as this type of media results in almost a "watermark" effect..."

Also note:

• Graphic images can only be placed outside of the already-written area, in order to avoid data loss.
• Creating a CD with DiscT@2 images will permanently close (finalize) the disc.

The DiscT@2 printing feature is supported by the retail version (5.5.8.13) but for our tests we used a newer version (Nero 5.5.9.2 beta). In the future all major companies (Adobe, Corel) are expected to support templates for more complicated and precise designs. After we open the Nero application, we notice a new addition under the Recorder tab with the "DiscT2" name.

We have already inserted a blank CD and after we select it, the main work area of DiscT@2 editor window opens. Here we allowing the editing of the CD area, designing new graphs or even insert image files from your hard disk to your CD design.

On the left there are various tools for easier design. You can select the inner radius end the outer radius dimensions, which include the editing area, preview and save the printing layout, jump to the recording tab for quick burning.

The inner and outer radius areas are automatically set according to the blank area of the selected disc. In the above example we can 'print' in the entire disc area, since the disc is blank. In case we insert an already burned disc, Nero DiscT@2 editor will automatically reduce the inner/outer radius dimensions according to the left blank space:

If you burn at a blank media, the disc wouldn't be anymore available. Its wise first to design and afterwards you burn your data to 'print' the disc.

Nero under Misc Tab, offers the DiscT@2 burn function, either create a new or 'print' an already saved project.

Two more last notes:

a) You can RE-PRINT an already printed area. The results however are not very good, according to our tests

b) Its almost impossible to ?copy? already printed text/images. Since the DiscT@2 burns area outside TOC, the drive cannot read in that area. An alternative solution would be to scan the disc and re-print it, but again you shouldn't expect much from it.

- Working with the Editor

The Nero DiscT@2 editor offers a variety of functions

a) Text

You can easily add text, rotate it, bend it after pressing the right click at the selected object:

We made some sample designs and containing words and some logos, as you can see below. The DiscT@2 editor allows users to select design effects, resize the image, use various colours, use different letters and many more design options. The main properties window includes settings for the pen tool, the brush tool, the text effects and the font of your image.

b) Images

You can insert images, reduce their size and apply several build-in effects:

We are ready to burn the disc we just made and all we have to do is to press the "Burn DiscT@2" button. Inside Nero, in the Misc tab there is an extra feature allowing the creation of a design layout and a "Burn DiscT@2 selection".

We proceed to the burning process and the burning time is not related to the complexity of the design but it related to the area size of DiscT@2, inner radius & outer radius. It takes about 2min when you set the DiscT@2 area at outer 5mm portion. When you burn DiscT@2 at entire disc, it takes about 12min.

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13. DiscT@2 - Page 2

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YAMAHA CRW-F1 IDE CDR-W - Page 13

DiscT@2 - Page 2

Below are several scanned pictures of DiscT@2 enabled CDs. Note that the below pictures are NOT revile the full capabilities of the technology. You must hold the CD at specific angle in order to have the best possible view...

Below are additional pictures made by YAMAHA:

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14. Conclusion

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Conclusion

Positive (+)

Negative (-)

- Supports 44X full CAV recording technology - First drive to Support 24X re-writing technology - Noiseless writing operation - 8MB Buffer + SafeBurn anti-coaster technology - Unique DiscT@2 'printing' technology - Unique CD-RW Audio Track Edit technology - Improved AudioMASTER technology - Supports Mt. Rainier format - Very good Error Correction - Good writing quality with a variety of media - Good DAE ripping speed - Can 'handle' some protected Audio discs - Supports DAO-RAW writing mode - Can read/write SubChannel Data from Audio/Data tracks - Supports CD-Text (read/write) - Supports Overburning (up to 92+?mins) - Supports Ultra-DMA 33 connection interface - Complete retail package + 2 years of warrantee

- Drive is lower than competition due to its 44X maximum speed - Doesn't support EFM correction for SafeDisc v2.51.021+ builds - Limited media support for 44X writing speed (OWSC On) - Limited media support for 12X re-writing speed - Has issues with Key2Audio and 99min blank media

The YAMAHA CRWF1 is without a doubt, one of the most eagerly awaited recorders of 2002. For the first time a CD-RW drive now be can be used as an "printing" machine, with CD-R media. The adoption of full CAV recording technology reduces the recording time, whilst at the same time, maintains the writing quality at reasonable levels. In addition, the Yamaha CRWF1 is (for the time being) the fastest re-writer ever.

The Yamaha CRWF1 supports the new Ultra HS-RW recording format, that promises up to 24X (32X in the future) re-writing speeds. The improved AudioMASTER features will definitely keep Audio fans both happy and busy at the same time. This is because 90min media and AudioMASTER at 8X recording speeds are now supported. The Mt. Rainier format is also supported but we could not test it thoroughly, with defective media, due to its incompatibility with the EasyWrite test suite.

As well as the positives, there are also a few negative points about the Yamaha CRWF1. The CRWF1 is slower in most of the read tests when compared against the other drives. Its maximum reading speed is 44X compared to the other drives that have a read speed of 48x. One benefit of the slightly slower read speed is that the drive is not as noisy as the other 48X drives.

The supported media for the 44X (CD-R) and 12X (CD-RW) is limited when Optimum Write Speed Control (OWSC) is enabled. Of course a user can disable OWSC, but having faster write speeds (and therefore lower recording times) could have the effect of increasing the risk of unreadable CDs. This has been the case with some other high-speed CD writers.

We had also some issues with the Key2Audio protected Audio discs and the 99min CDs. This probably can be solved with a new firmware upgrade from Yamaha. We will have to wait and see. We will inform you if and when this happens. Lastly, the drive can backup the older SD2 builds but not the recent one's (2.51.021+) even with the help of additional software. This may disappoint some prospective users but then again, it may not.

The retail price of $170 and the end of July release date means that the Yamaha CRWF1 is going to have to compete with cheaper and faster established solutions from companies such as LiteOn and ASUS. Any prospective purchaser will definitely not be disappointed with the Yamaha CRWF1. In a market place where certain manufacturers seem to be churning out new drives every few months, all of the new features of the CRWF1 make it a definite long-term purchase. Well done YAMAHA we really like the CRWF1 ;-)