1. Introduction - AOpen CRW5224
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup - Page 1
The 52X-recording race is already in full progress. Someone might say that
this is a chipset competition, meaning that the manufacturers have to choose
between the Ricoh or Mediatek solution for their 52X recorders. We have already
tested the proposals of BTC, Asus, CyberDrive (Mediatek) and this time we present
a huge-sized roundup, with four new drives from Aopen, Mitsumi, Teac and Waitec.
Both Aopen CRW5224 and Waitec STORM 52/2 use Ricoh chipset while the Teac CD-W552E
and Mitsumi CR-487ETE are based on Mediatek chipsets. Which recorder is the
fastest and which produced the best writing quality/media compatibility?
- AOpen CRW5224
The
CRW5224 is the fastest available recorder from AOpen. Some time ago we had the
chance to take a first look to the drive while it was an engineering sample.
Since the firmware was not finalized, we re-test the drive with the latest v1.06
firmware installed. Below you can see the drive's official specifications:
The 52X CAV CD-R and 24X RW CAV writing speeds among with the 52X CAV reading
speeds are possibly the most interesting features of the drive. Since AOpen
choosen the CAV technology for the 24X US-RW format, we can expect the drive
to give highest recording times in the corresponding tests. The maximum audio
extraction speed is not limited to a lower speed and the supported cache buffer
is 2MB. Nero Info Tool confirms the specifications above among with some more
detailed information:
The drive also supports the JustLink Buffer Underun Protection, and the Mount
Rainier format. The drive can also retrieve C2 error information. As with previous
AOpen drives, the default read speed is 40X, and pushing Eject button for 5
sec will change the maximum reading speed to 52X. At that time operation LED
blinks 2 times slowly. In order to change back to the 40X mode, you have to
reboot the PC. The following pictures show the available reading/writing speeds
for the 52X mode:
The JustSpeed function prevents writing error when high writing speed (24X
or faster) is selected. When "Just Speed" is ON, the drive decides
the most appropriate writing speed according to the result of medium calibration
and writes with the speed. This function is changeable in "mode select
command", and the default setting is "Just Speed" is ON. In the
following screenshot you can see that the drive has reduced the maximum allowed
writing speed to 40X, with non-certified 52X media inserted.
- Recording Technology
The drive supports the 52X recording speed with the use of CAV recording technology.
As Nero CD Speed graph shows, the drive starts writing at 23.29X and accelerates
to 52.81X by the end of the disc. That gives an average theoretical writing
speed of 39.90X with 80min CD-R media.
- The package
We
got the European retail package containing an application software disc with
Nero Burning Rom and Nero InCD, an application manual and the usual audio cable
and mounting screws. The package also includes one AOpen 52X CD-R and one 24X
US-RW disc. The drive is priced around 90 Euro making it a cheap drive.
- Looking at the drive
On the front panel of the drive there are the eject/stop and play/skip buttons
used for audio CD playback. The volume selector and the headphone jack are placed
on the left side of the front panel. The AOpen drive is easily recognized from
the logos on the disc tray. The operation LED behavior is explained below:
1. LED blinking - during track at once, disc at once, format, erase recording,
the blinking interval is 2 second including ON is 1 sec. and OFF is 1 sec..
2. LED ON - when device is busy status such as seek, audio play, read, packet
write,
load/eject TOC/PMA read and etc.
3. LED OFF - except for above status, led light is always off.
On the rear panel of the drive you will find the IDE connector, the configuration
jumpers, the analogue and the digital audio output connectors and of course
the power connector.
- Inside the drive
After removing the bottom screws we can see the internal of the drive. Note
that by doing this the warranty becomes invalid. The drive uses Ricoh chipsets
as well as the previous AOpen drives.
- Installation
The AOpen CRW5224 was installed as a Master device in the secondary IDE channel
of our test PC, and worked at Ultra DMA mode. After booting, it identified itself
as a "AOPEN CD-RW CRW5224". We used Nero v5.5.10, CloneCD v4.2.0.2
and Ahead InCD v3.51.91 for the recording tests. Within Nero, under drive properties
you can disable "JustSpeed" to enable the maximum burning speed (52X)
with all CD-R media.
2. Introduction - Mitsumi CR-487ETE
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup - Page 2
- Mitsumi CR-487ETE
Mitsumi
is also among the companies that offer a 52X CAV recorder. The CR-487ETE is
a 52/24/52 IDE recorder with a 2MB cache buffer and "buffer underun prevention"
technology implemented, while it is also Mt Rainier compliant. Let's have a
look in the official specifications:
Besides the 52X CAV CD-R write/read and the 24X P-CAV US-RW writing speeds,
the drive supports 40X CAV audio extraction. The firmware installed is v001E,
as Nero InfoTool reports:
The following pictures show the available reading/writing speeds. Notice that
the 48X speed is not available in the screenshots below. However, the drive
can write at 48X, as we experienced in the writing tests.
The drive will automatically reduce the maximum writing speed according to
the inserted media as the following picture shows (taken from Nero):
- Recording Technology
As Nero CD Speed graph shows, the drive starts writing at 23.24X and accelerates
to 52.25X by the end of the disc. That gives an average theoretical writing
speed of 39.59X with 80min CD-R media.
- NeroCDSpeed writing test at 48X
- NeroCDSpeed writing test at 40X
- NeroCDSpeed writing test at 24X
- The package
We
got the European retail package an application software disc, containing Nero
Burning Rom , Nero InCD, manuals, and some Mitsumi screensavers and games for
your entertainment. The package does not include any CD-R or HS-RW media. Quick
installation guides are also available in many languages. The drive is priced
also around 80 Euro.
- Looking at the drive
On the front panel of the drive there are the usual eject button, the volume
selector and the headphone jack, among with an indicator (LED). On the right
side of the disc tray you can see the Ultra Speed Rewritable logo.
On the rear panel of the drive you will find the IDE connector, the configuration
jumpers, the analogue and the digital audio output connectors and of course
the power connector.
- Inside the drive
After removing the bottom screws we can see the internal of the drive. The
drive uses Mediatek chipsets as well as many other 52X writers (ASUS, CyberDrive).
- Installation
The Mitsumi drive was installed as a Master device in the secondary IDE channel
of our test PC, and worked at Ultra DMA mode. After booting, it identified itself
as a "MITSUMI CR-487ETE". Even Nero reports the drive supports
ExacLink, this isn't correct, since ExacLink is a OAK Chipset technology. The
correct Buffer underrun technology would be SuperLink :-)
3. Introduction - Teac CD-W552E
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup - Page 3
- Teac CD-W552E
The
third drive in this 52X roundup comes from Teac. The CD-W552E supports 52X CAV
CD-R reading/writing and 24X US-RW writing speed. Below are the official specifications:
The drive supports Buffer Underun protection and the data buffer size is 2MB.
The maximum audio extraction speed is set to 52X, and Mount Rainier format is
included. The firmware version installed in the Teac drive is v1.05:
The drive also supports all the usual writing /reading modes and can also retrieve
C2 error information. The following pictures show the available reading/writing
speeds:
The TEAC CD-W552E lowers its maximum writing speed according to the inserted
media as the following pictures show:
- Recording Technology
The drive supports the 52X recording speed with the use of CAV recording technology.
