Writing Quality - Page 20

VariRec

comes from the "Variable Recording" words and allows the change of the laser power when writing CD-DA or CD-R at 4X. (TAO or DAO). Users are allowed to make slight adjustments to the default value (0). This will change the quality of the sound and will also increase the playability or compatibility (or in extreme cases in-compatibility) with the existing players. Plextor says that the default setting (0) already reflects to the optimized laser power with the lowest jitter.

VariRec can change the value of the laser power. The resulting effects are:

• change of sound quality of recorded disc (there should be a slight change, some kind of effect when VariRec is used on the different settings)
• change of playability or compatibility with Home CD Players or Car CD Players (some players need a slightly higher or lower laser power)

Most audio professionals have a personal preference for higher/lower laser power (some even say they can hear the difference between a recording at high speed and at 1X). When VariRec is used to the most extreme settings, there is a chance that the playback device cannot read the disc properly. In this case, use the default setting or switch VariRec off.

Users may compare Plextor's "VariRec" towards Yamaha's "AudioMASTER" system. We asked Plextor the same question and the answer was that "...VariRec is not an answer to any technology of any other manufacturer. The write quality of Plextor recorders is already much better, several tests have proven this. However, the idea that VariRec is more an option to 'tune according to personal taste'..." doesn't seem to un-veil the whole truth. Both "AudioMASTER" and "VariRec" uses 4x-recording speed, and both technologies promise a reduction of jitter and better AudioCDs.

A good question here is whether if we can listen to such slight changes of the sound, since the sound digital signal is processed through many DA/AD processes and circuits before the analogue audio playback. Some people claim that they can hear to such changes, probably with high-end systems…The addition of such specialized technologies for AudioCD recording is reasonable for user who may needed them. I think most of you have forgotten how many minutes it takes to write a full CD at 4x ;-)