48x CD-RW Combo Roundup Vol.1 - Page 9

Data Protected DiscsTests

We used Alcohol 120% and 3 original CDs - Serious Sam 2 (SafeDisc 2), V-Rally 2 Expert (SecuROM 2) and NBA Jam Extreme (PSX) - and made the image of each title to the hard disk (max speed).

Although we did not use the CloneCD for the reading tests, the drive information provided by the software could be usefull:

- PSX Pressed Media

For this test we used the PSX game 'NBA Jam Extreme' and we ripped the image to the HD with Alcohol 120%. We used the default PSX settings with Read Sub-Channel Data option enabled. The Optorite DC4801 was faster than LiteOn and finished the image making process in only 75 sec.

- SafeDisc v.2 Results

Optorite DC4801 need 7:13 to complete the task and again is faster than LiteOn LTC48161. However, none of the drives gave the best performance we have experienced ever, and some CD-RW drives are definitely faster.

- SecuROM Results

Both drives read subchannel data from data and audio tracks. This time the LiteOn drive was faster and read the disc contents at an average speed of 2491KB/sec.

- Writing Tests

The Alcohol software reports that both drives supports the DAO-RAW and DAO-SAO writing modes. For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 different game titles with different builds of SafeDisc v2.x protections, with the latest software patches installed. We used the drive as reader/writer at maximum reading/recording speed. The "Bypass EFM Error" feature was enabled and disabled for each game backup.

The LiteOn drive is a good solution for backing up Safedisc v.2 protected discs.The drive managed to make a valid backup of The Sims- Unleased and Serius Sam without the assistance of the Bypass EFM error feature. Optorite cannot backup correctly the Safedisk2 v2.80.010 protection of the same game. Even enabling the Bypass EFM error option of Alcohol did not make the disc playable. The Optorite DC4801 manage to make a working backup of Serious Sam only with the software assistance by Alcohol 120%.