Buying a CD-ROM drive just for EAC, What would you get? Options

[chri5]

I'm going to buy a CD-ROM drive for use with EAC.
What would you get and why? It could be a DVD, CD, CD-RW, DVD-/+ whatever.

I'm currently using a Pioneer 105 DVD-R.

Cheers.

[heavymetalwiseon...]

I think it is really stupid (no offense) to buy sth, in this occasion a drive, for the sake of EAC. Well ok, EAC is really great with secure extraction etc but what for?

Unless you're buying 'cause your previous dirve has problem. This time ok. But with the previous one I strongly disagree with you man.

[chri5]

I find the Pioneer 105 slow with EAC and I have room for another drive, hence the question?!

[Defsac]

Liteon drives have fast C2 ripping.

[ToS_Maverick]

my lg gsa-4120 is VERY fast with eac in secure mode (because of c2) and is a very good allround drive. the only thing that i don't like is that it cannot read the last bits of an audio-cd with eac (dosen't support overreading).

i don't think it's a stupid question, for me it would be interesting too which drive works best with eac. now i only rip to lossless with cuesheet and really DON'T like that i can't get the last bits of the cd. i'm a perfectionist, maybe someone else doesn't care about it, but i do.

[Synthetic Soul]

I bought a Plextor PX-W5224A specifically so that I could rip those few CDs that have an INDEX 0 entry on TRACK 1. My Toshiba DVD (which the Plextor replaced) could not, and neither does my Lite-On DVD burner (SOHW-832S).

The Plextor Premium gets a lot of good references, but the PX-W5224A was 1/3 of the price.

As well as just being an excellent all round CDRW you also get Plextools which gives you an alternative to EAC if you have a problem disc. Plextools burns so fast for me.

I would love a Plextor PX-716A DVD burner.

I'm sure there are many other good drives, and drives that can rip TRACK 1 INDEX 0 data, but for £23 I'm well happy with my PX-W5224A.

Edit: spelling and grammar

This post has been edited by Synthetic Soul: Aug 2 2005, 13:24

[ToS_Maverick]

I bought a Plextor PX-W5224A specifically so that I could rip those few CDs that have an INDEX 0 entry on TRACK 1.  My Samsung DVD (which the Plextor replaced) could not, and neither does my Lite-On DVD burner (SOHW-832S).

could you explain what index 0 track 1 means and if my drive can read it

[Synthetic Soul]

I believe EAC calls it a PREGAP, although it isn't technically.

It is basically where there is a hidden track before track 1 on the CD. To hear the track you would put the CD in your stereo, start it playing, and then hit rewind - at which point it will rewind into the negative.

Here's a post by me listing those albums I've discovered so far. Edit: add to that list Muse's Hullabaloo Disc 2

Also a thread about EAC's new feature to highlight these discs.

This post has been edited by Synthetic Soul: Aug 2 2005, 13:33

[chri5]

Thanks for the replies people. I'll look into the Plextor drives; I've heard good reports elsewhere about these drives to.

This post has been edited by chri5: Aug 2 2005, 14:17

[teleguise]

Yes unlike many newer Lite-On (sony oem junk) drives Plextor seems to have always
kept true to there reputation and continue to release great drives.

Another i've become hooked on is BTC, can't say much for the there DVD writers
however for an inexpensive drive the cdrw's are reliable and work fast & flawless w/EAC.

From my experience & I don't understand why seems like for ripping and better overall
compatibilty it goes in the order of.

1. CDRW's
2. Combo's
3. DVD writers

[picmixer]

Well I can't back this up by personal experience, but a lot of people around here seem to be extremely happy with the ripping performance of various LG drives.

[CiTay]

The german c't magazine just published a roundup of drives for the purpose of data/audio-ripping and -rescue. They even did a listening test on how big of a scratch a drive can handle without introducing clicks or similar artifacts.

Some results for DVD-ROM drives: (--) = very poor, (-) = poor, (O) = average, (+) = good, (++) = very good


Aopen DVD1648/AAP Pro:
Error correction for Scratches: (--), Error correction for Jitter: (++), Error correction for Audio CDs: (O), Reading Copy-protected Audio CDs: (O)

LG GDR-8163B:
Scratches: (-), Jitter: (+), Audio CDs: (O), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (+)

LiteOn 16P9S:
Scratches: (++), Jitter: (++), Audio CDs: (++), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (O)

Plextor PX-130A:
Scratches: (++), Jitter: (+), Audio CDs: (O), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (O)

TEAC DC-516G:
Scratches: (++), Jitter: (+), Audio CDs: (++), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (+)

Toshiba SD-M1912:
Scratches: (+), Jitter: (+), Audio CDs: (--), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (O)



..and some for DVD-RW drives:

BenQ 1640:
Scratches: (++), Jitter: (+), Audio CDs: (++), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (-)

LiteOn 1693S:
Scratches: (O), Jitter: (+), Audio CDs: (++), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (++)

LG GSA-4163B:
Scratches: (++), Jitter: (--), Audio CDs: (+), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (+)

NEC ND-3540A:
Scratches: (--), Jitter: (--), Audio CDs: (+), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (O)

Pioneer DVR-109 XL:
Scratches: (O), Jitter: (-), Audio CDs: (O), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (O)

Plextor PX-716A:
Scratches: (O), Jitter: (-), Audio CDs: (O), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (++)

Plextor PX-740A:
Scratches: (++), Jitter: (++), Audio CDs: (++), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (O)

[Defsac]

Yes unlike many newer Lite-On (sony oem junk) drives Plextor seems to have always
kept true to there reputation and continue to release great drives.

