1. Introduction - Specs
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 1
is
one of the biggest manufacturers for PC hardware. As a leading manufacturer,
ASUS has taken the first step and introduced the fastest Double Layer
recorder by offering 4X CLV recording speed, reducing the total
burning time to
burn a DL disc by half.
In addition, it supports the fastest writing speeds for ±R
format along with many other interesting features. We will put the ASUS
drive through its paces to see how
it performs as well as to inform users as to what they can expect
from the 4X DL recording speed.
- Official press release
According to the posted press released on 19/7/2004: "...ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
(ASUS) today debuted it's latest internal DVD rewriter, the DRW-1604P,
that supports both 16X DVD+/-Write and 4X DVD+R double layer technology.
With the popularity of digital multimedia entertainment, the demand for larger storage capacity to accommodate video and audio content is on the rise. The ASUS DRW-1604P supports the latest double layer technology, which, as the name suggests, doubles DVD+R media from 4.7GB to 8.5GB or four hours of DVD quality video.
Flexibility for the wide array of media formats is also very important. The ASUS DRW-1604P offers both 16X DVD-Write and 16X DVD+Write, making it capable of reading from and writing on DVD-Writeable/Rewriteable and DVD+Writeable/Rewriteable formats.
With the dual-compatibility feature, the DRW-1604P creates DVDs that can be played or read by most DVD-ROM drives and DVD players. It enables 4X DVD-Rewrite, 4X DVD+Rewrite, 16X DVD-ROM, 32X CD-Write, 24X CD-Rewrite and 40X CD-ROM as well to provide flexibility and high-speed operation.
The ASUS DRW-1604P adopted several innovative technologies found only in ASUS optical drives.
- FlextraLink - No More Disc Coasters
Unusable discs are often caused by buffer under-run, which occurs when the system cannot keep up a steady data stream to the writer, causing "blank spots" on the disc. FlextraLink prevents this problem by marking the disc where writing stopped and resume operation at the same place when information flow begins again.
- FlextraSpeed - The Best Recording Speed
FlextraSpeed intelligently adjusts writing speeds depending on the media. The best operation speed effectively lowers operation noise, prolongs motor life and saves CPU resource.
- DDSSII - Precision for Reading and Writing
DDSS II (Double Dynamic Suspension System II) is a patented anti-vibration technology. It stabilizes the pick-up head vertically and horizontally, achieving more precise tacking while reducing vibration and noise.
- Liquid Crystal Tilt - Precision on uneven discs
LCT (Liquid Crystal Tilt) technology provides enhanced pick up head accuracy during recording and playback on disks with uneven curvature and thickness.
All ASUS proprietary technologies occupy minimal system resources, allowing the PC to remain fully operational and available for other applications even during the recording process.
- Features
The ASUS DRW-1604P supports 16X DVD±R, 4X DVD±RW
and 4X DVD+R DL writing according to the official specifications. As
a CD recorder, it supports 32X CD-R and 24X US-RW writing along with
40X CD-ROM reading. Below are the full specs for the drive:
Drive |
ASUS DRW-1604P |
Media |
DVD |
CD |
Transfer Rate Read |
16X CAV SL DVD-ROM
12X CAV DL DVD-ROM |
40X CD-ROM CAV |
12X CAV DVD±R |
8X CAV DVD±RW |
32X CD-RW CAV |
2X CLV DVD-RAM |
8X CAV DVD+R9 |
Transfer Rate Write |
16X DVD±R Z-CLV |
32X CD-R Z-CLV |
4X DVD±RW CLV |
24X CD-RW Z-CLV |
4 DVD+R9 CLV |
Access Time |
145ms |
125ms |
Mechanism |
motorized Tray load mechanism for horizonal and vertical use |
Interface |
IDE / ATAPI |
Burst Transfer Rate |
PIO mode 4 / Ultra DMA 33 |
Cashe Memory |
2MB |
Supported Media formats |
DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-Audio, CD Extra, CD Text, CD-IReady, CD-Bridge, Photo-CD, VideoCD, Hybrid CD |
Audio |
headphone jack and volume control at front plus digital-out and line-out at the back (MPC compatible) |
Writing methods |
DAO(disc at once), SAO(session at once), TAO(track at once) with zero gap, variable or fixed packet, multisession |
Weight |
1.1kgr |
Dimensions |
148(W) × 42.3(H) × 198(D) mm |
The drive does not support Mount Rainier, as is the case with almost all
new DVD recorders for both the CD and DVD formats. It uses the well known
RPC
II region
control,
allowing a user to change the drive's region at most 5 times. Until now,
there is no
known way to make the drive region-free.
Below are the drive's main specs as given by NeroInfoTool. and DVDInfoPro:
- The drive
We received the bulk version of the ASUS DRW-1604P as the drive's
retail package was not yet available. We would like to thank
ASUS HQ for providing this engineering sample for our review. Below
is a picture of the final retail package along with the package contents:
The bulk package included burning software from Ahead (Nero Express
and InCD), an IDE Cable, audio screws along with the eject pin and
instructions sheet. Lastly, newbie users will find the users manual
and the quick
installation guides useful.