As Nero CD Speed graph shows, the drive starts writing at 24.30X and accelerates
to 554.63X by the end of the disc. That gives an average theoretical writing
speed of 41.39X with 80min CD-R media. The performance is the highest
we had for the 52X CAV writing but we will make safer conclusions in the writing
tests.
- NeroCDSpeed writing test at 48X
- NeroCDSpeed writing test at 40X
As you can see from the graphs, the Teac CD-W552E supports the P-CAV technology
for the 48X and 40X writing.
- The package
The
European retail package contains the CD-W552E, a Teac CD-ROM with manuals, drives
and photos of various Teac products, Roxio’s Easy CD Creator 5 for audio
and data recording, MusicMatch Jukebox for MP3 ripping and burning and PhotoImpression
for digital image editing. The package does not include any CD-R or US-RW media.
The drive is priced around 100 Euro and has a 2-year warranty.
- Looking at the drive
On the front panel of the drive there are the built-in headphone jack, the
volume control knob, the power eject/load button and the LED indicators. the
"Teac" and 52X writer" logos are stamped on the disc tray.
On the rear panel of the drive you will find the IDE connector, the configuration
jumpers, the analogue and the digital audio output connectors and of course
the power connector.
- Inside the drive
After removing the bottom screws we can see the internal of the drive. Note
that by doing this the warranty becomes invalid. The drive uses Mediatek chipsets
as well as the Mitsumi drive we saw previously, with however a different board
design.
- Installation
The Teac drive was installed as a Master device in the secondary IDE channel
of our test PC, and worked at Ultra DMA mode. After booting, it identified itself
as a "TEAC CD-W552E". Again Nero doesn't report the correct
Buffer underrun protection (BURN-Proof is a trademark of SANYO) and the correct
would be "SuperLink".
4. Introduction - Waitec STORM 52/2
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup - Page 4
- Waitec STORM 52/2
Last
but not least, the Waitec STORM 52/2 arrived to our labs and could not be excluded
from this roundup. As with the previous drives, the STORM 52/2 supports 52X
CAV reading/writing for the CD-R and 24X US-RW writing.
The drive supports the SafeLink feature to prevent buffer under run and the
"OPC" technology to obtain optimal power of the laser while writing.
The cache buffer is 2MB and the Mt Rainier feature is not missing.
The installed firmware version is v1.05. The drive can also retrieve C2 error
information. The following pictures show the available reading/writing speeds.
As with the AOpen drive, the Nero InfoTool does not report the supported 48X
writing speed.
- The package
The
European retail package includes the STORM 52/2, a quick installation manual,
Nero Burning Rom and InCD and two 52X CD-R discs. The drive's price is not yet
known, but should be around 100 Euro. Waitec offers two years warranty for the
drive.
- Looking at the drive
On the front panel of the drive you can see the load/eject button, the audio
play/skip button, the thumb wheel volume control, the reading/writing indicator
(LED) and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The drive is easily identified from the "Waitec
Storm 52" logo on the right side of the disc tray.
On the rear panel of the drive you will find IDE bus connector, the power supply
connector, the master/slave jumper, the digital audio output connector and the
analog audio line-out connector.
- Inside the drive
After removing the bottom screws we can see the internal of the drive. Note
that by doing this the warranty becomes invalid. The drive uses Ricoh chipsets
as well as the AOpen CRW5224:
- Installation
The Waitec drive was installed as a Master device in the secondary IDE channel
of our test PC, and worked at Ultra DMA mode. After booting, it identified itself
as a "WAITEC STORM52/2". Un-checking the "JustSpeed"
box, all inserted media can be written up to 52X, else the writing speed will
limited down to 40X or even lower...
5. Data Reading tests
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 5
Data Tests
- Pressed CD results
(
74min
and
80min
CDSpeed graphs of AOpen CRW5224)
(
74min
and
80min
CDSpeed graphs of Mitsumi CR-487ETE)
(
74min
and
80min
CDSpeed graphs of Teac CD-W552E)
(
74min
and
80min
CDSpeed graphs of Waitec STORM 52/2)
All the drives support the 52X CAV reading speed. As you can see there is not
any clear lead but speaking with numbers, the Mitsumi drive is the fastest in
the test with 39.26X average reading speed.
Teac CD-W552E seems to be the fastest drive in terms of seeking. The drive
gave only 85msec in the Random seek mode and 165msec for the Full seek. The
Mitsumi drive is also fast in the random and 1/3 modes but gave the third best
performance in the Full seek. The Waitec and AOpen drives are following closely.
- CD-R results
(74min
and 80min
CDSpeed graphs of Aopen CRW5224)
(74min
and 80min
CDSpeed graphs of Mitsumi CR-487ETE)
(74min
and 80min
CDSpeed graphs of Teac CD-W552E)
(74min
and 80min
CDSpeed graphs of Waitec STORM 52/2)
With CD-R media, all the drives improved their reading speeds and finished
the reading process at nearly 52X. The Mitsumi CR-487ETE is again slightly faster
but certainly all the drives behaved in a similar way.
The seek times with CD-R media are lower than in the previous test with the
pressed discs. Again the Mitsumi and Teac drives are the fastest but this time
the Mitsumi CR-487ETE takes the lead over Teac CD-W552E.
- RW media
(USRW
CDSpeed graph of AOpen CRW5224)
(USRW
CDSpeed graph of Mitsumi CR-487ETE)
(USRW
CDSpeed graph of Teac CD-W552E)
(USRW
CDSpeed graph of Waitec STORM 52/2)
For this test we used 24X US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals. The disc was
fully written (650MB) and read back with CDSpeed. As it was expected, the AOpen
and Waitec drives are the fastest in the test due to the full 52X CAV supported
reading speed. The Mitsumi CR-487ETE and Teac CD-W552E support the 32X CAV reading
speed for rewritable media.
6. Error Correction Tests page 1
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 6
Error Correction Tests page 1
- EAC CD-R Test Disc
- Aopen CRW5224
| Errors total |
Num: 115260947
|
| Errors (Loudness) dB (A) |
Num: 583221
|
Avg: -29.1 dB(A)
|
Max: -7.2 dB (A)
|
| Error Muting Samples |
Num: 76659
|
Avg: 1.0 Samples
|
Max: 622 Samples
|
| Skips Samples |
Num: 353
|
Avg: 44.2 Samples
|
Max: 2934 Samples
|
| Total Test Result |
52.8 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
As we have mentioned in previous reviews, the EAC test disc is very hard to
be read accurately since it is heavily scratched / defected in specific areas.
The most of the drives do not manage to give high quality scores in this test,
but hard tasks could make the best performer easily defined.
The AOpen CRW5224 gave back many errors and the peaks reached the -7.2dB(A).
Many errors were muted and some other were even skipped. The total test result
is only 52.8 points out of 100.
- Mitsumi CR-487ETE
| Errors total |
Num: 115252717
|
| Errors (Loudness) dB (A) |
Num: 582001
|
Avg: -29.0 dB(A)
|
Max: -7.2 dB (A)
|
| Error Muting Samples |
Num: 76648
|
Avg: 1.0 Samples
|
Max: 622 Samples
|
| Skips Samples |
Num: 353
|
Avg: 44.2 Samples
|
Max: 2934 Samples
|
| Total Test Result |
52.8 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The Mitsumi CR-487ETE showed almost the same behavior as the AOpen drive. The
amount of the reported errors and the Muted/Skipped samples were enough to give
the Mitsumi drive 52.8 points out of 100.
