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Appeared on: Tuesday, February 8, 2005 LiteOn SOHW-1653S
Introduction - Retail Package
LiteON recently released their latest 16X recorder, following on the footsteps of other manufacturers. The new LiteON SOHW-1653S supports up to 16X DVD+R recording speed, being capable of burning a full Single Layer disc in almost 5:50mins.
The drive also supports writing speeds of 12X for DVD-R, 4X for DVD+RW and DVD-RW, and 4X recording speed for Double Layer media. When it comes to CD writing speeds, the drive can write CDs at 48X and can rewrite at 24X.
- Features
- Specifications
VAS : Vibration Absorber System
Below are the drive's main specs as given by NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro:
The drive also uses the RPC II region control, allowing a user to change the drive's region at most 5 times. However, since this is a LiteOn drive, you can set the drive to region free using several readily available utilities such as Kprobe.
- European Retail Package
The retail package includes the LiteON SOHW-1653S, a quick installation guide, audio cable, mounting screws, DVD+R and DVD-R media. Also included are CDs with application software, DVD authoring, writing and editing software, DVD playback software, BackUp software and User Manual. Nero 6 is also included for all your writing/authoring needs along with PowerDVD 5 for playing your favourite DVDs.
The front panel is the same as on previous LiteON models, with the activity led lighting up green when the device is active. Also on the front, the user will discern the DVD+R Double Layer logo.
The rear panel has the usual analogue and digital outputs, IDE connector and power input connector.
Opening the device's case voids your warranty, so we advise against it. Instead, use the photos in this review for a closer look under the hood. Clicking on the image below will reveal a high resolution image:
- Installation
The drive was installed as secondary master and under Windows XP SP2, recognized as "LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1653S ". For this review, the drive was flashed with firmware version CS07. Below is a screenshot from Nero Burning Rom, showing supported options such as overburn and buffer under-run protection.
During this review, we will be comparing the LITE-ON SOHW-1653S burner with the NEC ND-3500A, The BenQ DW 1620A and the Pioneer DVR-108 burners.
Transfer Rate Reading Tests
- CD Format
The LiteON SOHW-1653S supports up to 48X reading speed for CD-R media and 24X for CD-RW media. Below are the transfer rate graphs, where we compare its performance against the other three drives:
As we can see from our tests, with CDR/CD media the drive has the fastest reading speeds in the comparison. Using CDRW media, the 1653S was, even if only marginally, the slowest reader.
With Single Layer media, the LiteON SOHW-1653S was the fastest drive in the comparison but speed differences between all four drives are very marginal. With Dual Layere DVD media, the Pioneer DVR-108 was way out in front.
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 toward the inner part of the disc. The resulting graph is steady signifying good reading performance while the average reading speed for the Lite-On drive was 6.11x.
With DVD±R media, the 1653S was the slowest, reaching a maximum reading speed of ~6.2X. With ReWritable media, the difference in reading speeds between the drives is negligible. The Lite-On drive as was the case with the BenQ drive, maintained the same, steady speed of just over 6X, regardless of the media format.
Average performance for all drives...
- Appendix
Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs
CD Error Correction Tests
In the following tests, we check the drive's behavior when it comes to reading scratched / defective discs. The test discs we use are the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.
- ABEX TCD-721R
The total error count was low even though the maximum error loudness level was high at -19.7dB. Despite also having low loudness error and muted samples error counts, the drive managed to notch up skipped samples meaming it couldn't correct all errors. In general, the drive's performance was not that encouraging with this test disc.
- ABEX TCD-726
The behavior of drive was much better in this case where it managed to correct all the disc's errors. The result was a perfect 100.
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 ability to read music and reproduce it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a sequence of progressively difficult tests. These tracks are referred as Check Level -1 through Check Level -5.
The tracks are reproduced (played) through a software multimedia player (i.e. Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone coming out from the speakers is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or looping. The higher the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction of the tested device.
The drive passed the first three Check Levels of the test. The performance reveals average sound reproduction and error correction. The fourth and the fifth levels include an error size of 1.125mm and 1.500mm respectively, and the drive produced continuous audible clicks over those tracks.
DVD Error Correction Tests
In the following tests, we examine the DVD reading capabilities of the LiteOn SOHW-1653S drive with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The reference test media comes from ALMEDIO.
This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with 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 LiteON SOHW-1653S managed to read this test disc without errors despite reducing speed towards the end of the disc, where strangely enough, there are no defects. Nevertheless, good performance.