The front of the drive includes all the usual logos to help identify
the supported reading/writing formats, "DVD+R DL", "DVD+RW", "US-RW" and
of course the "ASUS" logo. On the rear panel there are
the analogue and digital audio outputs (SPDIF), the IDE Master/Slave/CS
selection pins, the IDE interface block and the power input. There are
also vent holes for a fan,
but there isn't one installed.
The top of the drive includes the manufacture identification sticker,
which indicates compliances and standards the device meets, place of
manufacture - "Made
in China" - along
with the drive's SN and Model No (written by hand due to the fact that
this is
an engineering sample).
Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty. For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. Click on the photos for an enlarged view.
The main chipset comes from NEC, the NEC
D63635GM combined with the NEC C333500:
Model name |
C3335
|
Process |
Bi-CMOS 0.35
|
Voltage |
5V
|
Package |
120-pin TQFP (14x14mm)
|
Power consumption |
0.66W (8x DVD playback)
|
0.74W 8x DVD recording)
|
Speeds |
DVD playback |
16x CAV |
DVD-RAM playback |
4x |
DVD recording |
16x |
CD playback |
48x |
CD recording |
48x |
Model name |
D63635
|
Process |
CMOS 0.15
|
Voltage |
1.5V core, 3.3V I/O
|
Package |
216-pin LQFP (24x24mm)
|
Power consumption |
0.35W (8x DVD playback)
|
0.95W (8x DVD recording, LVDS)
|
Interface |
Host |
ATA/ATAPI5 |
Buffer |
16Mbit SDRAM |
Speeds |
DVD playback |
16x CAV |
DVD-RAM playback |
4x |
DVD recording |
16x |
CD playback |
48x |
CD recording |
48x |
Below is a close up picture of the drive's pickup/lens system:
- Installation
The device was connected to our test PC and was identified as "ASUS DRW-1604P" under WinXP.
The drive arrived with v0.53 firmware revision,
which was updated to v1.04 and used to perform all the reading/writing
tests.
In this review, we will be comparing the drive with the BenQ DW1600A,
Plextor PX-712A and LG GSA-4120B since all these drives have, currently,
the fastest CD/DVD recording speeds.
- Testing software
In order to perform our tests we used:
- Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.12
- CDVD Benchmark v1.21
- ExactAudioCopy v0.9 beta5
- Nero Info Tool v2.24
- KProbe v2.2.2 (Reader: LiteOn LDW-811S firmware vHS0Q, LiteOn SOHD-167T firmware 9S14 Reading speed 8X CAV)
- PlexTools v2.15 (Reader: Plextor PX-712A firmware v1.03, Reading speed 8X CLV for CD-R)
- DVDInfoPro v2.54
- Nero Burning Rom v6.3.1.17
- DVD Decrypter 3.2.2.0
- CopyToDVD 3.0.22
2. Transfer Rate Reading Tests
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 2
Transfer Rate Reading Tests
- CD Format
All drives except the Plextor PX-712A support 40X CD-ROM reading speed. The
ASUS DRW-1604P performed well with both the CD-ROM and CD-R test discs. With
US-RW media, due to its lower reading speed (32X), the drive had the slowest
speed among the drives.
- DVD Format
All the tested drives support 16X CAV reading speed with SL
discs. The ASUS drive gets third place with an averafe speed of 12.02X, just
behind the BenQ DW1600A. While the ASUS drive starts with the second highest
reading speed,
its
end speed
is slower,
which is why the BenQ drive overall has a faster average speed.
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 the outer range for each layer.
The ASUS drive had the slowest performance at 5.44X average speed.
The graph shown above indicates the reading performance of
the DRW-1604P with OTP dual layer media. 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 difference here is the reading strategy of the second layer of 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 progressing toward the inner
part of the disc. The average reading speed was 9.40X, with a perfect reading
graph.
The ASUS drive performed according to its specifications with 12X CAV for DVD±R and 8X CAV DVD±RW discs..
The ASUS drive has a lock rip limit and gave the lowest ripping time at
5816Kb/s.
- DVD-RAM
The ASUS DRW-1604P can read DVD-RAM at only 2X CLV, according to the
specs. For our test we used a 5X DVD-RAM disc from Maxell, burned with the
LG GSA-4120B. The CDSpeed graph confirms ASUS specs, since the disc was read
at 2X CLV:
-Appendix
Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs
3. CD Error Correction Tests
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 3
CD Error Correction Tests
In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when reading
scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series
from ALMEDIO.
- ABEX TCD-721R
Errors
total |
Num:
1212483 |
Errors
(Loudness) dB(A) |
Num: 59039 |
Avg:
-73.4 dB(A) |
Max:
-26.4 dB(A) |
Error
Muting Samples |
Num: 3763 |
Avg:
1.1 Samples |
Max: 40 Samples |
Skips
Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg:
0.0 Samples |
Max:
0 Samples |
Total Test Result |
76.4 points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
C2 Accuracy |
- |
The performance with the 721R test disc is satisfactory. The loudness level
is fairly low with tha maximum at -26.4 dB(A). No
samples
were
skipped and the total score of 76 .4 is about average. The drive cannot return
C2 error pointers, and so there is no score posted for C2Accuracy.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total |
Num: 506 |
Errors (Loudness) dB(A) |
Num: 24 |
Avg: -71.0 dB(A) |
Max: -60.2 dB(A) |
Error Muting Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0.0 Samples |
Max: 0 Samples |
Skips Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0.0 Samples |
Max: 0 Samples |
Total Test Result |
92.6 points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
C2 Accuracy |
- |
The Abex TCD-726 test disc is much easier for drives in general to read. The ASUS DRW-1604P drive reached 92.6 score (out of 100), which is very good.