- Teac CD-W552E
| Errors total |
Num: 115280766
|
| Errors (Loudness) dB (A) |
Num: 601470
|
Avg: -30.8 dB(A)
|
Max: -7.2 dB (A)
|
| Error Muting Samples |
Num:77158
|
Avg: 1.1 Samples
|
Max: 622 Samples
|
| Skips Samples |
Num: 353
|
Avg: 44.0 Samples
|
Max: 2934 Samples
|
| Total Test Result |
52.6 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
Not much to add for the Teac drive, since it did not make any difference over
the previous drives. The performance is low and the 52.6 points total score
is considered as low.
- Waitec STORM 52/2
| Errors total |
Num: 115275186
|
| Errors (Loudness) dB (A) |
Num: 588899
|
Avg: -29.6 dB (A)
|
Max: -7.2 dB (A)
|
| Error Muting Samples |
Num: 76999
|
Avg: 1.1 Samples
|
Max: 628 Samples
|
| Skips Samples |
Num: 366
|
Avg: 43.2 Samples
|
Max: 2934 Samples
|
| Total Test Result |
52.6 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The performance of Waitec STORM 52/2 stayed in the same level set by the competitive
drives. The total score is 52.6 points.
- ABEX TCD-721R
- Aopen CRW5224
|
Errors total
|
Num: 1083315
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB (A)
|
Num: 57096
|
Avg: -73.5 dB(A)
|
Max: -12.8 dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 7331
|
Avg: 2.2 Samples
|
Max: 255 Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 62
|
Avg: 7.6 Samples
|
Max: 18 Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
62.7 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The ABEX 721R test disc is also a hard test disc to read accurately. The AOpen
drive managed to get an overall score of 62.7 out of 100, which is less than
medium.
- Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
Errors total
|
Num: 1407404
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB (A)
|
Num: 141631
|
Avg: -78.4 dB (A)
|
Max: -17.6 dB (A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 4913
|
Avg: 1.0 Samples
|
Max: 9 Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 16
|
Avg: 6.0 Samples
|
Max: 6 Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
66.1 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The Mitsumi CR-487ETE gave less Loudness errors than the AOpen drive and also
less and smaller Mute/ Skip samples. The score for the drive is better this
time and reaches the 66.1 points.
- Teac CD-W552E
|
Errors total
|
Num: 1731209
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB (A)
|
Num: 170360
|
Avg: -78.9 dB (A)
|
Max: -16.6 dB (A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 5749
|
Avg: 1.0 Samples
|
Max: 10 Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 2
|
Avg: 6.0 Samples
|
Max: 6 Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
69.9 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The Teac drive seems to be more accurate than the previous drives since it
skipped less samples. The score climbs up to 69.9, which is average.
- Waitec STORM 52/2
|
Errors total
|
Num: 1083355
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB (A)
|
Num: 57196
|
Avg: -73.5 dB(A)
|
Max: -12.8 dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 7338
|
Avg: 2.3 Samples
|
Max: 259 Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 66
|
Avg: 7.6 Samples
|
Max: 18 Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
62.6 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
Waitec STORM 52/2 performed similarly to the AOpen drive, considering all the
errors reported and the Muted/Skipped samples. The score is 62.6 points out
of 100.
- ABEX TCD-726
- Aopen CRW5224
|
Errors total
|
Num: 567
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB (A)
|
Num: 172
|
Avg: -90.1 dB (A)
|
Max: -59.5 dB (A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 3
|
Avg: 1.0 Samples
|
Avg: 1Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
89.3 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The ABEX TCD 726 test disc was easier to read and the errors were reported
only in the toughest area of the disc. The AOpen drive gave a good score of
89.3 points out of 100.
- Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
Errors total
|
Num: 73
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB (A)
|
Num: 164
|
Avg: -80.0 dB (A)
|
Max: -62.4 dB (A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
90.5 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The Mitsumi drive gave only 164 Loudness errors and gets a very good score
of 90.5 points.
- Teac CD-W552E
|
Errors total
|
Num: 3771
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB (A)
|
Num: 3178
|
Avg: -89.5 dB (A)
|
Max: -20.9 dB (A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 134
|
Avg: 2.3 Samples
|
Avg: 13 Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 2
|
Avg: 300.00 Samples
|
Avg: 300Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
68.9 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The Teac CD-W552E gave a surprisingly low performance in this test. Although
the result in the previous TCD-721R was promising, the drive did not gave a
high result with the TCD-726 disc. The score is average. (68.9 points).
- Waitec STORM 52/2
|
Errors total
|
Num: 575
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB (A)
|
Num: 182
|
Avg: -90.1 dB (A)
|
Max: -59.5 dB (A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 4
|
Avg: 1.1 Samples
|
Avg: 1.2 Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
89.2 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
Waitec STORM 52/2 could not hide its similarities with the AOpen drive. The
score is good and reaches the 89.2 points.
- Conclusion
|
Test Disc
|
Reading Speed
|
AOpen CRW5224
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
Teac CD-W552E
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
|
Score
|
|
EAC CD-R
|
Max
|
52.8
|
52.8
|
52.6
|
52.6
|
|
ABEX TCD-721R
|
Max
|
62.7
|
66.1
|
69.9
|
62.6
|
|
ABEX TCD-726
|
Max
|
89.3
|
90.5
|
68.9
|
89.2
|
|
Average Score
|
68.26
|
69.8
|
63.8
|
68.13
|
Looking at the average scores we could say that all the drives perform almost
the same when it comes to error correction. The numbers say that the Mitsumi
CR-487ETE gave the best performance with 69.8 points out of 100. The AOpen CRW5224
and Waitec STORM 52/2 follow closely and the Teac CD-W552E take the last place.
However, the Teac drive seems to had some unexpected reading problems with the
TCD-726 disc, which is considered to be the easiest test to pass among the other
discs. If you take a look at the results with the TCD-721R disc, you can see
that the Teac CD-W552E is the best reader in the specific test.
The above tests are only an indication of the behavior of the drives with defected/scratched
discs. The scores are reported only for comparison reasons and do not always
characterize the absolute performance of each drive. For this reason, we run
some additional tests with the Nero CDSpeed software, as you can see in the
following page.
7. Error Correction Tests page 2
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 7
Error Correction Tests page 2
- Aopen CRW5224
Below is the CDSpeed DAE quality test result of the drive with the ABEX TCD-721R
test disc. The amount of C2 errors reported is very small and the C2 missed
/ Compare errors are increased. In addition, 17688 sync errors were reported.
The score is very low (0 points!) and the C2 accuracy is also very low.
- Mitsumi CR-487ETE
Mitsumi CR-487ETE gave better results and the quality score is 75.1 points.
The C2 accuracy is also better than the AOpen's but still the Mitsumi drive
cannot retrieve the C2 errors 100% accurately.
- Teac CD-W552E
The Teac CD-W552E seems to be the best reader in the test. The amount of C2
errors missed is low and the compare errors / sync errors lead to a total quality
score of 80.1 points and a high C2 accuracy.
