LiteOn Slimtype SDW-431SX - Page 7

DAE Tests

- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results

The new LiteOn slimtype SDW-431S supports 24X maximum reading speed for DAE media and uses CAV reading strategy, and Nero CDSpeed confirmed these specifications.

To test the ripping speed of the LiteOn we ripped the contents of the previously used pressed audio disc to our hard disk, using the CDDAE software. Then we repeated the same ripping process with a clone of the pressed disc to test the ripping performance of the LiteOn with CD-R audio discs and we summarized the results on the above graph. Both pressed and CD-R media gave back similar average speeds, but that speed was the slowest of the comparison.

- Advanced DAE Quality

CDSpeed advanced DAE quality test confirms that the LiteOn is not an ideal solution for DAE. Although the drive managed to finish the test without Data or Sync errors and awarded with quality score 100 (perfect), the software reported that the drive cannot be safely used for OnTheFly copies as a reader at speeds over 10x. On the advanced features, the drive supports Subchannel Data bat according to the graph, LiteOn gave back the slowest reading speed of the comparison.

- Support of 90/99mins AudioCDs

LiteOn managed to rip the contents of our 90/99min test discs successfully.

- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCDs

For the test procedure we used two audio discs with different audio protection schemes. We tested for both recognition and ripping to the hard disk. The software used was Exact Audio Copy.

* Pressed Audio disc protected by Sony Key2Audio (Celine Dion - New Day Has Come)

* Pressed Audio disc protected by Cactus Data Shield 200 (Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies Island)

It seems that the LiteOn is not the best solution for ripping DAE discs but it can easily handle Audio protected media, as shown on the above table.