This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of 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.
Similar behavior as with the 821 test disc. The disc was read without errors, but the 1653S reduced speed again towards the end. There is also a speed drop just before the area with fingerprints but no errors.
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.
Excellent performance with this test disc. The smooth graph is indicative of the high error correction capabilities of the drive with scratched media.
This test disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc with a capacity of 8.5GB. The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 discs is that the first includes defective areas and fingerprints. The dimensions of the defective areas ranges from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micrometers.
One more time the transfer rate graph was very good. No errors reported but notice again the drop in speed just before the fingerprints.
The TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with a capacity of 8.5GB. The disc is based on the TDV-540 series which is designed for inspection and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The disc checks the layer switch operation from layer 0 to layer 1 and also includes 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.
In most cases, this disc is a "headache" for DVD burners, but with the LiteON SOHW-1653S there were no problems reported.
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 also has 65 - 75 micrometer fingerprints.
All the graphs above indicate that the drive has high DVD error correction capabilities.
Protected Disc Tests
To create an image of the various protected titles to the hard disk, we used Alcohol 120% software with the appropriate settings depending on 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.
The drive was the fastest among the drives in this comparison with SecuROM and SafeDisc protected discs. With PSX protection, despite the fact that the ripping speed was actually faster than with the SafeDisc disc, it appears slow due to the BenQ drive's outstanding performance with this disc. Overall though, quite good ripping speeds.
The LiteON SOHW-1653S supports the DAO-RAW writing mode. For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 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.
The table below shows the results of the attempted backups and whether they worked (game installed / played normally), or not.
Fifa 2004 SD v3.1x
LiteON SOHW-1653S
DAE Tests
The LiteON SOHW-1653S supports up to 48X CAV DAE speed. When using pressed AudioCD and its CD-R copy with EAC, we logged the following results:
Great performance from the LiteON drive in this test. Fast ripping with no problems at all and in fact a good deal faster than the other drives in the comparison.
The LiteON SOHW-1653S supports reading of SubChannel data Leadin / Leadout data and CD Text and was, again, the fastest of all the drives in this comparison. The SOHW-1653S received a score of 100 (perfect) in the Nero CD Speed Advanced DAE test.
- Reading 90/ 99mins AudioCDs
Unfortunately, the drive could not read the entire 90mins disc, reporting the above error after 81 minutes.
99mins discs were no problem for the LiteON SOHW-1653S, but reading speed was reduced around the 85th minute.
Protected AudioCDs
For this test procedure, we used three audio discs with different audio copy protection schemes. The ripping process for all protected audio discs was carried out with Exact Audio Copy v0.9beta5.
The tested protected audio discs were:
The Cactus Data Shield 200 CD contains artificial errors that are not easy to bypass with a reader, while the Key2Audio CD contains a second session, causing problems for readers when they attempt to read the Table Of Contents (TOC).
The tested tasks are:
The LiteON SOHW-1653S recognized up to the 12th Audio track of CDS200 disc,
and with the "Retrieve Native TOC" option removed, it then recognized the 13th track.
The test results are shown in the following table:
The LiteOn SOHW-1653S could not recognize and playback (let alone rip) the Key2Audio protected disc. CDS200 protection was not a problem though.
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 associated with specific chipset weaknesses.
We ripped the disc contents with EAC and burned the produced wav with the latest Nero version as AudioCD+CD-Text. The burned media was checked for C1/C2 errors with PlexTools using the Plextor PX-712A (firmware v1.05).
The C1/C2 error graphs show that the drive managed to produce a 100% error free disc. We then tried to extract all the wav files with the Plextor PX-712A and PlexTools DAE with Error Correction 5th Level enabled:
No errors were reported after extracting all files.
CD Recording Tests
The LiteOn SOHW-1653S supports 48X CD-R and 24X US-RW recording speeds.
According to Nero CDSpeed, the drive confirmed the maximum 48X speed. The test started at 21.64X and finished at 49.04X, having an average speed of 37.10X. Click on the image below for an enlarged view.
For the burning tests, we created an 80min data compilation through Nero Burning Rom, recording the data on several 700MB discs.
The writing performance varies according to the inserted media, as our tests showed. Below is a chart demonstrating all recording times with various manufacturers media.
- Other features
The LiteON SOHW-1653S supports 24X Z-CLV rewriting speed with Ultra Speed Rewritable Media (US-RW). Below you can see the Nero CD-DVD Speed writing simulation test with blank 24X US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
The drive starts the writing task at 16X and reaches a maximum of 24X at the 13:00 min address mark on the disc. The test started at 16.00X and finished at 24.02X, having an average speed of 22.49X.