- Waitec STORM 52/2
Waitec STORM 52/2 gave the worse results in the test. Both quality score and
C2 accuracy are very low.
In the following table you can see the C2 accuracy point scores as they were
reported in the previous tests with the EAC test Suite. The highest score comes
from Teac CD-552E drive, and the result seems to agree with the CDSpeed results.
|
Test Disc
|
Reading Speed
|
AOpen CRW5224
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
Teac CD-W552E
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
|
Score
|
|
EAC CD-R
|
Max
|
50
|
50
|
50
|
50
|
|
ABEX TCD-721R
|
Max
|
67
|
99.5
|
91
|
67
|
|
ABEX TCD-726
|
Max
|
89.3
|
90.5
|
100
|
89.2
|
|
Average Score
|
68.76
|
80
|
80.33
|
68.73
|
As a last word we could say that the Teac CD-W552E is gave the best error correction
results among the tested drives. The C2 accuracy of the drive is also the highest,
but not 100% accurate. The Mitsumi CR-487ETE follows in both C2 accuracy and
quality areas. AOpen and Waitec drives possibly need some fine tuning.
8. CloneCD Reading Tests
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 8
CloneCD Reading Tests
- Procedure
We used CloneCD and 3 original CDs - Serious Sam 2 (SafeDisc 2), V-Rally 2
Expert (SecuROM 2) and NBA Jam Extreme (PSX) - in order to test the reading
times 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 picture shows reading/writing features of each drive, as
CloneCD reports:
- PSX Pressed Media
We ripped the image to the HD with CloneCD using the default settings. Teac
CD-W552E finished the task in just 43 seconds, followed by Mitsumi CR-487ETE.
The AOpen and Waitec drives are slower and needed 140 seconds.
- SafeDisc v.2 Results
The fastest drive in this test is Teac CD-W552E. The drive needed approximately
8 minutes for each task (pressed/CD-R). Both AOpen and Waitec drives follow,
and it seems to have some problems with the backup title since they needed more
than 17 minutes for these tasks.
- SecuROM v.2 Results
All drives can read SubChannel data from Data/Audio tracks. The duration of
the process for the Teac drive was only 2:30 minutes, and again the drive is
the faster in the test. The Mitsumi drive follows and is slightly slower.
9. DAE Tests
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 9
DAE Tests
- DAE features
- AOpen CRW5224 & Waitec STORM 52/2
- Mitsumi CR-487ETE & Teac CD-W552E
- Pressed AudioCD
The Mitsumi CR-487ETE supports 40X CAV audio extraction speed, while the rest
of the drives do not limit their reading speed with audio discs and rip them
at 52X CAV. The Teac CD-W552E finished the ripping task with an average speed
of 36.8X, and the Waitec STORM 52/2 follows with 36.2X. The AOpen CRW5224 gave
the third best performance and the Mitsumi finished the task at 29.9X average,
as it was expected.
- Audio CD-R media
With CD-R media, the AOpen drive is the fastest in the test with 35.4X. Teac
CD-W552E takes the second place but CDDAE reported that the drive gave back
5 read errors. It seems that the increased ripping speed may produce problems.
The Mitsumi drive kept the same performance as in the previous test, but Waitec
STORM 52/2 did not behaved the same. The drive slowed down the ripping speed
after reporting 700 errors, and finished in an average speed of 23.9X.
- EAC Secure Extract Ripping mode
EAC's secure extract ripping mode ensures the maximum quality of the produced
WAV:
|
Tested Drives
|
Average DAE Speed (X)
|
|
Pressed
|
CDR
|
|
AOpen CRW5224
|
26.2
|
26.5
|
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
10.5
|
10.4
|
|
Teac CD-W552E
|
12.7
|
11.5
|
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
21.4
|
22.7
|
- Advanced DAE test
All the drives got a "100" score. The fastest drive in the test is
the AOpen CRW552E followed by the Teac and Waitec drives. Nero CDSpeed also
report that all the drives can read Sub Channel and CD text. In addition, the
AOpen and Waitec drives can also read data from LeadIn and LeadOut.
- Ripping 90 and 99mins AudioCDs
|
Tested drives
|
Ripping up to
|
|
AOpen CRW5224
|
Can read up to 99 minutes
|
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
Can read up to 96 minutes
|
|
Teac CD-W552E
|
Can read up to 98 minutes
|
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
Can read up to 99 minutes
|
- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCDs
For the test procedure we used 2 protected AudioCDs, which we tested in both
recognition and ripping (with EAC BURST mode) processes:
* Pressed AudioCD with Sony Key2Audio (Celine Dion - New Day Has Come)
* Pressed AudioCD with Cactus Data Shield 200 (Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies
Island)
|
Tested Drives
|
Key2Audio
|
CDS200
|
|
AOpen CRW5224
|
Cannot recognize disc
|
Rips disc contents
|
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
Recognizes disc but cannot rip
|
|
Teac CD-W552E
|
Recognizes disc contents but timing problems
occur
|
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
Rips disc contents
|
None of the drives can "handle" Key2Audio protected audio discs.
On the other hand, the Cactus Data Shield 200 protection is not a problem for
the AOpen and Waitec drives, while the Teac CD-552E cannot rip the data 100%
accurately.
10. CD-R Writing Tests
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 10
CDR Tests
- Recording Tests
All the drives support the 52X CAV writing speed. For more details for the
supported speeds of each drive, you can see the first four pages of this article.
In the following graph there are illustrated the best recording times for each
model at 52X.
The best recording time came from AOpen CRW5224E with Mitsui SG Ultra 48X media.
The drive finished writing in 2:29 minutes. However, all the drives have given
similar recording times around 2:30. The Mitsumi drive wrote faster on SKC 48X
and Taiyo Yuden 40X media. The result of Teac CD-W552E on the graph came with
CMC Magnetics media, and for Waitec STORM 52/2 with Fuji 40X media. The below
graph shows the best times for all the supported recording speeds above with
various media:
- Supported media
In the following chart you can see the maximum allowed writing speeds according
to the inserted disc type:
|
Disc
|
ID Code
|
Capacity
|
Aopen CRW5224
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
Teac CD-W552E
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
|
TaiyoYuden 48X
|
972401
|
79:59:72
|
52X
|
52X
|
48X
|
52X
|
|
Mitsubishi Chemicals 48X
|
973423
|
79:59:73
|
48X
|
|
SKC 48X
|
972626
|
79:59:73
|
52X
|
|
Imation 48X
|
CMC 972666
|
79:59:71
|
52X
|
|
Intenso 40X
|
(Prodisc) 973219
|
79:59:53
|
48X
|
40X
|
|
TDK 48X
|
972319
|
79:59:72
|
40X
|
48X
|
|
Fuji 40X
|
972954
|
79:59:73
|
40X
|
16X
|
40X
|
|
Ciba Plasmon 48X
|
972718
|
79:59:74
|
16X
|
48X
|
|
EMTEC 48X
|
971706
|
79:59:74
|
52X
|
52X
|
48X
|
52X
|
|
Samsung 48X
|
(Plasmon) 975728
|
79:59:74
|
40X
|
|
48X
|
40X
|
|
CMC Magnetics
|
972415
|
79:59:74
|
|
|
52X
|
|
|
Mitsui 48X
|
972758
|
79:59:72
|
24X
|
24X
|
48X
|
24X
|
The AOpen and Waitec drives have the widest compatibility with the above media
list for the 52X writing speed. At both drives you can disable the JustSpeed
function and allow 52X writing. The Mitsumi and TEAC drives don't support this...