- CD-Check Audio 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
more difficult tests. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through
Check Level-5.
The
tracks are being reproduced through a software multimedia player (i.e.
Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone
is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or looping. The higher
the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction
of the tested drive.
Error Level
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
3/5
|
The drive showed a remarable ability to correct errors and reached the 5th
level with 3/5 score! That is one of the best performances we
have seen from a PC drive!
4. DVD Error Correction Tests
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 4
DVD Error Correction Tests
In the following tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of the drive with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed . The reference test media comes from ALMEDIO.
- Single Layer media
ABEX TDR-821
This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with a 4.7GB capacity, and its surface has an artificial scratch of dimensions varying from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The following transfer rate picture comes from the CDVD Benchmark v1.21 transfer rate test.
The drive can read DVD media up to 16X. The scratched area did not affect the reading process. The drive showed very good behaviour with this disc, and no errors were produced.
ABEX TDR-825
This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of a 4.7GB
capacity. The data structure of the disc is exactly the same as that of the
TDR-821, with the difference that there are no scratches on it but instead
defective areas of dimensions ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm.
There are also fingerprints sized between 65 and 75 micrometers.
Again, the drive didn't have problems reading this test disc. The drive
drops its reading speed when passing over the defective area but afterwards
increases
reading speed again, back up to 16X.
- Dual Layer media
ABEX TDR-841
This is an 8.5GB dual layer, single sided DVD-ROM disc with artificial scratches
of dimensions ranging from 0.4 to 3.0mm, on both layers.
.
As seen above, the drive again didn't have problems reading this
test disc.
ABEX TDR-845
The disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc of a capacity of 8.5GB. The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 is that the first includes defective areas and fingerprints.
The dimensions of the defective areas range from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.
The ASUS drive slowed its reading speed when reading the defective area in
Layer0
but didn't slow down when reading the corresponding area in Layer 1.
ABEX TDV-541
The TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with a capacity of 8.5GB.The disc is based upon the TDV-540 series which is designed for inspection and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The discs check the layer switch operation from layer 0 to layer 1 and also include test pictures and test signals for DVD sound files.
The current TDV-541 also checks the error correcting capabilities of
the drive and includes scratches from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
As is evident above, the drive stopped reading the disc and reported
un-correctable errors when it started reading the scratched area... Not very
good behaviour from
the drive.
ABEX TDV-545
The TDV-545 disc is based on the TDV-540 series. It is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc with a capacity of 8.5GB.
The TDV-545 includes artificial black dots on the data surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm. It has also 65 - 75 micro meter fingerprints.
No problems here for the drive, a perfect curve with good performance.
5. Protected Disc Tests
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 5
Protected Disc Tests
- Reading Tests
To create the image of the various protected titles to the hard disk, we used Alcohol 120% software and the appropriate settings, according to the protection type of the inserted discs. Below you can see the duration of each process as well as the transfer rate in each case.
Game Title |
Protection Scheme |
Duration |
Reading speed |
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme" |
Lybcrypt |
3:40 min |
410.75 sectors/sec |
Serious Sam The Second Encounter v1.07 |
SafeDisc v.2.60.052 |
48:04 min |
116.03 sectors/sec |
VRally II |
SecuROM v.2 |
2:37 min |
2189.6 sectors/sec |
The ASUS drive only performed well when ripping the Securom2 protected
disc to the HDD. The drive is extremily slow with Safedisc2 and PSX discs.
- Writing Tests
The drive supports the DAO-RAW writing mode. For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 5 different game titles with different SafeDisc 2 versions having the latest software patches installed. After making the images of the various titles onto the hard disk, we burned them (maximum speed) with Alcohol 120% v1.9.2.1705. Two different discs were created for each title; one with the "Bypass EFM error" enabled and one more with the function disabled.
- Fifa 2004 - Safe Disc v3.1x
- The Sims Superstar - Safe Disc v2.9x
- The Sims Unleashed - Safe Disc v2.8x
- Serious Sam Second Encounter - Safe Disc v2.51.021
- Max Payne - Safe Disc v2.51.020
The table below shows the results of the attempted backups and whether they worked (game installed / played normally), or not.
Drive |
Fifa 2004
SD v3.1 |
Sims Superstar SD v2.9 |
Sims Unleashed SD v2.8 |
Serious Sam-Second Encounter
SD v2.51.051 |
Max Payne
SD v2.51.020 |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
EFM OFF |
EFM ON |
Toshiba
SD-M1502 |
No |
Yes |
Creative CD5233E |
ASUS DRW-1604P |
The drive can only backup accurately up to SD v2.51.201. Newer versions
of SafeDisc 2 cannot be accurately backed up, either with the EFM Correction
option
enabled or not.
6. DAE Tests
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder -
Page 6
DAE Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results
The drive supports up to 40X CAV DAE speed. The following results were reported when using Exact Audio Copy.
The ASUS drive gets last place since, to put it simply, all the other drives
were faster. As EAC reports, the drive doesn't report C2 errors, but
caching and
accurate
stream are supported.
