CD Format

For our CD transfer rate tests, we used the Nero CD-Speed utility and a set of both Pressed and CDR media. Let's take a look at how the drive performed compared with the other two drives.

The 755SA supports up to 40X reading speed with CD pressed and CDR media while the other two comparison drives support up to 48X. The 755SA is not the fastest CD reader on the market, as we can see from the above graph.

Good reading speed was reported when using USRW media, with the Plextor drive reporting an average speed of 30X and a max speed over 40X.

- AudioCD

For these tests, we used a pressed AudioCD and the Advanced DAE CDSpeed feature.

As CD-Speed Advanced DAE Quality Test reported, the Quality Score was 100 with an average speed of 30.09X. No Data and Sync Errors were reported, while the drive can Read CD Text and Subchannel Data and also supports Leadin and Leadout.

- 90mins Audio disc

- 99mins Audio disc

Unfortunately, the drive cannot read either 90min or 99min audio discs.

- DVD Format

Let's have a look at how the drive performs with DVD media. A set of DVD media was used, both SL and DL.

All drives reported similar, high speeds since the max supported speed for SL pressed media is 16X from all three drives.

The two layers of a PTP DVD-ROM disc are read sequentially with the drive starting reading from the inner part of the disc, which is the beginning of each layer, progressing towards its outer range.
In this case, both the Plextor 755SA and BenQ DW1655 managed to achieve a maximum reading speed of 12X, reporting an average speed close to 9X leaving the LiteOn behind which supports a lower maximum speed.

The first layer of an OTP dual layer DVD-ROM is read exactly the same way as the first layer of the PTP disc we tested previously, the main difference being the reading strategy of the second layer on the disc. The beginning of the second layer is located in the outer part of the disc, so the drive starts reading from the outer tracks towards the inner part of the disc.
Similar performance here, with the Plextor and BenQ drives reaching 12X maximum while the LiteOn reached 8X.

With recordable discs, the Plextor and LiteOn drives support the same speed, reporting an average reading speed of 9X, while the BenQ drive managed the highest speed with all tested media. In the case of rewritable media, all three drives reported similar reading speeds.

The Plextor drive is a fast ripper, reporting an average transfer rate of 11950Kb/s. The BenQ though, is even faster at 12559Kb/s.

-Appendix

Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs

CD / US-RW / AudioCD

DVD Pressed SL / DVD Pressed DL PTP / DVD Pressed DL OTP / DVD-R / DVD-RW / DVD+R / DVD+RW