1. Specifications, features
The DX-401S is LiteOn's new External BD-ROM drive. This stylish-looking drive supports reading of all the CD/DVD/BD media currently available. Its specifications are good, with BD media being read at 4X, DVD±R at 12X, DVD±R DL at 8X, DVD-RAM at 5X and CD media at 32X.
The DX-401S is in fact based on the DH-401S LiteOn drive, bundled with a stylish case that supports external USB 2.0 connectivity, so that you can connect it to any PC, anywhere.
In the following pages we will examine the performance of LiteOn's new offering for Blu-ray discs, in terms of reading speed and reliability.
For comparison, we have also included the results of two other BD-ROM drives currently available on the market. The LiteOn DH-401S (internal) and the Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202.
But first, let's have a closer look at the drive's features.
- Specifications in detail:
| BD Family |
Read |
| BD-ROM |
4X |
| BD-RE |
4X |
| BD-R DL |
4X |
| BD-RE DL |
4X |
| Access time |
160ms |
| DVD Family |
Read |
| DVD+R/-R |
12x |
| DVD+R/-R DL |
8x |
| DVD+RW/-RW |
8x |
| Access time |
160ms |
| |
| CD Family |
| Read |
32X |
| Access time |
160ms |
| PC Required |
Pentium 4 2.0GHz or faster CPU and 512MB or higher RAM are required.
> 30GB HDD available capacity. |
For High Definition BD Playback & Authoring: (Only Windows XP SP2)
Pentium D 3.4GHz or faster CUP and 1GB or higher RAM are required.
GPU : nVidia Ge Force 7600GT / 7800GTX512 / 7900GX2 / 7900GTX / 7950GX2 and ATI X1600 / X1800 / X1900 series are recommended.
>60GB HDD available capacity. |
HDCP capable graphics card with 256MB RAM, PCI Express x16, 1920x1200 resolution, 32bit color.
HDCP capable Monitor or TV for High Definition digital output. |
| Compatibility |
Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4 / XP SP2 / Vista |
| General |
Environment |
| Operating |
5°C to 50°C; Relative Humidity: 8% to 80% |
| Non-Operating |
-20°C to 60°C; Relative Humidity: 5% to 95% |
| Dimension |
145.8(W) x 41.4(H) x 180(D) mm |
| Weight |
< 0.8Kg |
| Voltage Requirements |
| +5V +/-5% ripple: 100mVpp |
| +12V +/-10% ripple: 200mVPP |
-Retail Box
The retail box offers the following items:
- LiteOn DX-401S External BD-ROM drive
- Cyberlink PowerDVD BD Playback Disc
- Quick Installation Guide
- USB Cable
- Power Supply
- Vertical Stand
-System Minimum Requirements
- CPU: Pentium 4 2.0GHz or higher
- OS Requirement: Microsoft® Windows® 2000 SP4/XP SP2/Vista
- Memory: 512MB RAM or higher
- Hard Drive: 10GB or higher available capacity
- Interface: USB2.0 Port required for BD Playback. (Compatible with USB 1.1: Performance will be limited under USB1.1 specifications).
The drive's case is neat and stylish, as you can see in the pictures below. Sized slightly bigger than an internal ODD and with a weight of less than 800gr. , the drive can be installed on your desk in either vertical or horizontal position.
The rear panel includes the USB 2.0 port, a DC input as well as a useful power switch.
Underneath the drive there are four rubber pads that helps keep the drive in place when it’s sitting down flat, and also helps to reduce any vibrations.
Installation
The drive was connected to the PC as a typical USB device and was recognized as "ATAPI BD O DH4O1S"
It's general specifications and features are available below:
DVD Info Pro
Nero InfoTool
2. Reading tests - CD
For our CD transfer rate tests, we used the Nero Disc Speed utility and a set of data and audio CD-R/RW/ROM. The drive can read CD media at a maximum speed of 32X, and has a typical access time of 160msec.
For each CDSpeed graph, you can click on the image to see the complete screenshot of the software, including the measuring results.
- CD-ROM
Below is a table comparing the reading speed of this drive, the Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 and the LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM.
Drive |
Average Speed |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
24.67X |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
24.66X |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
25.46X |
- US RW
The following Disc Speed graph shows the reading performance with 32x US-RW media. For all the graphs, you can click on the image to see the full CDspeed snapshot.
