In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when it comes to reading scratched / defective discs. The test discs we use are the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.

- ABEX TCD-721R

CD error correction with the Plextor burner is not as good as it could be with the specific test disc. Although the total error count is not as high as with other drives, the maximum error loudness at -9.0 dB(A) is very high, possibly leading to audible errors. The limit in this case is at -35.0 dB(A). The total score of 68.2 out of 100 reflects the general performance.

- ABEX TCD-726

The Plextor PX-716A received a perfect score of 100.0 with the Abex TCD-726 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 difficult tests. These tracks are referred as Check Level-1 through Check Level-5.

The files 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 device.

Very good, if not excellent, performance.

- Conclusion

The CD error correction for the Plextor burner is depends on the defect type. Hence we saw a not so good performance with the ABEX TCD-721R test disc while excellent performance with the CD-Check Audio Test Disc. However, generally the CD error correction is good.