- Advanced DAE Quality
All tested drives recorded a perfect quality score of 100. The ASUS drive
can't read Lead-in/out area, but can read CD Text and Subchannel data.
The reported
average speed was 28.09X.
- Ripping 90mins AudioCDs
The drive has problems reading/ripping 90/99min Audio CDs. NeroCDSpeed cannot do a transfer test, EAC can rip the discs but reports many timing problems.
7. Protected AudioCDs
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder -
Page 7
Protected AudioCDs
For the test procedure we used three audio discs with different audio copy protections. The ripping process on all protected Audio discs was carried out with Exact Audio Copy v0.9beta5.
The tested protected Audio discs were:
- Sony's Key2Audio from "Celine Dion - New Day Has Come"
- Cactus Data Shield 200 from "Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies Island"
The Cactus Data Shield 200, contains artificial errors that are not easily bypassed by the reader, while the Key2Audio contains a second session, causing problems for readers when trying to read the Table Of Contents (TOC).
The tested tasks are:
- Recognition of the inserted disc (Yes/No).
- Ripping all wavs (with EAC's Burst Mode) to the hard disk with copy&compare function.
- Listening to the produced wavs for any click/skips.
The ASUS drive recognized up to the 12th Audio track of the CDS200 disc,
and with the "Retrieve Native TOC" option removed, the 13th Data
track was also recognized.
The test results are shown in the following table:
|
Key2Audio |
CDS200 |
ASUS DRW-1604P |
Recognize process ok, tracks are not possible to ripped |
Ripping process completed, EAC reports no problems, Read&Test CRC comparison not the same for all tracks |
The ASUS drive doesn't particularly like protected Audio discs.
Althouhg the drive properly recognized the Key2Audio test disc, it couldn't
rip the disc
contents
to HDD... In addition, the drive
could not accurately rip CD200 discs since the Read&Test CRC
check comparison was not the same for all tracks. We
have to say, not very good performance.
- Cactus Data Shield 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a (Aiko Katsukino - The Love Letter)
This is a "special" CDS200 build, since it doesn't contain any artificial errors during the ripping process. Most problems occur when trying to write the ripped wav files, since the produced CD-R disc contains C2 and CU errors! This "problem" is rumored to be connected with specific chipset weaknesses.
We ripped the disc contents with EAC and burned the wav file produced from the Cactus Data Shield 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a disc with the latest Nero version as AudioCD+CD-Text. The burned media was checked for C1/C2 errors and for BETA/Jitter errors with PlexTools software using Plextor PX-712SA (firmware v1.03).
|
CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a |
ASUS DRW-1604P |
Reading/Writing performed without any errors |
- C1/C2 Error rate from PleXWriter PX-712SA (8X CLV reading speed)
- BETA/Jitter Error rate from PleXWriter PX-712A
The C1/C2 error graph shows that the drive did not manage to produce
a 100% error free disc. A C2 spike after 36mins appears, while the Jitter graph
is
clean.
We then tried to extract all wav files with the Plextor PX-712A and PlexTool DAE Error Correction 5th Level enabled:
No reading errors were reported after extracting all files. The drive accuratly
backed up the disc.
8. CD Recording Tests
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 8
CD Recording Tests
- CD-R Format
The drive supports 4X, 8X, 16X (CLV), 24X and 32X (Zone-CLV) writing speeds.
According to Nero CDSpeed, the drive ended the test after 3.45mins. The
test started at 16X and finished at 32.30X having an average speed of 24.93X.
- CD-R Recording Times
We created an 80min data compilation with Nero Burning Rom and recorded
it on a 700MB disc. The writing performance varies depending on the inserted
media. Below is a chart showing all recording times with
various
media.
The best recording time came with BenQ media with 4:15mins.
Below is another graph that displays the recording times for the same project with all the tested drives. The ASUS drive has the highest recording time, due to its lower maximum recording speed of 32X.
- Other features
The drive supports overburning, writing up to 90mins and can read/write
CD-Text.
- CD-RW Format
The drive supports both HS-RW and US-RW formats. With US-RW media 10X,
16X (CLV), 20X and 24X (Z-CLV) writing speeds are available, as Nero reports
below.
Below you can see the Nero CD-DVD Speed writing simulation test with blank 24X US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
We also used Nero Burning Rom in order to burn a data disc at 24X. The data compilation we burned had a size of 651 MB and the duration of the recording process was 4:04 minutes.
- CD-RW Mount Rainier
The drive doesn't support the Mount Rainier feature.
9. Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 9
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
On this page we present the 3T Pit & Land Jitter graphs when
using various media burned at 32X Z-CLV writing speed.
- 3T Pit results
Generally, the drive performed well only with Verbatim 52X CD-R media.
Below are the average 3T Pit Jitter values for the various media:
- 3T Land results
The average 3T Land results are high, with the best results from Verbatim
and TY media.
10. Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 10
Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements
We measured the C1 / C2 error rate on the recorded discs we burned at the various supported writing speeds. The software we used is PleXTools Professional v2.15, and particularly the built-in Q-Check utility. The reader was the Plextor PX-712SA (firmware v1.03).