Drive |
Average Speed |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
24.45X |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
24.46X |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
19.01X |
- AudioCD
Digital Audio Extraction or DAE is important when we try to read the files stored on an audio CD and store them in our hard disk drive. The procedure is not always that simple and the fidelity of the extracted data depend on the way each drive handles these data.
The majority of the software that support this procedure, commonly known as "ripping", will just read the audio files and store them on your hard disk. However, this approach is not recommended for all drives, since it may result to read or sync errors if your drive does not support report of C2 error pointer information and also what the author of the EAC (Exact Audio Copy) software describes as "accurate stream" and " non-caching."
According to EAC, the LiteOn DX-401S drive supports all of the "caching ", "Accurate stream" and "C2 error info" parameters. Accurate stream and C2 error reporting is always welcome and contribute to reliable and fast audio extraction. However, the "caching" feature makes audio extraction more complicated.
The Exact Audio Copy software - possibly the best audio extractor available - provides different reading modes for each drive, which should be selected accordingly based on the three parameters mentioned above. In our case, a secure extraction mode should be selected in order to "defeat" caching, resulting to a slower overall extraction compared to other extraction modes.
In order to have the optimum ripping quality, we have selected the secure mode for ripping a 74min audio CD to our hard disk. The drive read the audio tracks in 5.1X, which is a fourth of the drive's maximum speed.
If you are sure about the physical condition of your audio CD and you need faster extractions, you may chose other utilities such as the CD DAE software. The same ripping task finished at an average reading speed of 23X, using CD DAE:
Drive |
Average Speed |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
23X |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
23X |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
23.5X |
Another test useful for the comparison of CD-ROM drives is CDSpeed's Advanced DAE quality test.
LiteOn DX-401S 's average speed was 22,94X with a quality score of 100.
Reading of Lead in and subchannel data of audio files as well as CD text support are also included in the drive's capabilities.
Drive |
Average Speed |
Quality Score |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
22.49X |
100.0 |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
22.94X |
100.0 |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
23.63X |
100.0 |
- 90 mins Audio disc
- 99 mins Audio disc
The 90min audio CD was read successfully, while the 99min one produced an error at the reading process.
3. Error correction tests - CD
This series of tests checks the drive's ability to correct/conceal possible erroneous data after reading artificially scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.
Specifically, a software compares two audio files using FFT analysis. The first audio file has been extracted by a normal audio disc. The second one is the result of the extraction of the another disc which hold the same audio track, but it also has specific defects on its surface. The similarity factor of the the two tracks unveils the error correction capabilities of the drive.
The differences between the two compared tracks are translated to a signal (noise) illustrated in the following graphs.
- ABEX TCD-721R
Errors total |
Num : 1082189 |
Errors (Loudness) |
Num : 53071 |
Avg : -73,6 dB(A) |
Max : -34,9dB(A) |
Error Muting |
Num : 3466 |
Avg : 1.0 Samples |
Max : 9 Samples |
Skips |
Num : 0 |
Avg : 0,0 Samples |
Max : 0 Samples
|
Total Test Result
LiteOn DX 401S |
76,6 points ( of 100.0 maximum )
C2 accuracy : 99,7% |
LiteON DH-401S |
47.5 points |
Pioneer BDC 202 |
75.3 points |
In the graph above, one can note that the drive's performance was average. As soon as we move to the defected data area many errors were reported. In addition, error hiding mechanisms of the drive failed to keep the errors under the -60 db barrier, which is considered as the limit that when exceeded, problems in audio playback may be reported.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total |
Num : 0 |
Errors (Loudness) |
Num : 0 |
Avg : -174,0dB(A) |
Max : -174,0dB(A) |
Error Muting |
Num : 0 |
Avg : 0,0 Samples |
Max : 0 Samples |
Skips |
Num : 0 |
Avg : 0,0 Samples |
Max : 0 Samples
|
Total Test Result
LiteOn DX 401S |
100,0 points (of 100.0 maximum) |
| LiteON DH-401S |
47.5 points |
|
83.9 points
|
The second test disc was easier to overcome. The drive responded flawlessly and successfully corrected all read errors.
- CD-Check Audio Test Disc
The CD-Check Test Disc is another 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 reproduced through a software multimedia player (e.g. 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 |
| LiteOn DX 401S |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
0/5 |
| LiteON DH-401S |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
0/5 |
Pioneer BDC 202 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
0/5 |
0/5 |
A good performance for the DX 401S drive here, successfully playing the first 4 tracks.