- Other features
|
|
Aopen CRW5224
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
Teac CD-W552E
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
|
Overburning
|
98min
|
94min
|
99min
|
98min
|
|
CD Text read/write
|
Yes
|
- CloneCD Writing Tests
The CloneCD software reports that the drive supports the DAO-RAW feature. With
the use of proper media, DAO-RAW writing can be performed at 52X.
For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 different game titles
with different SafeDisc 2 versions with the latest software patches installed.
We used the drive as reader/writer in the maximum reading/recording speed. Two
discs were burned for each game. The first disc was burned with PadusDJ and
the other with CloneCD (Amplify Weak Sectors On). The results are posted in
the following table.
|
Drive
|
Game Title
|
SD2 Build
|
Settings
|
|
CloneCD (Amplify Weak Sectors On
|
PadusDJ
|
|
Aopen CRW5224
|
Max Payne v1.05
|
v.2.50.020
|
Ok
|
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
| Teac CD-W552E |
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
|
Aopen CRW5224
|
Serious Sam - The Second Encounter v1.07
|
v.2.60.052
|
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
| Teac CD-W552E |
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
| Aopen CRW5224 |
The Sims - Unleashed
|
v2.80.010
|
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
|
Teac CD-W552E
|
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
All the drives can backup SafeDisc v2.5x.xx ~ 2.80.xx builds without any problems
due to the MediaTek and new RICOH chipsets.
11. Writing Quality Tests page 1 - AOpen CRW5224
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 11
Writing Quality Tests page 1 - AOpen CRW5224
We used Taiyo Yuden 80min 40X CD-R media and burned the same AudioCD project
(with CD-Text) at all recording speeds . Below you can see the 3T Pit &
Land Jitter graphs of AOpen CRW5224.
- 3T Pit results
As we can see from the above graphs, the 3T Pit Jitter stays below the 35ns
RED book limit at 4X ~ 40X recording speeds. For the 40X speed, the jitter is
less than 30nsec until the 60 min approximately, and are increased by the end
of the disc to the 35nsec. Writing in the maximum speed (52X CAV) seems to be
more risky. The jitter is increased with the reading speed and reaches the 44nsec
in the maximum 52X speed. It seems that the JustSpeed feature does not influence
the jitter values with the specific media.
The average 3T Jitter values for all recording speeds are illustrated in the
following table.
The average value of jitter is less than 35nsec for all the recording speeds.
However, in the maximum 52X writing speed the jitter value exceeds the limit
and may cause to read errors. The lowest jitter was measured for the 16X speed.
- 3T Land results
The 3T Land results are almost the same as the in the previous measurements
of the 3T Pit Jitter. Again, the 8X to 40X writing speeds do not introduce high
jitter. For the 52X the jitter is increased after the 60min and reaches the
40nsec in the last minutes.
The average value of 3T Land jitter is less than 35nsec for all the recording
speeds.
- Conclusion
|
Recording Speed
|
3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max value (ns)
|
|
8X
|
25.95
|
25.76
|
No
|
28 Pit, 30 Land
|
|
12X
|
26.27
|
27.17
|
No
|
28 Pit, 29 Land
|
|
16X
|
23.95
|
25.76
|
No
|
25 Pit, 30 Land
|
|
24X
|
25.95
|
27.71
|
No
|
28 Pit, 29 Land
|
|
32X
|
29.02
|
29.22
|
No
|
32 Pit, 30 Land
|
|
40X
|
32.88
|
31.12
|
No
|
34 Pit, 32 Land
|
|
52X
|
32.65
|
30.73
|
Yes after 58mins
|
44 Pit, 35 Land
|
The average 3T Pit and Land jitter values are below the 35nsec standard for
all the recording speeds. However, it seems that recording at speeds higher
than 40X could possibly lead to higher jitter, especially by the end of the
recorded disc. This does not always mean that read errors will occur in those
areas. The final audio output is depends on many parameters such as the abilities
of the playback device. Of course these results show the behavior of the drive
with the specific media from Taiyo Yuden.
12. Writing Quality Tests page 2 - AOpen CRW5224
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 12
Writing Quality Tests page 2- AOpen CRW5224
We tested the AOpen CRW5224 with a variety of other media in order to check
the writing quality performance. Note that the recording speed for each disc
is the maximum allowed by the drive.
- 3T Pit results
As we can see from the above graphs, the 3T Pit Jitter exceeds 35ns RED book
limit in some areas for almost all media, except from Fuji 40X (recorded at
52X, JustSpeed Off) and Samsung 48X (recorded at 52X, JustSpeed Off). The rest
media introduced high 3T Pit Jitter after the 62 min of the disc. Those values
reached the 45nsec by the end of the disc. Below are posted the average values
for all tested media.
Although the average values are lower than 25nsec, writing at 52X is could
be not be risky since the jitter introduced is high by the end of the disc.
The Samsung 48X media gave the best results in the 52X speed. The Emtec 48X
media (see information in the recording test page) also gave low jitter for
the large area of the disc, until the last 5 min where it gave 39nsec.
- 3T Land results
The 3T Land Jitter values are smaller than the corresponding 3T Pit. Again
the Samsung media behaved adequately. With Intenso 40X media, the 3T Land jitter
value was increased around 40 min, came back to normal until the 60min and reached
the 39nsec by the end of the disc. The Mitsui 48X also had lower 3T Land Jitter
values than the corresponding 3T Pit ones. Fuji 40X kept up with the good performance.
- Conclusion
|
Media
|
3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max value (ns)
|
|
SKC 48X
|
37.41
|
38.71
|
Yes at 62mins
|
41 Pit, 35 Land
|
|
Mitsubishi Chemicals 48X
|
31.44
|
34.24
|
Yes at 62mins
|
44 Pit, 41 Land
|
|
Mitsui 48X
|
29.71
|
26.34
|
Yes at 68mins
|
40 Pit, 33 Land
|
|
Fuji 40X
|
29
|
28.73
|
No
|
31 Pit, 32 Land
|
|
Samsung 48X
|
25.05
|
24.05
|
No
|
32 Pit, 28Land
|
|
TDK 48X
|
30.02
|
28.29
|
Yes at 62mins
|
40 Pit, 35 Land
|
|
EMTEC 48X
|
28.73
|
28.59
|
Yes at 65mins
|
39 Pit, 37 Land
|
|
Intenso 48X
|
33.71
|
38.88
|
Yes at 62mins
|
56Pit, 60 Land
|
AOpen CRW5224 seems to give quality results with Fuji 40X and Samsung 48X media.
These discs were recorder at 52X with the JustSpeed function disabled since
the drive lowered the recording speed at 40X. The rest media have problems by
the end of the disc, where the writing speed reaches the maximum 52X. This does
not mean that you cannot safely use these media for AudioCD authoring...