BenQ 80min 52X @ 32X
Mam-e 80min 48X @ 32X
Maxell 80min 48X @ 32X
SKC 80min 52X @ 32X
Taiyo Yuden 80min 48X @ 32X
Verbatim 80min 48X @ 32X
Waitec 80min 52X @ 32X
- Summary
The C1/C2 graphs show that the ASUS drive performed well with most of the
tested media. The only media that had high C2 errors was Waitec 52X media.
- Appendix
Media Label |
ID Code |
Manufacturer Name |
Lead Out TIme |
BenQ 52X |
97m22s67f |
Daxon. |
79m59s74f |
Mam-e |
97m27s58f |
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. |
79m59s74f |
Maxell 48X |
97m15s17f |
Ritek Co. |
79m59s70f |
SKC 52X |
97m26s26f |
SKC Co., Ltd. |
79m59s73f |
TY 80min 48X |
97m24s 1f |
Taiyo Yuden |
79m59s72f |
Verbatim 52X |
97m34s23f |
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
79m59s73f |
Waitec 80min 52X |
97m28s26f |
Multi Media Masters & Machinery SA |
79m59s74f |
11. DVD Recording Tests
ASUS
DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 11
DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance
The ASUS DRW-1604P drive is the first ever recorder supporting 16X ± R (Z-CLV)
writing speeds along with 4X CLV for DVD±RW, 4X CLV
for DVD+R9 media. Nero Burning Rom reported speeds are shown below, after
inserting a DVD-R disc.
By using Nero CD-DVD Speed with DVD-R and DVD+R media, we are able to see the 12X/8X Z-CLV recording technology being used by the recorder.
The ASUS DRW-1604P uses Zone-CLV recording strategy, meaning the disc area
is devided into zones, where the speed in each region remains constant. In
order to reach the 16X recording speed, the drive uses 4 zones (6X->8X->12X->16X).
According to Nero CDSpeed, the 16X speed was reached after 4.15~4.20GB, meaning
that unless you are burning a full 4.36GB project you will never reach the
promised 16X
speed.
The four zones manage to drop the average writing speed for 16X down to 10.11X.
Below is a table that lists the maximum average writing speeds for all the tested drives.
Drive |
Writing Strategy |
Writing Speed |
Average
Writing Speed |
Plextor PX-712A |
P-CAV |
12X |
10.62X |
LG GSA-4120B |
Z-CLV |
12X |
9.87X |
BenQ DW1600A |
CAV |
16X |
11.44X |
ASUS DRW-1604P |
Z-CLV |
16X |
10.11X |
The BenQ DW1600A is the fastest recorder since it uses CAV writing strategy,
while Plextor PX-712A comes second with P-CAV writing strategy. As you can
easily understand, the average writing speeds, will have a direct effect
on the writing times...
At the 12X speed, the drive's writing strategy is Zone-CLV again, with three zones (6X->8X->12X). The average writing speed is 10.01X.
To reach the 8X speed, the drive needs only one "jump", with an average writing speed of 7.82X.
According to the inserted media, the drive may allow burning up to 16X, but
as we saw, there is also a big possibility that instead of reaching 16X, it
drops writing speed down to 1.15X, as was the case with Maxell
8X DVD-R media.
The same might happen also at 12X writing speed. Below is the graph for
CMC Magnetics 8X -R @ 12X, where the drive drops its writing speed to 8X after
4.00GB.
- Supported media list/Burning Tests
We burned 4315MB of data on various DVD±R, DVD±RW media. We
used the maximum allowed writing speed for each disc. Till now, ASUS doesn't
offer a supported media list, hopefully by the time, the drive reaches the
market, users will have the chance to see which media can be burned and at
which recording speeds.
With the current firmware (v1.04), there's not a lot of media being supported
at 16X, so we decided to burn only ±R media supported at 8X+ speeds
and not at 4X. All 4X rated media will burn only at 4X, while new ±R
media only at 4X (like RitekG06 and PhilipsC16):
DVD-R
- Pioneer 4X-R PVCR001002 -> 4X
- Maxell 4X-R TYG01 -> 4X
- Maxell 8X-R MXL RG03->4X
- Princo 4X-R PRINCO->4X
- CMC 4X-R CMC MAG. AF1 ->4X
- Promedia 4X-R AML ->4X
- RitekG06 8X-R ->4X
- RitekG04 4X-R ->4X
- Mam 4X-R MAM4XG02 -> 4X
- Mmore 4X-R MBI 01RG20 ->4X
- Optodisc 4X-R OPTODISCR004 ->4X
- BenQ 4X-R SONY04D1 ->4X
- 3X 8X-R POMS3A ->4X
- SKC 4X-R SKC Co.,Ltd. ->4X
DVD+R
- TY 4X+R YUDEN000T01 ->4X
- Optodisc 4X +R OPTODISCOR4->4X
- MMore 4X MBIPG101R03 ->4X
- 3A 4X+R POMSC001002 ->4X
- 3X 8X+R Plasmon1C01 ->4X
- SKC 4X+R BeAll000P40 ->4X
- BenQ 4X+R DAXON AZ1 ->4X
- PHILIPS 16X+R PHILIPS C16->4X
- MCC 4X+R MCC002 ->4X
- CMC 4X+R CMC MAG F01 ->4X
Future firmwares expected to support more media at 12X/16X.