4. Reading tests - DVD
Now let's have a look at how the drive performs with DVD media. This time, a set of SL and DL DVD media was used. The drive is capable of reading at 12X maximum speed for single layer DVD ROM and at 8X for dual layer DVD ROM media.
DVD-ROM SL media -
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
9.12X |
221 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
9.10X |
197 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
9.42X |
331 ms |
PTP DVD-ROM -
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 its outer range.
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
6.13X |
217 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
6.15X |
217 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
6.27X |
343 ms |
A small drop in the reading speed of the second layer of the disc was reported at around the 7.75GB mark.
OTP DVD-ROM -
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 and progresses towards the inner part of the disc.
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
6.13X |
209 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
6.14X |
212 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
6.26X |
344 ms |
- DVD-R
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
8.93X |
219 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
8.94X |
218 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
9.34X |
347 ms |
- DVD-RW
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
6.15X |
216 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
6.16X |
235 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
6.29X |
437 ms |
- DVD+R
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
8.93X |
228 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
8.94X |
222 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
9.44X |
354 ms |
- DVD+RW
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
6.18X |
233 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
6.19X |
231 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
6.30X |
360 ms |
- DVD-R DL
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
6.17X |
244 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
6.18X |
232 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
6.30X |
366 ms |
- DVD+R DL
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
6.17X |
251 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
6.18X |
228 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
6.30X |
365 ms |
- DVD Ripping speed.
The ripping process of a DVD-ROM movie produced the following results:
Drive |
Average Speed |
Maximum Speed |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
8,145 KB/s (5,9X) |
11,457 KB/s (8,3x) |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
8,19KB/s (5.9x) |
11,36KB/s (8.2X) |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
5,206 KB/s (3.8x) |
7,244 KB/s (5.3x) |
5. Error correction tests - DVD
In the following tests, we examine the DVD reading capabilities of the drive (error correction) with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests, we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero Disc Speed. 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.
ABEX TDR-825
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.
Average performance in the two SL media , with the drive generating some speed fluctuations in order to overcome the defects.
- 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.
The reading process of the TDR-841 produced many read errors and in the end the drive failed to complete it.
ABEX TDR-845
The 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 is that the first includes defective areas and fingerprints.
Average performance too in the TDV-545 PTP DL disc.
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 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 drive failed to read the disc, as its error correction mechanisms could not overcome the defect.
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 also has 65 - 75 micrometer fingerprints.
A good reading here, no read errors reported.
6. Reading tests - Blu-ray disc
Let's now see how the drive performs with various Blu-ray discs. We remind you that the drive uses the 4x (CAV) speed for reading all the Blu-ray disc formats.
- BD-R SL (25GB, data)
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
3.17X |
272 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
3.18X |
274 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
3.91X |
383 ms |
-BD-R DL (50GB, data)
The reading graph was not so smooth here, although the disc was completely read.
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
3.15X |
275 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
3.16X |
269 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
2.00X |
556 ms |
-BD-RE SL (25GB, data)
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
3.17X |
281 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
3.18X |
272 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
3.88X |
381 ms |
-BD-RE DL
The drive failed to read a BD-RE DL disc. The specific disc was burned by another LiteOn product, the DH-4B1S.
-BD-ROM SL (25GB, movie)
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
3.13X |
232 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
3.14X |
233 ms |
Pioneer BD-ROM BDC-202 |
3.84X |
375 ms |
-BD-ROM DL (50GB, movie)
As it happened in the case of the 50GB BD-R disc, the LiteOn drive again had some problems reading the second layer of the BD-ROM DL disc.
Drive |
Average Speed |
Full Access Time |
LiteOn DX-401S BD-ROM |
3.10X |
423 ms |
LiteOn DH-401S BD-ROM |
3.11X |
418 ms |
7. BD Movie Playback
In order to perform our BD Movie Playback tests, we used the "Casino Royale" (DL BD) movie.
