I'm thinking of buying a new CD-RW or DVD-RW drive to replace my ageing LG GCE-8400B CD-RW, and I want to get a drive perfect for audio extraction. DAE is the absolute top priority, followed by quality as a burner/writer, but I'm also interested in HTOA, lead-in/lead-out, and all the other little extras that you guys are so keen on. And, since I use dBPowerAmp as my primary audio extraction tool, C2 pointers capability is essential. How the drive(s) performs with dBPowerAmp is very important.
I recall reading on several threads here in the forum that Spoon rated the Plextor PX-230A CD-RW as being the best (or one of the best) drives for DAE. I can't recall how long ago he made that recommendation, and I don't know if that still applies. Spoon (if you're reading this), do you still reckon the PX-230A to be the best (or one of the best? I keep hearing that this is not a "real" Plextor drive. Is that important? Which "real" Plextor drives would you recommend? I don't want anything too expensive, say $100 at the most.
If you guys reckon that there are any non-Plextor drives as good as (or better) for the job, please recommend them. I'm not hung up on brand names - DAE quality and C2 pointers capability are the two absolute essentials, irrespective of brand.
Both CD-RWs and DVD-RWs recommendations, please. I'll probably buy more than one drive anyway, and I've always preferred having two drives. I don't yet have a DVD-RW drive, and I need a DVD writer badly anyway. The same three priorities apply - DAE quality, C2 pointers capability, and quality of CD/DVD burning.
Phil
Full Version: Plextor PX-230A + dBPowerAmp R12 - How Good for DAE?
If you are after HTOA, lead in/out then the 230a is no good, see here:
http://www.daefeatures.co.uk/search.php
You can search for suitable drives.
http://www.daefeatures.co.uk/search.php
You can search for suitable drives.
QUOTE(spoon @ Nov 29 2007, 20:16) 
If you are after HTOA, lead in/out then the 230a is no good, see here:
http://www.daefeatures.co.uk/search.php
You can search for suitable drives.
If we ignore HTOA and lead in/out, do you still rate the drive as highly as you did? If not, what is now your personal favourite drive for use with dBPowerAmp?
Phil
Yes
230A is very good for DAE, but I must also point out, we have not much to compare with, no "real" test etc, but 230A has been tested by Spoon himself, and in his test it did get supreme results, also it is very low price...There exist almost no tests, but the Plextor 7xx series is "said" to be good (personally I can recommend px 708). Also the later "Lite-on" is also "said" to be "good". However, there is actually no professional tests to prove this, only "opinions" and "personal experiences".
If you are still thinking about buying the 230A i must however point out a warning for you, since I own a 230A myself you might experience that it will not read all new cds. I have had this problem with some of 2007 produced cds, this is highly irritating. This might be something wrong with my drive though (you never know)
Also this one might be worth waiting for, I might consider it to replace my 230A since my problems with not reading all cds.
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Detai...px?NewsId=21882
Also you need to remember, as long as you are ripping non-scratchy cds, the drive you use of less importance as long as it has the basic features such as "accurate stream". But if you still prefer to rip scratchy cds then there is huge difference in terms of error correction quality/possibility.
If you are still thinking about buying the 230A i must however point out a warning for you, since I own a 230A myself you might experience that it will not read all new cds. I have had this problem with some of 2007 produced cds, this is highly irritating. This might be something wrong with my drive though (you never know)
Also this one might be worth waiting for, I might consider it to replace my 230A since my problems with not reading all cds.
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Detai...px?NewsId=21882
Also you need to remember, as long as you are ripping non-scratchy cds, the drive you use of less importance as long as it has the basic features such as "accurate stream". But if you still prefer to rip scratchy cds then there is huge difference in terms of error correction quality/possibility.
>DVR-115D
They are on sale now (on ebay), about $60
I am of the view there is no right drive that can read all cds, as you have pointed out the 230a can fail with the odd cd with no apparent scratches, ie manfacturing. I just recently (earlier this year) ripped 400 cds, my strategy, used a generic DVD-HD laptop drive, if AccurateRip verified then was ok. Did a 2nd pass rip to compare if not in accuraterip (the drive had c2). For CDs with real errors, out came the 230a, if that could not read through then it is a pretty good bet that the disc is unrecoverable.
If I had to do it again, I would load them up into a 200 disc sony changer (which came with a Matshita/Panasonic drive, not Sony) and use that with the batch ripper, less hands on, any errors rip them manually.
For manual work (and best ripping) you need a drive which is fast, something like the ASUS - CRW-5232A3, that thing will rip at 40x on the outside of a CD with c2 error pointers, compare that to the Liteon 20A1P (often raved about), that drive barely reaches x20 and in my quick testing seemed worse than average. Your 2nd drive would be a 230a or similar for maximum recovery.
They are on sale now (on ebay), about $60
I am of the view there is no right drive that can read all cds, as you have pointed out the 230a can fail with the odd cd with no apparent scratches, ie manfacturing. I just recently (earlier this year) ripped 400 cds, my strategy, used a generic DVD-HD laptop drive, if AccurateRip verified then was ok. Did a 2nd pass rip to compare if not in accuraterip (the drive had c2). For CDs with real errors, out came the 230a, if that could not read through then it is a pretty good bet that the disc is unrecoverable.
If I had to do it again, I would load them up into a 200 disc sony changer (which came with a Matshita/Panasonic drive, not Sony) and use that with the batch ripper, less hands on, any errors rip them manually.
For manual work (and best ripping) you need a drive which is fast, something like the ASUS - CRW-5232A3, that thing will rip at 40x on the outside of a CD with c2 error pointers, compare that to the Liteon 20A1P (often raved about), that drive barely reaches x20 and in my quick testing seemed worse than average. Your 2nd drive would be a 230a or similar for maximum recovery.
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