3T Jitter Tests
On this page you can see the 3T Pit & Land Jitter graphs using various media burned at 48X CAV writing speed.
- 3T Pit results
The highest 3T Pit jitter level reached was 46nsec (TY), which is above the Red Book limit (35nsec). Best results were achieved with BenQ media which also overshot the 35nsec limit though.
- 3T Land results
Again, the performance is not all that good with all media brands having levels in excess of the limit. Even the averages are over 35nsecs.
On the following page, we check the C1 and C2 error rates of the same discs, to come up with more specific conclusions.
C1 / C2 Error Measurements
We measured the C1 / C2 error rate on the recorded discs we burned at the maximum supported writing speed of 48X. The software we used is PleXTools Professional v2.16, and more specifically the built-in Q-Check utility. The reader was the Plextor PX-712A (firmware v1.05).
BenQ 80min 52X @ 48X
Taiyo Yuden 80min 48X @ 48X
Verbatim 80min 52X @ 48X
CD writing quality performance was very good with the LiteON SOHW-1653S at 48X writing speed. Very few C1C2 errors were reported.
DVD Recording Tests
The maximum supported speed is 16X for DVD+R media while with DVD-R it is 12X, and for rewritable media 4X.
Nero Burning Rom reported speeds are shown below.
By using Nero CD-DVD Speed, we are able to see the 8X, 12X and 16X recording strategies being used by the recorder for +R media, and 8X recording technology for -R media.
- Burning Tests
- DVD Overburning Test
Unfortunately, the drive does not support DVD overburning with either -R or +R media formats, giving the above error messages.
- DVD+MRW Tests
The drive does not support the Mount Rainier feature.
Media Support list
You can see a comprehensive list of media supported by this recorder in the following tables (the tables apply to firmware versions CS07 and CS09). It should be noted that Traxdata and Philips +R 16X certified media can only be recorded at 8X.
CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 1
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we used two readers with two software applications:
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve, very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times however, even though a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth containing dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities of the LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer area of the disc.
The measurements below should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality, but as an indication level.
12X DVD-R Writing Speed
- Summary
According to Plextools, both the media burned exhibited high PIE/POE levels but no POF errors appear during reading . According to CDSpeed, both media could not be read successfully, giving an error during the reading process. Judging from the PI/PIF scans, we can say that the SOHW-1653S needs some work at these recording speeds.
CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 2
8X DVD-R Writing Speed
According to Plextools, almost all media burned exhibited low PIE/POE rates, below the 280 limit. According to CDSpeed, all could be read successfully, without errors during the reading process. Judging from the PI/PIF scans we can conclude that the SOHW-1653S is very good, with the exception of CMC Magnetics media.
CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 3
16X DVD+R Writing Speed
According to Plextools, all media burned exhibited high PIE/POE rates but no POF errors appear during reading. According to CDSpeed, two out of the three media tested could not be read successfully (TDK & Verbatim), giving an error during the reading process. Judging from the PI/PIF scans we can conclude that the SOHW-1653S needs improvement at this recording speed.
CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 4
8X DVD+R Writing Speed .
According to Plextools, almost all media burned exhibited low PIE/POE rates, below the 280 limit. According to CDSpeed, all could be read successfully, without errors during the reading process. Judging from the PI/PIF scans we can say that the SOHW-1653S was very good with the exception of Verbatim media.
CDSpeed/PlexTools Scans - Page 5
DVD+RW and DVD-RW Media
Worst results were with MKM -RW media, that reported PI/PIF levels higher than the 280 limit and the media was not readable. Other than this, other PIE/POE error rates were below the 280 limit.
DVD+R DL - Page 1
- Writing Tests
The LiteOn SOHW-1653S supports up to 4X recording speed for the DVD+R DL format. In the following table is the list of media supported with firmware version CS07:
We burned four different DVD+R DL discs with DVD-Video content. 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 as ISO format (single file). Afterwards, we used CopyToDVD v3.0.35.
First, we tried with Verbatim Double Layer media (Media Code MKM-001-00). CopyToDVD reported 22:46mins total burning time with 3.87X average writing speed.
Then we repeated the same task, this time with media from Traxdata (Media Code RITEK-D01-01). CopyToDVD reported 37:30mins total burning time with 2.35X average writing speed.
