Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when reading scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.

- ABEX TCD-721R

This is generally a difficult disc for most drives to read correctly. The Pioneer DVR-107D performed admirably in this test with a low total error count and no samples skipped, receiving a test score of 76.4 out of 100.

- ABEX TCD-726

This is a much easier test disc from the TDR-721R but there were some loudness and muting errors. The best drives will usually register a perfect score of 100 or very close to it, and the Pioneer drive managed 90.1 points which is a very good score.

- CD-Check Audio Test Disc

The CD-Check Test Disc is a very useful tool for evaluating the Sound Reproduction / Error correction capabilities of a CD player. The disc offers a signal combination with disc error patterns to rate the drive's abilities to read music and reproduce it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a sequence of progressively more difficult tests. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through Check Level-5.

The tracks are reproduced (played) through a software multimedia player (i.e. Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone coming out from the speakers is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or looping. The higher the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction of the tested drive.

The drive successfully passed the first 4 check levels for this test. On the fifth check level, where the scratch is 1.500mm, the drive managed to playback two out of five times without any audible clicks. Not many drives manage to reach the fifth check level, let alone managing to read it even once.

- Summary

The average score of the Abex tests is 83.25 points for the Pioneer DVR-107D. This is among the best scores we have recorded and indicates that the drive is very capable with defective CD media.