- Writing Time Results
Disc Label |
Disc Information |
Max Allowed Writing Speed |
Total Recording Time (mins) |
CMC Magnetics 8X |
CMC MAG AE1 |
12X |
7:00 |
DataWrite 8X |
FujiFilm 03 |
8X |
8:03 |
Intenso 8X |
FujiFilm 03 |
8X |
8:02 |
Maxell 8X |
MXL RG03 |
16X |
7:14 |
TDK 8X |
TTG02 |
12X |
7:53 |
TraxData 8X |
RITEKG05 |
12X |
7:16 |
Taiyo Yuden 8X |
TYG02 |
12X |
7:12 |
Verbatim 8X |
MCC 02RG20 |
12X |
7:01 |
MKM 4X RW |
MCC 01RW4X |
4X |
14:36 |
TraxData 4X RW |
RITEKW04 |
4X |
14:56 |
We can easily discern the variation in the recording times for the 12X
writing speed. The lowest recording time comes with CMC Magnetics 8X, while
the highest
with TDK 8X! The only media we had here that was supported at 16X comes
from Maxell, however the final burning time its 14secs higher than the best
result
at
the 12X writing speed. There are two explanations for this:
a) Our burning project was not a full sized DVD project (4.36GB), but instead
4.315GB, which influences the 16X Z-CLV recording speed.
b) As we saw earlier, the ASUS drive with Maxell 8X -R media, instead of
reaching 16X dropped to 1.15X.
According to ASUS, only three (3) media are supported at the 16X writing
speed, which unfortunately are not in our tested media list (apart from
Maxell media):
- SONY 8X -R (ID Code: SONY08D1)
- Maxell 8X -R (ID Code: MXL RG03)
- TDK 8X -R (ID Code: TTH01)
Disc Label |
Disc Information |
Max Allowed Writing Speed |
Total Recording Time (mins) |
BenQ 8X |
DAXONAZ2 |
8X |
8:17 |
BeAll |
BeALL000P80 |
8X |
8:24 |
CMC Magnetics 8X |
CMC MAG E01 |
16X |
7:23 |
Intenso 8X |
PRODISCR03 |
8X |
8:24 |
MKM 8X |
MCC003 |
12X |
7:17 |
Maxell 8X |
MAXELL002 |
12X |
7:13 |
Optodisc 8X |
OPTODISCOR8 |
8X |
8:20 |
Philips 8X |
PHILIPSC08 |
8X |
8:16 |
Ricoh 8X |
RICOHJPNR02 |
12X |
7:38 |
TraxData 8X |
RITEKR03 |
12X |
7:39 |
Taiyo Yuden 8X |
YUDEN000T02 |
16X |
7:21 |
Verbatim 8X |
MCC003 |
12X |
7:22 |
Waitec 8X |
CMC MAG E01 |
16X |
8:24 |
Optodisc 4X RW |
OPTODISCOP4 |
4X |
15:14 |
Maxell 4X RW |
PHILIPS041 |
4X |
15:15 |
TraxData 4X RW |
RICOHJPNW11 |
4X |
15:16 |
Again, we can see variations in the recording times due the fact that the
drive will lower/increase its writing speed according to the disc position
and writing speed. The Waitec 8X +R disc, although allowed to burn at
16X, finished the project after 8:24mins - the writing speed was increased
to 16X
and then
lowered to 12X, etc...
Below are two screenshots from Nero, while burning our usual project at various
speeds.
8X DVD-R
12X DVD-R
16X DVD-R
- Comparison with other drives
The BenQ DW1600a is the fastest 16X +R recorder at 358secs, while the Plextor
PX-712A comes second with 369secs. The LG drive comes third with 411secs and
the ASUS last with 441secs. With the DVD-R format, the ASUS drive is the fastest
as
the BenQ DW1600A doesn't support -R writing, and the LG/Plextor drives support
only 8X -R. Its clear that the drive is faster with the DVD-R than with DVD+R
format.
With DVD re-writable media, the ASUS burner was the slowest for DVD+RW and
the fastest for DVD-RW formats.
- DVD Overburning Tests
Using Nero CD-DVD Speed, we tested if the drive can overburn using DVD+R and
DVD-R media. Unfortunately, the drive does not support overburning, giving
the following
error with all inserted media.
- DVD+MRW Tests
The drive doesn't support the Mount Rainier feature.
12. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 1
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 12
KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 1
In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD-R media
we burned with the NEC ND-2510A. The software we used for all measurements
is KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is the LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q
patched" firmware, being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV.
All scans have been performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives
cannot report PO but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition,
all discs have been scanned with PX-712SA v1.03 using PlexTools v2.15 for comparison
levels.
Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences in the reported
PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers,
with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds
(8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). It's interesting to see the disc
scanned at low & high speeds, since when the error rate increases at a
specific disc area, it should appear in both scans...else it would be, perhaps,
a reading
glitch of the tested reader.
Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality but as an indication level.
16X DVD-R Writing Speed
- Summary
With both Kprobe and Plextools, the error rates are increased when the drive
enters the 12X writing speed. At the end, we can see a drop in the error rate
due to the Z-CLV shift zone and a large peak of 240 PI errors at the end, where
supposedoly the drive reaches 16X writing speed.
13. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 2
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 13
KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 2
In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD-R media
we burned with the NEC ND-2510A. The software we used for all measurements
is KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is the LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q patched" firmware,
being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV. All scans have been
performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives cannot report PO
but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition, all discs have been
scanned with PX-712SA v1.03 using PlexTools v2.15 for comparison levels.
Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences in the reported
PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers,
with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds
(8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). It's interesting to see the disc
scanned at low & high speeds, since when the error rate increases at a
specific disc area, it should appear in both scans...else it would be, perhaps,
a reading glitch of the tested reader.
Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error
rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria
of the burning quality but as an indication level.
12X DVD-R Writing Speed
- CMC Magnetics 8X DVD-R @ 12X
Plextools reports a reading error and stops reading at 0.5GB.
- Summary
The recording quality at 12X is not very good according to Kprobe and average
according to Plextools. Certainly the ASUS DRW-1604P needs improvements
in the firmware.
14. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 3
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 14
KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 3
In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD-R media
we burned with the NEC ND-2510A. The software we used for all measurements
is KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is the LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q patched" firmware,
being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV. All scans have been
performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives cannot report PO
but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition, all discs have been
scanned with PX-712SA v1.03 using PlexTools v2.15 for comparison levels.
Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences in the reported
PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers,
with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds
(8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). It's interesting to see the disc
scanned at low & high speeds, since when the error rate increases at a
specific disc area, it should appear in both scans...else it would be, perhaps,
a reading glitch of the tested reader.
Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality but as an indication level.
8X DVD-R Writing Speed
- Summary
Again, the recording quality at 8X is not very good according to Kprobe and
average according to Plextools. Hopefully newer firmware upgrades will
improve writing
quality.
15. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 4
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 15
KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 4
In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD-R media
we burned with the NEC ND-2510A. The software we used for all measurements
is KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is the LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q patched" firmware,
being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV. All scans have been
performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives cannot report PO
but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition, all discs have been
scanned with PX-712SA v1.03 using PlexTools v2.15 for comparison levels.
Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences in the reported
PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers,
with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds
(8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). It's interesting to see the disc
scanned at low & high speeds, since when the error rate increases at a
specific disc area, it should appear in both scans...else it would be, perhaps,
a reading glitch of the tested reader.
Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality but as an indication level.
16X DVD+R Writing Speed
- CMC Magnetics 8X DVD+R @ 16X
- Summary
The writing quality at 16X with the three 8X +R media was very good.
Hopefully, new firmware will add support for more media at 16X.
16. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 5
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 16
KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 5
In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD-R media
we burned with the NEC ND-2510A. The software we used for all measurements
is KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is the LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q patched" firmware,
being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV. All scans have been
performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives cannot report PO
but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition, all discs have been
scanned with PX-712SA v1.03 using PlexTools v2.15 for comparison levels.
Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences in the reported
PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers,
with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds
(8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). It's interesting to see the disc
scanned at low & high speeds, since when the error rate increases at a
specific disc area, it should appear in both scans...else it would be, perhaps,
a reading glitch of the tested reader.
Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality but as an indication level.
12X DVD+R Writing Speed
Plextor PX-712A cannot mount disc!!!
Plextools reports reading error!
- Summary
The recording quality at 12X +R speed, was very good only with Maxell 8X
+R media. With Verbatim 8X +R media, the produced disc had problems at
the end.
17. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 6
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 17
KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 6
In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD-R media
we burned with the NEC ND-2510A. The software we used for all measurements
is KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is the LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q patched" firmware,
being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV. All scans have been
performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives cannot report PO
but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition, all discs have been
scanned with PX-712SA v1.03 using PlexTools v2.15 for comparison levels.
Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences in the reported
PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers,
with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds
(8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). It's interesting to see the disc
scanned at low & high speeds, since when the error rate increases at a
specific disc area, it should appear in both scans...else it would be, perhaps,
a reading glitch of the tested reader.
Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality but as an indication level.
8X DVD+R Writing Speed
Plextools report reading error
- Summary
The Philips 8X +R media burned very well, while the other media showed
high PI error rates...
18. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 7
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 18
KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 7
In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD-R media
we burned with the NEC ND-2510A. The software we used for all measurements
is KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is the LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q patched" firmware,
being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV. All scans have been
performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives cannot report PO
but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition, all discs have been
scanned with PX-712SA v1.03 using PlexTools v2.15 for comparison levels.
Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences in the reported
PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers,
with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds
(8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). It's interesting to see the disc
scanned at low & high speeds, since when the error rate increases at a
specific disc area, it should appear in both scans...else it would be, perhaps,
a reading glitch of the tested reader.
Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error
rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria
of the burning quality but as an indication level.
4X DVD-RW Writing Speed
Plextools reports reading error!
4X DVD+RW Writing Speed
- Summary
The recording quality with DVD Re-writable media was good with several media
but needs improvement with others. The drive did not produce good quality
with MCC 4X DVD-RW and Maxell 4X DVD+RW discs.
19. DVD+R DL - Page 1
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 19
DVD+R DL - Page 1
- Introduction
The ASUS DRW-1604P is the first ever recorder supporting 4X DL (CLV) writing
speed. Since no 4X DL media exists, the ASUS drive writes existing
2.4X Verbatim DL media at 4X. Below we can see the two supported recording
speeds (2.4X and 4X CLV), as DVDInfoPro reports:
The source disc was "Gladiator Movie - Special Edition" Disc1 with
a total size of 6.86GB. First we transferred the movie to the hard disc with
DVD Decrypter in ISO format (single file).