13. Writing Quality Tests page 1 - Mitsumi CR-487ETE
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 13
Writing Quality Tests page 1 - Mitsumi CR-487ETE
We used Taiyo Yuden 80min 40X CD-R media and burned the same AudioCD project
(with CD-Text) at all recording speeds. Below you can see the 3T Pit & Land
Jitter graphs of Mitsumi CR-487ETE.
- 3T Pit results
Mitsumi CR-487ETE seems to be very picky with the Taiyo Yuden 40X media. The
3T Pit Jitter values exceed the 35nsec limit when the disc was recorded at speeds
higher than 16X. Even for the 20X and 24X speeds, the drive introduces jitter
after the 35 - 40 min of the disc, which reaches the 48nsec. In the higher speeds,
the problems start before the 40 min again, for all the supported speeds from
32X to 52X.
The average 3T Jitter values for all recording speeds are illustrated in the
following table.
The lowest average 3T Pit Jitter value is introduced at 16X and 8X. What is
interesting is that the drive has almost the same behavior in terms of jitter
introduced, for all the speeds above 16X. In addition, the 20X writing speed
seems to heavily affect the quality.
- 3T Land results
The 3T Land results correspond to the previous measurements of the 3T Pit Jitter.
Again, writing speeds higher than 16X could be turned out to be problematic
with the specific media.
The average 3T Land Jitter values are decreased over the 3T Pit values in the
same speeds. This time only the 20X recording speed introduces an average higher
than 35nsec, but the average values do not clearly define the behavior of the
drive for all the disc area.
- Conclusion
|
Recording Speed
|
3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max value (ns)
|
|
8X
|
37.73
|
34.83
|
Yes after 28min
|
38 Pit 33 Land
|
|
16X
|
37.63
|
34.83
|
No
|
35 Pit 31 Land
|
|
20X
|
38.98
|
34.98
|
Yes after 28mins
|
47 Pit 42 Land
|
|
24X
|
38.55
|
34.9
|
Yes after 38mins
|
48 Pit 41 Land
|
|
32X
|
38.49
|
34.75
|
Yes after 38mins
|
43 Pit 41 Land
|
|
40X
|
40.20
|
36.93
|
Yes after 38mins
|
44 Pit 39 Land
|
|
48X
|
31.80
|
30.93
|
Yes after 37mins
|
46 Pit 40 Land
|
|
52X
|
35.15
|
31.24
|
Yes after 38mins
|
46 Pit 40 Land
|
We cannot say that the Mitsumi CR-487ETE gave a high overall writing quality
with the Taiyo Yuden 40X media. The more acceptable and safe writing speed seems
to be the 16X. On the other hand, the 20X is unexpectedly a questionable choice
for writing, since it gave back high jitter values from the 28min until the
end of the disc. The highest jitter was introduced when writing at 40X to 52X.
14. Writing Quality Tests page 2 - Mitsumi CR-487ETE
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 14
Writing Quality Tests page 2 - Mitsumi CR-487ETE
We tested the Mitsumi CR-487ETE with a variety of other media in order to check
the writing quality performance. Note that the below results are only from the
52X writing speed. The drive supports 52X writing only with selected media (SKC,
MC, Imation, EMTEC) .
- 3T Pit results
As we can see from the above graphs, the 3T Pit Jitter exceeds 35ns RED book
limit in some areas for all media. The Mitsubishi Chemicals 48X seems to produce
the best results, although it produced high jitter values after the 62min. The
rest of the media showed increased jitter earlier, when the recording speed
was less than 40X. Below are posted the average values for all tested media.
Since the jitter for Mitsubishi Chemicals 48X is increased only by the end
of the disc, the average Jitter value is lower than with other media. The rest
discs gave average values higher than 35nsec.
- 3T Land results
The 3T Land Jitter values seem to be higher than the corresponding values of
the 3T Pit test. The Mitsubishi Chemicals 48X produced the best results, while
the rest media gave very high jitter which reached the 60nsec in some cases.
Below are posted the average values for all tested media.
- Conclusion
|
Media
|
3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max value (ns)
|
|
SKC 48X
|
37.98
|
42.15
|
Yes after 50mins
|
46 Pit, 60 Land
|
|
Mitsubishi Chemicals 48X
|
32.56
|
34.98
|
Yes after 65 mins
|
43 Pit, 43 Land
|
|
Imation 48X
|
36.71
|
38.22
|
Yes after 25 mins
|
40 Pit, 43 Land
|
|
EMTEC 48X
|
36.88
|
42.15
|
Yes after 25 mins
|
43 Pit, 50 Land
|
The Mitsumi CR-487ETE did not manage to give good results with the media we
used in these tests. The drive produced high 3T Pit and Land jitter values with
the most of the media and the only exception is the Mitsubishi Chemicals 48X
media, where the average jitter was lower but not 100% adequate.
15. Writing Quality Tests page 1 - Teac CD-W552E
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 15
Writing Quality Tests page 1 - Teac CD-W552E
We used Taiyo Yuden 80min 40X CD-R media and burned the same AudioCD project
(with CD-Text) at all recording speeds from 4X-48X. We did not manage to burn
in the maximum 52X speed with the specific media. Below you can see the 3T Pit
& Land Jitter graphs.
- 3T Pit results
Although the 3T Pit jitter values for the 4X-16X are not very high, they reach
the 36-38nsec in specific areas. On the other hand, all the higher writing speeds
produced very high jitter from the beginning of the disc, and in most cases
it is increased according to the writing speed. Especially for the maximum allowed
48X writing speed, the jitter reached the 55nsec.
The average 3T Jitter values for all recording speeds are illustrated in the
following table.
Only the 4X recording speed gave an average jitter value less than 35nsec.
The speeds from 8X to 16X gave an average slightly around 35nsec. Unfortunately,
the higher speeds introduce worse results with very high jitter measurements.
Have in mind that these results apply to Taiyo Yuden 40X media and we expect
to see better results with other discs.
- 3T Land results
The 3T Land values are lower compared with the in the previous measurements
of the 3T Pit Jitter. However, the high jitter problem is still present for
all the speeds, and becomes obvious in the high writing speeds.
- Conclusion
|
Recording Speed
|
3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max value (ns)
|
|
4X
|
34.20
|
35.12
|
Yes at 42 min
|
36 Pit, 36 Land
|
|
8X
|
35.20
|
38.22
|
Yes at 40 min
|
38 Pit, 39 Land
|
|
12X
|
34.88
|
38.73
|
Yes from 40 min
|
37 Pit, 39 Land
|
|
16X
|
35.24
|
37.65
|
Yes from 38 min
|
37 Pit, 39 Land
|
|
24X
|
38.24
|
40.68
|
Yes from the first minutes
|
43 Pit, 41Land
|
|
32X
|
40.83
|
42.68
|
Yes from the first minutes
|
45 Pit, 45 Land
|
|
40X
|
44.20
|
40.49
|
Yes from the first minutes
|
47 Pit, 43 Land
|
|
48X
|
48.23
|
44.41
|
Yes from the first minutes
|
55 Pit, 48 Land
|
The overall performance of Teac CD-W552E with Taiyo Yuden 40X media should
be considered as less than average. The drive introduces high 3T Pit jitter
in all the writing speeds, even in the 8X and 12X. As it was expected the situation
is worse in the higher speeds, where jitter reached the 55nsec. The 3T Land
jitter values are also increased.