For comparison, we post some burning results from other DL writers, which all burned the same content ("Gladiator Movie - Special Edition" disc1), using the CopyToDVD software:
23:10
DVD+R DL - Page 2
- Writing Quality
Verbatim 2.4X DVD+R DL @ 4X
Traxdata 2.4X DVD+R DL @ 2.4X
The writing quality with Verbatim DL media was very good and with Traxdata media, the PIE error rate becomes quite high around and after the layer change. However, no errors were observed. We hope to see LiteON further improve DL writing quality in future firmware releases.
SOHW-1653S vs. SA300 - Page 1
For checking exactly what the SOHW-1653S reports, we used three different media, burned with other recorders. The three media have been measured with the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
The drive is capable of reporting PI/PIF errors, so we will compare those measurements for various reading speeds:
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested LiteON SOHW-1653S drive. Using other drives, even another SOHW-1653S, can produce totally different results. Be aware!
#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The PI/PIF error rate trend line is similar to that of the SA300. However, error values are different.
#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed
Again, the PIF error rate trend line is similar to that of the SA300, but PI error values are different. On the other hand, PIF error values seem to be more or less similar.
#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading speed
Again, at 4X speed, although the SOHW-1653S tends to follow the error rate trend line produced by the SA300 system, it can only give us a first impression of what the SA300 curve will look like. Error values are higher than the values reported by the SA300 system.
SOHW-1653S vs. SA300 - Page 2
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The error values we observed with the SOHW-1653S were totally different from the error values obtained by the SA300 system. However, all graphs indicate increased error values at the end of the disc.
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed
Much lower error levels were reported by the LiteON SOHW-1653S. The LiteON drive cannot produce error trend lines similar to those of the SA300 system, not even at 6X speed.
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading speed
The LiteON SOHW-1653S continues to report lower error values than the SA300 system reports, this time at 4X speed.
SOHW-1653S vs. SA300 - Page 3
#3nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
#3nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed
#3nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading speed
In all the above graphs, you can see that the LiteON SOHW-1653S drive reports totally different results than those of the SA300S. The drive produces misleading results regarding the written media quality.
SOHW-1653S vs. SA300 - Page 4
For checking exactly what the SOHW-1653S reports, we used three different media, burned with other recorders. The three media have been measured using the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
The drive is capable of reporting PI/PIF errors, so we will compare those measurements at various reading speeds:
#4th Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
Not even with this disc could the LiteON SOHW-1653S provide similar results to the SA300 system. In all the graphs above, the SOHW-1653S drive reports higher error level values than those reported by the SA300 system.
BookType Setting
The LiteON SOHW-1653S supports the BookType Setting for DVD-R/+RW formats, as expected, since all LiteON DVD burners support this feature. Users should change to the preferred booktype setting prior to burning +R, +RW or +R9 media.
We used KProbe to easily change the default booktype setting for several +R, +RW and +R9 media. Default booktype setting was set to normal DVD+R (for DVD+R media):
...and we easily changed it to DVD-ROM booktype:
Conclusion
The LiteON SOHW-1653S is a fast CD/DVD reader, reporting high reading speeds. Video ripping was also fast and with no problems or delays. Great DVD error correction capabilities were observed but only average CD error correction. Nero CD/DVD Speed reported very good Audio Extraction speed, giving the drive a perfect score of 100. Regarding protected Audio CDs, the burner faced problems reading Key2Audio protected discs. Moreover, protected games were not a strong point of this LiteON drive, since it managed to make working backups of SafeDisk protected games up to v.2.8.
The drive offers 48X CD writing speed, the highest current speed offered by recorders on the market currently. On the other hand, writing quality at 48X is not as good as expected and users might consider writing discs at lower speeds to achieve improved quality.
16X CAV writing speed for DVD+R media makes the drive one of the fastest available. It only took 5:48mins to burn a full Single Layer disc. Quality at such a high speed is a real headache for burners and the LiteON is no exception, needing further improvements here. We hope to see future firmware releases resolve problems that occurred with certain media written at different speeds. The 12X writing speed with DVD-R media is more or less usual for all DVD recorders hitting the market lately, but there are several others that offer a higher writing speed (16X) with this media.
A big advantage of this drive is the Booktype setting support. With Double Layer media, we observed medium writing performance. The SOHW-1653S offers 4X writing speed with DL media. Writing quality should be further improved in future firmware releases.
- The Good
- The Bad
- Like to be fixed