Ricoh MP7120A IDE CDR-W - Page 5

DAE Tests (Audio pressed CDs)

Test Method:
We used CD DAE 99 v0.2with AudioCDs in order to check DAE performance of the Ricoh drive and we compared it with the Plextor PX-W1210A and Sanyo BP3.

- CD DAE 99 v0.2 results:
The Ricoh MP7120A is the new KING of DAE performance! The drive goes up to 32x and our tests showed that the MP7120A managed to outperform both the Plextor PX-W1210A and the Sanyo CRD-BP3:

As you can see, the Ricoh averaged 22.6x and at the same time, the Plextor averaged 21.0x and Sanyo BP3 12.6x DAE speed.

DAE Tests (CD media)

Test Method:
We made several copies with Feurio v1.51written at 12x (used the Sanyo CRD-BP2 CDR-W drive) in order to check the DAE performance of the drive. We measured ripping speeds with CD DAE 99 v0.2and compared it with Plextor PX-W1210A and Sanyo CRD-BP3.

CD DAE 99 v0.2 results:

- Princo 74min AudioCD:
The Ricoh MP7120A easily lead the DAE speed race and gave an average 22.8x DAE speed:

Advanced DAE Tests (CD Media)

Test Method:
The latest CD Speed v0.75 included new series of DAE benchmarking. It has 2 reading test modes:

-The Sequential read test simulates DAE under perfect conditions. Most drives will pass this test without errors.
- The Harmonica read test is very though for the drive. Most drives will not pass this test without errors. Based on the number of errors a score is given. A score of 100.0 is a perfect score

We made the test CD using the build function. For that propose we used Princo name CDR media, which burned with Sanyo CRD-BP3. After that we run the full tests at our 3 test competitors. Some explanation here:

Data Errors: These are just audio samples, which are read incorrectly. The cause of these errors is usually bad media. A solution is to use different media or decreasing the drive's speed. If the number of data errors is not too high you probably won't hear them because the internal error correction routines of the drive should be able to fix them. CD Speed 99 detects them by comparing the read bytes with the known data from the test disc.

Sync Errors: A sync error occurs when the drive does not read the audio sector requested by the application but a sector near it. For example when the application requests sector 1000 the drive may return the data from sector 999. When this happens either some samples are missing or samples are repeated. This error is probably audible. The test disc contains data, which allows CD Speed 99 to determine whether the correct sector is read.

Test Results:

CD Speed author promises: "…The Advanced DAE Test will reveal all DAE problems a drive may have. By using a special test disc, which must be created with CD Speed 99, even the slightest error will be detected.." Our tests revealed a slight problem with the PX-W1210A and some serious problems with Sanyo CRD-BP3. The Ricoh drive passed the test and got the highest score of 100 (and the absolute maximum). The Plextor gave 2 Sync errors and that cost the drive first place in our test. It placed second with a score of 98.5The Sanyo drive got the worst overall score (75) as it failed to read the test CD. Also noticeable are the high Data errors numbers.

Verdict of DAE Results:
Ricoh advertising on its retail box states: "Reads audio data (DAE) up to 32x. Allows high-speed creation of WAVE files." Our tests confirmed that these claim are valid and that the Ricoh has scorching DAE performance.  The drive took the first place in all our tests (even in the advanced one). The Plextor PX-W1210A took second position, in the DAE tests, and this something that should trouble Plextor. All their previous drives were DAE "Kings"! The Sanyo BP3 has its DAE speed locked at 13x. Sanyo informed us that in the near future the drive would achieve 24x DAE speed with a firmware update. Until then, the BP3 gets the wooden spoon.