16. Writing Quality Tests page 2- Teac CD-W552E
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 16
Writing Quality Tests page 2- Teac CD-W552E
We tested the Teac CD-W552E with a variety of other media in order to check
the writing quality performance. We manage to write at 52X with SKC 48X, CMC
Magnetics 48X, Imation 48X and Sony 48X media.
- 3T Pit results
Sony 48X media seems to give the best results in the test. Although the 3T
Pit jitter value is high in the beginning of the disc, it is decreased to values
close to 35nsec until the 58min. The maximum jitter values are 40nsec approximately,
and are introduced after the 58min, where the recorder writes in high speed.
However, it seems that the 52X writing speed was not kept by the end of the
disc, leading to very low jitter measurements in the last minutes.
The average 3T jitter for the Sony 48X disc is the lowest among the tested
media. The CMC Magnetics media gave the worst results, while the Imation 48X
and SKC 48X gave almost the same average results.
- 3T Land results
The 3T Land Jitter values seem to agree with the corresponding values of the
3T Pit test. Again, none of the tested media gave very good results but Sony
52X kept the Land jitter values below 40nsec. Below are the average 3T Land
jitter values for each media we tested.
- Conclusion
|
Media
|
3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max value (ns)
|
|
SKC 48X
|
39.22
|
37.15
|
Yes from the beggining of the disc
|
44 Pit, 40 Land
|
|
CMC Magnetics 48X
|
40.39
|
38.66
|
Yes from the beggining of the disc
|
42 Pit, 48 Land
|
|
Imation 48X
|
38.83
|
39.95
|
Yes from the beggining of the disc
|
43 Pit, 40 Land
|
|
Sony 48X
|
37.22
|
38.73
|
Yes, mostly by the end of the disc
|
52 Pit, 42 Land
|
Teac CD-W552E did not gave high quality recordings in the highest 52X speed
with the media we tested. Usually the high speeds introduce jitter but mostly
by the end of the tested disc, for CAV writers. The Teac drive showed this behavior
but also introduced jitter in the lower speeds, as well. The Sony 48X media
gave the best results at 52X, compared with the other media in the test.
17. Writing Quality Tests page 1 - Waitec STORM 52/2
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 17
Writing Quality Tests page 1 - Waitec STORM 52/2
We used Taiyo Yuden 80min 40X CD-R media and burned the same AudioCD project
(with CD-Text) at all recording speeds . Below you can see the 3T Pit &
Land Jitter graphs of Waitec STORM 52/2.
- 3T Pit results
As we can see from the above graphs, the 3T Pit Jitter stays below the 35ns
RED book limit at 4X ~ 40X recording speeds. For the 40X speed, the jitter is
less than 30nsec until the 60 min approximately, and are increased by the end
of the disc to the 35nsec. Writing in the maximum speed (52X CAV) seems to be
more risky. The jitter is increased with the reading speed and reaches the 44nsec
in the maximum 52X speed.
The average 3T Jitter values for all recording speeds are illustrated in the
following table.
The average value of jitter is less than 35nsec for all the recording speeds.
However, in the maximum 52X writing speed the jitter value exceeds the limit
and may cause to read errors. The lowest jitter was measured for the 16X speed.
- 3T Land results
The 3T Land results are almost the same as the in the previous measurements
of the 3T Pit Jitter. Again, the 8X to 40X writing speeds do not introduce high
jitter. For the 52X the jitter is increased after the 60min and reaches the
40nsec in the last minutes.
The average value of 3T Land jitter is less than 35nsec for all the recording
speeds.
- Conclusion
|
Recording Speed
|
3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max value (ns)
|
|
8X
|
25.95
|
25.76
|
No
|
28 Pit, 30 Land
|
|
12X
|
26.27
|
27.17
|
No
|
28 Pit, 29 Land
|
|
16X
|
23.95
|
28.98
|
No
|
25 Pit, 30 Land
|
|
24X
|
25.95
|
25.76
|
No
|
29 Pit, 30 Land
|
|
32X
|
29.29
|
28.00
|
No
|
33 Pit, 32 Land
|
|
40X
|
33.68
|
30.22
|
No
|
35 Pit, 34 Land
|
|
52X
|
32.75
|
31.76
|
Yes after 58mins
|
46 Pit, 39 Land
|
The average 3T Pit and Land jitter values are below the 25nsec standard for
all the recording speeds. However, it seems that recording at speeds higher
than 40X could possibly lead to higher jitter, especially by the end of the
recorded disc. Note that the results of the Waitec drive are almost the same
as the ones of AOpen CRW5224.
18. Writing Quality Tests page 2- Waitec STORM 52/2
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 18
Writing Quality Tests page 2- Waitec STORM 52/2
We tested the Waitec STORM 52/2 with a variety of other media in order to check
the writing quality performance. Note that the recording speed for each disc
is the maximum allowed by the drive.
- 3T Pit results
As we can see from the above graphs, the 3T Pit Jitter exceeds 35ns RED book
limit in some areas for almost all media, except from Fuji 40X (recorded at
52X, JustSpeed Off) and Samsung 48X (recorded at 52X, JustSpeed Off). The rest
media introduced high 3T Pit Jitter after the 62 min of the disc. Those values
reached the 46nsec by the end of the disc. Below are posted the average values
for all tested media.
Although the average values are lower than 25nsec, writing at 52X is could
be not be risky since the jitter introduced is high by the end of the disc.
The Samsung 48X media gave the best results in the 52X speed. The Emtec 48X
media (see information in the recording test page) also gave low jitter for
the large area of the disc, until the last 5 min where it gave 39nsec.
- 3T Land results
The 3T Land Jitter values are smaller than the corresponding 3T Pit. Again
the Samsung media behaved adequately. With Intenso 40X media, the 3T Land jitter
value was increased around 40 min, came back to normal until the 60min and reached
the 39nsec by the end of the disc. The Mitsui 48X also had lower 3T Land Jitter
values than the corresponding 3T Pit ones. Fuji 40X kept up with the good performance.
- Conclusion
|
Media
|
3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max value (ns)
|
|
SKC 48X
|
37.41
|
38.71
|
Yes at 62mins
|
41 Pit, 35 Land
|
|
Mitsubishi Chemicals 48X
|
31.44
|
34.24
|
Yes at 62mins
|
44 Pit, 41 Land
|
|
Mitsui 48X
|
29.71
|
26.34
|
Yes at 68mins
|
40 Pit, 33 Land
|
|
Fuji 40X
|
29
|
28.73
|
No
|
31 Pit, 32 Land
|
|
Samsung 48X
|
25.05
|
24.05
|
No
|
32 Pit, 28Land
|
|
TDK 48X
|
30.02
|
28.29
|
Yes at 62mins
|
40 Pit, 35 Land
|
|
EMTEC 48X
|
28.73
|
28.59
|
Yes at 65mins
|
39 Pit, 37 Land
|
|
Intenso 48X
|
33.71
|
38.88
|
Yes at 62mins
|
56Pit, 60 Land
|
Waitec STORM 52/2 gave good results with Fuji 40X and Samsung 48X media. These
discs were recorder at 52X with the JustSpeed function disabled. The rest media
have problems by the end of the disc, where the writing speed reaches the maximum
52X.