We chose the "GLADIATOR.ISO" image and selected the ASUS burner
to start burning.
When we pressed the "OK" button, the burning procedure started after
26secs:
The writing process finished after 23:10 minutes.
The average speed was 3.79X as reported by CopyToDVD software. The recorded
disc had DVD-ROM booktype, important for the highest compatibility
with DVD players.
We then then tried to burn a Double Layer media provided by Traxdata. The
disc was recognized without any problems from the drive, and burning
started after 29secs.
The project finished after 38:08mins:
For comparison, we post all DL burning results from other writers,
with the same disc content and same recording software:
Drive |
Time (mins) |
NEC 2510A |
37:17 |
BenQ DW1600A DL |
40:16 |
BenQ DW830A |
39:14 |
LiteON SOHW-832S DVD+R DL BookType |
38:33 |
LiteON SOHW-832S DVD-ROM BookType |
38:36 |
SONY DRU-700A |
|
LG GSA-4120B |
38:12 |
ASUS DRW-1604P (4X) |
23:10 |
ASUS DRW-1604P (2.4X) |
38:08 |
As was expected, the ASUS DRW-1604P was the fastest DL recorder due to the
4X CLV writing speed.
20. DVD+R DL - Page 2
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 20
DVD+R DL - Page 2
- Writing Quality
* Verbatim 2.4X DVD+R Double Layer Media
Using KProbe v2.2.2 at 6X, we got a rather good scan, indicating, again, good quality performance from the drive with the recorded DL media.
Using the Plextor PX-712A and PlexTools, we were able to scan the DVD+R DL
media. The disc is recognized as DVD-ROM and as we can see that the quality
is very good:
* TraxData 2.4X DVD+R9 Double Layer Media
The recording quality seems good, although the PI error rates are higher than
with Verbatim DL media.
The Plextor PX-712A drive reported much higher error rates, especially in
Layer 1.
- Compatibility
Fortunately, the ASUS DRW-1604P will burn directly all DVD+R9 projects with
DVD-ROM booktype, ensuring you will get maximum compatibility.
21. BookType Setting
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 21
BookType Setting
The ASUS DRW-1604P doesn't support BookType Setting for DVD+R/+RW formats.
With DVD+R DL discs, the Booktype is automatically set to DVD-ROM.
22. Conclusion
ASUS DRW-1604P DL Recorder - Page 22
Conclusion
The ASUS DRW-1604P is the first 16X ±R recorder that also supports
4X DL writing speed, with existing Verbatim 2.4X DL media. The writing time
was reduced from 39 down to 23mins, so users now require less time to burn
DL discs. The writing quality of the burned disc was very good and DVD-ROM
booktype
promises
maximum compatibility with DVD players!
The used writing method for DVD (Z-CLV) doesn't help, where we logged
the slowest recording times ever measured in our labs since unless you burn
a full
disc
(4.36GB), you never really reach 16X. DVD recorders
already on teh market supporting P-CAV and CAV writing methods are faster than
the DRW-1604P...
Quite interesting is that the drive is faster at 12X than at 16X as a result
of the Z-CLV recording strategy. The writing quality in general for the +R
format
is better than for the -R format. Of course, it needs improvement as the KProbe/Plextools
tests showed.
The supported media at the 12X/16X writing speeds is restricted, as was expected,
and don't expect 4X rated media to burn at 8X unless ASUS supports them
with newer firmware upgrades.
The CD writing quality was good, but with high 3T Jitter values. Due to
32X Z-CLV recording method, the cannot reach the competition, but this
isn't really a big minus.The drive's ability to read scratched CD/DVD discs
is
very good.
Lastly, with protected material (Games/Audio discs), you will face problems,
since the DRW-1604P can neither read/rip fast, nor back them up accurately.
The price of the drive is expected to be around $149 and availability is expected
in the middle of August.
- The Good
- Supports 4X DL writing speed
- Supports DVD-ROM booktype for DVD+R9 format
- Very good CD error correction
- Good CD writing quality
- Good DVD Error correction
- Supports reading of DVD-RAM media
- Can overburn up to 90mins
- Supports CD-Text (reading/writing)
- The Bad
- Low CD recording speeds (32X)
- High 3T Jitter values
- CSS DVD-Video ripping could be higher
- Cannot recognize Key2Audio protected discs
- Can backup accuratly v2.51.021+ SD2 protected titles
- Very slow reader for reading SD2 protected titles
- Doesn't support Mount Rainier for CD/DVD formats
- Doesn't support overburning for DVD±R formats
- Doesn't support DVD-ROM booktype for DVD+R/+RW formats
- Doesn't report C2 errors
- Cannot be used to measure CD/DVD media for C1/C2/PIPO errors
- Like To be fixed
- High PI/PIF errors with specific DVD media
- Writing stability at 16X/12X
- Restricted support media list for 12X/16X (can be fixed with firmware upgrade)
- Ripping problems with CDS200 protected Audio discs
- Reading problems of ABEX TDV-541
- Recognize/ripping problems with 90/99min Audio discs