The drive's minimum system requirements for BD playback are:
- CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or higher
- Memory: 512 MB RAM or higher
- OS: Windows 2000 SP4 / XP / Vista
However, the recommended specifications for BD Playback and Authoring are:
- CPU: Intel Pentium D 3.4 or higher
- Memory: 1GB RAM or higher
- OS: Windows XP SP2 / Vista
- GPU: nVidia GeForce 7600GT/ 7800GTX512/ 7900GXS/ 7900GX2/ 7900GTX/ 7950GT/ 7950GX2/ 8400GS/ 8500GT/ 8600GT/ 8600GTS/ 8800GTS/ 8800GTX and ATI X1600/ X1800/ X1900/ HD2400/ HD2600/ HD2900 series or above.
- HDCP capable graphics cards with 256 MB RAM, PCI Express x 16, 1920 x 1200 resolution, 32-bit color.
- HDCP capable monitor / TV for HD digital output.
Our testing system consisted of the following:
- Intel Core2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz
- 2046MB RAM (Samsung DDR3)
- Windows XP Professional SP2
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS with 256 MB RAM
- a typical non-HDCP monitor, using a resolution of 1600x1200 at 85 Hz
- an LG L246WH-BN 24" Full-HD LCD monitor, HDCP ready 1920x1200@60Hz.
First, we connected our non-HDCP monitor with a typical analog (VGA) connector. The reason of us doing this, was our intention to check the expected downgrade on the image quality, when using an analog monitor instead of an HDCP-capable. For the same reason, we used the highest possible resolution with this monitor, which was also close enough to the High Definition specifications.
Then we connected the an LG L246WH-BN 24" Full-HD LCD monitor, which was HDCP ready and offers a maximum resolution of 1920x1200@60Hz.
Should someone want to watch a BD movie on an HDCP capable TV, he would have to connect the graphics card digital output to the TV's digital input, and also connect the output of the audio card to the adjacent TV/Home Cinema input.
The application we used to watch the movies was Cyberlink Power DVD v8.
Here are some photos of the monitor during playback:
In this frame PowerDVD shows us info about the movie and the video/audio bitrate for a specific scene. This varied from approximately 10Mbps to 45Mbps, depending on the complexity of each scene of the movie.
Playback was flawless with the CPU utilization to hardly reach the 25%, for the specific PC configuration. Forward/reverse operations were resumed without any problems throughout the complete movie.
8. Final words
The DX-401S is aimed to those who would like to have a portable drive that would enable them to watch BluRay movies and/or read BluRay media in general. The LiteOn drive can be connected to any PC, anywhere and that's the greatest of its features. You can use it at home to watch a movie, at work to read BD data media and even on your friend's PC.
The drive's stylish casing will add a lot to its evaluation points, successfully pleasing the eye of every owner.
Data transfer between the PC and the drive is made through the USB2.0 interface, ensuring that all read-out data will arive on time, even when playing BD movies, whose bitrate can reach 45 MByte/s .
However, as it is with all kinds of optical storage, the integrity of the read-out data plays a big role in the whole scene. Error correction and hiding mechanisms have to be as good as possible, while high reading speeds are always appreciated. Let's move on to the test summary to see how the LiteOn drive performed.
CD/DVD/BD media reading was fast, justifying LiteON's official specs. DAE was also fast enough for your everyday needs. Exception to this good performance is the reading process of the BD-RE DL disc, which could not be completed. The drive also had some minor difficulties reading dual-layerd BD-R and BD-ROM discs, showing some fluctations in the reading speed especially of the second layer of the discs. Hopefully, this was not translated into problems in the picture in the BD-ROM movie playback test. The reproduction was flawless, for both single and dual layer BD movies. Seek times were also low and the movie refused to "freeze" no matter our attempts to push it to its limits by pressing the FF/RW buttons. Good job for the LiteOn drive.
The drive is also practically silent while reading any kind of disc. Of course, this has to do with the drive's excellent build quality of the external case.
The error correction mechanisms of the drive were mediocre. Reading of our artificially defective discs many times produced read errors. Furthermore, the drive was not able to read the ABEX TDV-541 and the ABEX TDV-841 test discs.CD error correction mechanisms were average, not successfully hiding potential noise in the generated audio stream.
To sum up, the DX-401S' performance was adequate. Very nice reading speed, but, on the contrary, mediocre error correction mechanisms. Liteon's engineers could also do some tweaking in the reading of BD-RE DL and generally BD DL media, in order to offer smoother readings. However, when you mix these up with its relatively low price, the drive becomes a good buy. It's one of the few BD player that can be bought for about $200~150, while maintaining a decent overall performance.