19. RW Writing Tests
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 19
RW Writing Tests
The drive officially supports the 4X, 10X 12X CAV with HS-RW media and 24X
P-CAV US-RW rewriting speeds. However, the drive behaved as a CAV writer n our
tests, as you can see below:
The drive supports the 4X, 8X, 10X CLV, 12X,16X 20X and 24X CAV rewriting speeds.
The drive supports the 4X, 8X, 10X CLV, 12X,16X and 24X CAV rewriting speeds.
The drive supports the 4X, 10X CLV and 24X CAV rewriting speeds.
For the burning tests, we burned a full 74mins disc with all the drives. The
results are showed in the following chart. We used the maximum supported speed
for each drive.
The fastest drive is the Mitsumi CR-487ETE with 211 seconds, followed by the
Teac CD-W552E. The AOpen and Waitec drives are slower although they support
the 24X US-RW speed. The reason is that these drives support the full CAV technology
for 24X and not the faster P-CAV, implemented by Mitsumi and Teac.
In the following table you can see the recording times of the drives with HS-RW
media.
|
Drive
|
AOpen CRW5224 @ 12X
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE @ 10X
|
Teac CD-W552E @12X
|
Waitec STORM 52/2 @ 12X
|
|
Duration (sec)
|
410
|
474
|
404
|
412
|
- Packet Writing Tests
We used Ahead InCD v3.51.91 for the packet writing tests. 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 more than once,
to eliminate any possible time measurement faults and user errors. The following
charts illustrated the results with 24X US-RW media.
This time the Teac drive gets the first place in the writing part with 14.87X.
In the reading part the drive was not as fast as the AOpen and Waitec drives.
In the following table there are the packet writing results with HS-RW media
|
Drive
|
AOpen CRW5224 @ 12X
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE @ 16X
|
Teac CD-W552E @12X
|
Waitec STORM 52/2 @ 12X
|
|
Duration (sec)
|
410
|
300
|
404
|
412
|
- Mt. Rainier Tests
For testing the Mt. Rainier performance, we used was InCD v3.51.91 by Ahead
Software. After the format process, we immediately started the recording process
(drag & drop). When the drive finished, we started the reading process back
to the HD. The reading/writing performance of all the drives were lower than
in the normal Packet writing mode.
|
Drive
|
Average Writing Speed (X)
|
Average Reading Speed (X)
|
|
Aopen CRW5224
|
24X US-RW
|
5.98
|
22.45
|
|
HS-RW
|
1.35
|
22.46
|
|
Mitsumi CR-487ETE
|
24X US-RW
|
10.18
|
11.01
|
|
HS-RW
|
8.18
|
4.97
|
|
Teac CD-W552E
|
24X US-RW
|
9.05
|
9.08
|
|
HS-RW
|
9.05
|
9.19
|
|
Waitec STORM 52/2
|
24X US-RW
|
6
|
22.5
|
|
HS-RW
|
2.21
|
22.51
|
- EasyWrite tests
The Philips Easy Write test checks the quality level of the Mt Rainier implementation.
Although the drives accepted the EasyWrite test suite commands they didn't fulfill
the basic PartA v1.60 tests, so we didn't proceed with the rest tests.
20. Conclusion
52X IDE CD-RW Recorder Roundup Vol 2 - Page 20
Conclusion
All the drives support 52X CAV reading speed for CD-ROM and CD-R media. The
data reading tests results showed that the actual performance differences in
this area are not very important, since the drives gave the expected results
and behaved in a similar way. However, a slight lead could be mentioned for
Mitsumi and Teac drives for both transfer rates and seek times. On the other
hand, when it comes to reading of rewritable media, the Mitsumi and Teac drives
limit their maximum speed to 32X CAV allowing the AOpen and Waitec drives to
be faster with 52X CAV (50X actually).
Digital Audio Extraction is also an important issue for the recorders. Starting
from the maximum extraction speed, the Teac, AOpen and Waitec drives support
52X and are faster from Mitsumi, which allows ripping at 40X maximum. The average
speed for the first drives is 35-36X while Mitsumi stays at 30X. However, Teac
and Waitec drives gave back a few read errors with the recorded audio test disc.
As for the 99min audio discs, all the drives are capable of ripping them with
not particular problems. Audio protected discs are also not fully supported
by the drives. None of them can "handle" the Key2Audio titles and
the Cactus Data Shield 200 discs will not be a problem for only Waitec STORM
52/2 and AOpen CRW5224.
The error correction tests gave Teac CD-W552E a small lead over the Mitsumi
CR-487ETE. Although these drives did not gave impressive performance, they behaved
better than the AOpen CRW5224 and Waitec STORM 52/2, which seems to have trouble
with ripping of defected/scratched audio discs. Teac CD-W552E also gave the
highest C2 accuracy in the test but again the performance is not perfect. The
rest of the drives failed to retrieve all the expected C2 errors with the ABEX
test discs.
Regarding the writing speed, the drives gave almost the same recording times
at the maximum supported 52X CAV speed. The average time is 2:30min approximately.
No problems were noted during writing and the extra features of each drive (buffer
underun protections, JustLink e.t.c) seem to work fine. What we can add is that
the AOpen CRW5224 and Waitec STORM 52/2 support writing at 52X in an adequate
number of media, followed by Mitsumi CR-487ETE, while the Teac drive managed
to write in the maximum speed only on three types of discs. Of course this situation
could be different if we had more media to test. Staying in the writing part,
we should consider as a low of the AOpen and Waitec drives the fact that they
wrote the US-RW discs using CAV technology and not the supposed P-CAV, resulting
to higher writing times.
The jitter results for all the drives seem to make us reconsider writing our
favorite audio discs at high speeds. Especially the 52X speed could be very
risky regarding the produced quality. The AOpen and Waitec drives gave the best
results with specific media. These media are Taiyo Yuden 40X, Samsung 48X and
Fuji 40X. The rest of the discs we tested produced higher jitter values after
the 40min approximately of the tested disc. The Mitsumi CRW-487ETE performed
better with Mitsubishi Chemicals 48X media, although some problems by the end
of the disc, and introduced jitter higher than 35nsec with all the rest of the
discs we tried. Last, the Teac CD-W552E disappointed us since we did not get
high quality results with any disc we tested. In addition, the high jitter was
introduced even from the first minutes of the discs, where the speed (CAV) was
still low.
Last, we note that all the drives are SecuROM v.2 and SafeDisc v2.x ready,
while the reading performance with these discs is fast enough. The Mount Rainier
implementation also seems to need improvement since none of the drives managed
to pass the Philips EasyWrite test Suite.
As you can realize the choice is hard as always since none of the drives can
make the difference in all the tests. It seems that the competition in the 52X
recording market has pushed the manufacturers to launch new drives and this
may have influenced the product quality. The main problem seems to be detected
in the writing quality offered at such high speeds. However, the idea of retiring
our old recorder very attractive, so do weight your needs and decide on the
way to your local computer stores. The drives are available in prices of Euro
100.