LiteOn isn't Sony OEM. Sony is LiteOn OEM.

This post has been edited by Defsac: Aug 3 2005, 10:49

[teleguise]

LiteOn isn't Sony OEM. Sony is LiteOn OEM.

Actually that was what I meant and didn't realize while thinking oem that I typed it as well,
hence no longer Sony but now (junk labeled Sony). Think LiteOn must use all the
fail qc stuff for the oem line.. Oh wait isn't that what all OEM's do

This post has been edited by teleguise: Aug 3 2005, 12:38

[timcupery]

One thing people haven't mentioned is whether the drives have caching or not. My experience is that EAC works much better with a drive that doesn't cache data - specifically, ripping a scratched cd with a caching drive takes a really long time, because EAC needs to clear the memory after every pass.

Currently, my LG DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive (don't remember the name) has caching and C2; it rips well and quickly except on scratched cd's, and also it takes awhile to clear the memory at the end of each track, so if you're ripping a cd with lots of short tracks, this slows down the extraction process considerably.

Also, my understanding is that CDParanoia isn't functional at all (at least, none of it's secure-copying features work) with drives that do caching. CDParanoia is used in CDex.

[Smitty2k1]

Ok so now Im curious... most of my CD's took about 1/2 hour to rip in EAC secure mode... is this unusually long? By the way Im using a Sony, and yes I did buy it because it was a brand name (From the looks of it, poor choice).

However Its only a combo drive, no DVD writing, so I will be buying a new one soon... suggestions around here seem to point towards liteon and plextor eh?

[sony666]

quote:
"LiteOn 16P9S: Scratches: (++), Jitter: (++), Audio CDs: (++), Copy-protected Audio CDs: (O)"

yay, I ordered exactly that drive. should be here tomorrow
great price, too. and great support for flashing region free firmware

Here is a nice review of LG vs. LiteOn drives, including EAC stuff

This post has been edited by sony666: Aug 5 2005, 00:19

[Synthetic Soul]

great price, too. and great support for flashing region free firmware

Yes, there's some great firmware tools. Don't forget KProbe as well.
Edit: Sorry, I've just seen it's not a burner.

This post has been edited by Synthetic Soul: Aug 5 2005, 09:44

[TCM]

Liteon drives have fast C2 ripping.

while being fast, it's also unreliable. turn off c2 for lite-on drives.

[AndyMutz]

Liteon drives have fast C2 ripping.

while being fast, it's also unreliable. turn off c2 for lite-on drives.

i can confirm that for my old XJ-HD165H DVD-ROM. when i rip a scratched CD with C2 enabled with this drive, there are very audible pops and clicks everywhere.
don't know about the newer drives though..

-andy-

[teleguise]

Ok so now Im curious... most of my CD's took about 1/2 hour to rip in EAC secure mode... is this unusually long? By the way Im using a Sony, and yes I did buy it because it was a brand name (From the looks of it, poor choice).

However Its only a combo drive, no DVD writing, so I will be buying a new one soon... suggestions around here seem to point towards liteon and plextor eh?

Well of course the most important question is what kind of condition were the discs in?
30 min is a bit long.. a very crude average time to expect would be 10 minutes.

LiteOn has had a great rep & I have two, 1 Creative branded combo that works great.
However from personal (friends etc..) & like my prior post in the thread said have had
terrible results with the oem'd for Sony ones. I've read others feel LiteOn quality seems to have dropped off recently but then again all manufacturers have their good & bad runs.

- Make it clear (oem'd for Sony)

This post has been edited by teleguise: Aug 16 2005, 22:40

[Never_Again]

LiteOn isn't Sony OEM. Sony is LiteOn OEM.

Think LiteOn must use all the
fail qc stuff for the oem line.. Oh wait isn't that what all OEM's do ;)

There is usually heavy competition between OEMs to win orders from big names like Sony. Sony would not buy hardware that didn't pass QC either.

like my prior post in the thread said have had terrible results with the oem Sony ones.

There you go again. There are no OEM Sony optical drives because Sony does not manufacture them.

[Defsac]

while being fast, it's also unreliable. turn off c2 for lite-on drives.

I've had no problems with mine. T&C reports identical CRCs and AR reports identical CRCs on every disc I've tried. It's an LTD163D.

This post has been edited by Defsac: Aug 16 2005, 13:29

[TCM]

while being fast, it's also unreliable. turn off c2 for lite-on drives.

I've had no problems with mine. T&C reports identical CRCs and AR reports identical CRCs on every disc I've tried. It's an LTD163D.

were they scratched? and for the record, i was using a lite-on ltr-24103s cd-writer. so either they got better or you didn't trigger any false reads.

of course the problem is, to prove an assumption like "all lite-on drive have correct c2" wrong, all you need is one case where it didn't work whereas 1000 cases of correct operation don't prove anything. my experience is sufficient so that i will never turn on c2 for lite-on drives again out of paranoia. i'd have to double check each rip, thereby destroying any speed advantage c2 would have given me in the first place.

[teleguise]

There is usually heavy competition between OEMs to win orders from big names like Sony. Sony would not buy hardware that didn't pass QC either.

It was addressed with a little humor. However, not to steer off topic and not bashing Sony by any means but do you really think Sony tests -every- product their name is on? From people whom have worked overseas in factories, I think not. You wouldn't believe the things that go on related to getting that little sticker on there.

There you go again. There are no OEM Sony optical drives because Sony does not manufacture them.

Yes, my mistake thinking and typing different things i've clarified that as "oem'd for Sony".

They are too busy thinking up the next hottest looking or innovative product to worry about technology of yesteryear.