1. Introduction
Philips (Aopen) 48x
IDE CD Rom - Page 1
This is the latest CD ROM from Philips.
Can it real reach speeds of 48x ? Or not? Does it make fast and accurate DAE
? Find out by reading the review..
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CD Rom Specifications:
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Interface
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E-IDE/ATAPI
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Transfer Rate
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48X MTRP(TM) ~ 7200 KB/sec
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Functions
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Multi Read, Horizontal & Vertical Mount, CAV/CLV, Analog &
digital output, Plug-n-Play
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Ultra DMA 33
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Yes
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Data Buffer
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512KB (?)
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Supported CD Formats
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CD-DA, CD-ROM/XA (Mode 1, Mode2), CD-I/MPEG, PhotoCD, Karaoke CD,
CD-Extra(CD+), I-trax CD, CDR, CDRW
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Package: The retail version included CD Rom,
manual, drivers for Win 3.1 & Dos, cable for connect CD Rom to soundcard.
Installation: Installation was easy. I enabled Ultra DMA
and Master jumpers on the rear panel. After boot CD Rom intentified as PCA483CD
from BIOS (both Dos & Windows). DMA checked on (AUTO since it is Ultra DMA
compartible), unchecked Auto Insert notification and reboot. All was set and
time to start tests..
2. Data Tests
Philips (Aopen)
48x IDE CD Rom - Page 2
Data Tests
Test Machine:
ABIT BH6
Celeron 300A over clocked to 464 MHz
128 MB SDRAM PC 100
Quantum Fireball EX 6.4 GB UDMA
CL RivaTNT
CL AWE32
MS Windows 98 Build 4.10.2136
Teac 532E-A Firmware : v3.0a (with Auto Insert Notification & Sync transfer
off)
Plextor UltraPlex 40max, Firmware v1.01, (with Auto Insert Notification off
& Sync transfer on).
Test Method:
I used CD Speed 99 v0.2b & SCSI Mechanic v2.1e to run Data tests. Also
used CDRWin v3.7b & Fire Burner v0.85b to determine specific details. All
tests done with the same CD on every CD Rom.
CD Speed results: (Speed
: Bigger is better, Seek Times : less is better, CPU Usage : less is better)
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Speed (x)
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Seek Time (ms)
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CPU Usage (%)
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Start
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Average
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End
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Random
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1/3
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Full
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1x
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2x
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4x
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8x
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Teac 32x
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15.14
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24.74
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31.73
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85
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93
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161
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2
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4
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9
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18
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Plextor 40x
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18.65
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31.62
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41.90
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87
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89
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126
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2
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3
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7
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14
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Philips 48x
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21.52
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35.29
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48.44
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87
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138
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202
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1
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2
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2
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5
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The first comparison shows Plextor rules at seek time from
his opponents. Philips seems faster as expected and with less CPU Usage. Teac
seems to be somewhere middle.
SCSI Mechanic results:
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Random I/O
throughput (kb/s)
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Sequential I/O
throughput (kb/s)
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Same Sector I/O
throughput (kb/s)
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Min
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Average
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Max
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Min
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Average
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Max
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Min
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Average
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Max
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Teac 32x
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460
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858
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1056
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923
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4258
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5951
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643
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1673
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1847
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Plextor 40x
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377
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720
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921
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832
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4417
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6590
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547
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1178
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1456
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Philips 48x
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328
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696
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927
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931
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4329
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7952
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635
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1541
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1775
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This test revealed several things such as if drive's succeed to reach their
(supposedly) max speeds. The test showed that drive's can reach namely max
speed but not sustain it for long time. Max speed is peek at (1) sec, not
sustained data transfer rate. Average is close to reality. Teac here rules
as (it has the smaller speed 32x which allows it to have less ppm and keep
sustain data transfer rate). Plextor and Philips come behind. Now it is clearly
speed isn't the main issue. When we use the drive we must look for the average
data transfer rate. If the drive can sustain data transfer close to his
namely max speed is good. If not.. then we must look for another drive.
CDRWin and Fire Burner results:
That was a surprise. Both programs detected some different features from
specifications (as the drive isn't capable of reading RW & CD+G CDs). More
Fire Burner reported that the drive has only 128 KB cache instead of 512 KB
(which Philips says.). So I tested missing features. The drive reads
RW CDs. (RW closed & open session). Didn't had a CD+G CD to test.
3. DAE Tests
Philips (Aopen)
48x IDE CD Rom - Page 3
DAE Tests
Test Machine:
ABIT BH6
Celeron 300A over clocked to 464 MHz
128 MB SDRAM PC 100
Quantum Fireball EX 6.4 GB UDMA
CL RivaTNT
CL AWE32
MS Windows 98 Build 4.10.2136
Teac 532E-A Firmware : v3.0a (with Auto Insert Notification & Sync transfer
off)
Plextor UltraPlex 40max, Firmware v1.01, (with Auto Insert Notification off
& Sync transfer on).
Tested CD: The Chemical Brothers "Big Your Own Hole"
- Track 10
Test Method: I used EAC v0.81b & AudioGrabber
v1.40 to test audio capabilities. Also compared it with Teac and Plextor.
Comparing Method:
- Ripped Track10 of the CD with Drag & Drop (using CDFS) and with all
the other CD Rippers.
- Edited all wavs with Hedit v2.0.04 and located the 2 following bytes "EA
68" (chosen randomly)
- Removed all previous bytes and saved.
- Then in a Dos window compared them using: FC /b x.wav y.wav
Philips DAE results
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Program
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Rip Mode
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Average Speed
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Program Results
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Hearing Quality
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CDFS Driver v4.00.130
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Drag
& Drop
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9.40x
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-
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No
clicks..No sec lost..Seemed ok!
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EAC v0.81 beta
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Burst
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Rip Speed Default -
Allow speed reduction -
Error correction medium
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7.8x
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Copied ok
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No
clicks..No sec lost..Seemed ok!
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EAC v0.81 beta
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Secure
accurate -
Rip Speed Default -
Allow speed reduction -
Error correction medium
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3.6x
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Copied ok -
Quality 100%
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No
clicks..No sec lost..Seemed ok!
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AudioGrabber v1.40
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Buffered
Burst -
Rip Speed Default
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6.64x
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Copied ok -
Audio Problems 0
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No
clicks..No sec lost..Seemed ok!
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Results
The drive seem to reach max DAE speed of 9.40x with CDFS driver. Second comes
EAC (burst mode) with 7.8x and 3rd AudioGrabber with 6.64x. All wav's produced
by different method compared between them and found the same.
4. Final Verdict
Philips (Aopen)
48x IDE CD Rom - Page 4
Final Verdict
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Positive (+)
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Negative (-)
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Multi Read
CAV/CLV
Digital output
Ultra DMA 33
Supports all CD Formats
Low CPU usage
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Not great seek times
Noise !!!
Not great speed in DATA & DAE
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Should you buy Philips 48x CD Rom ? Check the
good's and bad's and decide..As for me will stick to my Teac & Plextor combo..
;)