1. Introduction
AOpen CRW2040
IDE CDR-W - Page 1
- Introduction:
is
a company that ships many different types of peripherals devices designed for
the PC platform, including optical storage devices. AOpen products may not always
be the leaders of the CD-authoring race, but they are surely popular among the
users for their good performance and nice prices. Recently, AOpen shipped another
ultra fast recorder with the codename "CRW2040". The drive enters
the 20x writing category and will have to face several other competitors from
Ricoh, Yamaha, LiteOn, and Plextor's 20x writing speeds. How does this new drive
perform? Is AOpen introducing another winner here?
- Features:
The drive supports 20x writing (Z-CLV) max speed together with "JustLink"
and "JustSpeed" technologies. The exact writing speeds are 4x, 8x,
12x, 16x (CLV), 20x (Z-CLV) and re-writing speeds of 2x, 4x, 10x (CLV). The
drive also features 2MB of buffer and supports all available writing modes (TAO,
SAO, DAO, Multisession and Packet Writing).
- The technologies:
ensures that a high speed burning suitability check -of the CD medium- is performed,
right after the CD is loaded into the device. If the check is successful, the
burner automatically adjusts the medium's optimal burning speed between 12x
and 16x for the high-speed process. The Just Speed technology helps avoiding
disc errors and slow writing speeds. The mechanism controls the maximum writing
speed by:
(1)
Using the ATIP information (maker name, model number, etc. pre-recorded on the
disc),
(2) Performing test writing to the OPC area at the inner circumference of
the disc. This writing test defines the basic speed information for the burning
operation.
(3) Doing another test that makes sure that the blank CD has no manufacturing
flaws. This test determines if the whole CD can be written at the speed selected
in step 2 or if further adjustments are needed.
After running these 3 tests in the background, the AOpen CRW2040 starts burning
at optimal speed automatically. Note that JustSpeed can be turned off from within
the CDR software in order to use even lower quality media in 20x speeds.
- The package:
The
package supplied was the retail European version. This included: The drive itself,
a printed manual in 6 languages, 1 piece (16x certified) of AOpen 74min CD-R
blank (actual manufacturer Ritek), 1 piece of AOpen 74min 4-10x High-Speed RW
Blank (actual manufacturer Plasmon Data), audio cable and mounting screws. The
software supplied with the drive was Nero Burning ROM v5.5.3.0 OEM and Ahead
InCD v2.2.3 (for packet writing use). There is also an Mp3 encoder/player ["Gamut
2000" v1.20], which some users may find useful.
The front of the drive is what we can call a "generic" one. The
drive doesn't have the AOpen logo printed on it. It does include the "High-Speed
RW" and "JustLink" logos, though. Users will be able to tell
the drive's specs by a quick glance at the "20x10x40x" logo. There
is also only one led, the eject button and the headphone input jack/volume selector:
On the back side of the drive there are the usual connectors (IDE interface,
power), the jumpers for setting the drive as Master or Slave, the SPDIF output
connector, the analog/digital output connectors and 3 jumpers which are used
to setup the drive's working mode, PIOMode4 (default) or UDMA33. For setting
up the drive in UDMA33 mode you just have to remove the middle jumper:
- Installation:
The
AOpen 2040 was installed as a Master in the secondary IDE BUS. The drive worked
in PIOMode4 and during the boot process it identified itself as the "AOpen
CD-RW CRW2040". We unchecked the Auto Insert notification, checked
DMA and rebooted.
The drive was an August 2001 model with firmware revision v1.01 installed.
We used Nero (5.5.4.0), InCD (2.26), CloneCD (3.0.8.2) and Padus DJ (3.50.799)
for the recording tests.
- Test Machine:
WinMe
OS
Soyo 7VCA
Celeron II 566 over clocked to 850 MHz
128MB SDRAM PC 133
WD 18GB UDMA 66
Quantum Fireball EX 6.4 GB UDMA 33
DAWI 2975 - PCI (ULTRA) SCSI Host Adapter
ATI AIW 128
AOpen CRW2040 firmware v1.01
Ricoh MP7200A firmware v1.30
Ricoh MP9200A firmware v1.00
2. Data Tests
AOpen
CRW2040 IDE CDR-W - Page
2
Data Tests
Test Method:
- SCSI Mechanic v3.0x: This was used to compare the drive's
I/O performance against other various CDR-W drives (see charts). We used a pressed
CD containing PlexTools v1.08 for all of the tests.
- Nero CD Speed v0.83b was also used to check the drive's performance
with pressed CDs. For that test, we also used the PlexTools v1.08 pressed CD.
- SCSI Mechanic v3.0x results:
The AOpen CRW2040 finishes second and right behind the Ricoh MP7200, giving
4529kb/s as the Average Sequential I/O performance. The drive shows a much lower
Random I/O (610Kb/S) and Average Same Sector I/O (1798) performance than the
top performer (MP7200A). The differences of course are not so high but they
do exist.
- Nero CD Speed v0.84 results: (click here
to see the CD Speed 99 graph)
Using Nero CD Speed 0.84b, we can see that the AOpen CRW2040 is a bit slower
than the MP7200, confirming our SCSI Mechanic results. The drive starts slightly
slower in the start and ends lower again. That explains the lower average reading
performance.
In the "Seek Times" test the AOpen CRW2040 performed very well.
Its average random seek times are the best, together with the ones by the MP9200A
model. The MP7200 can't keep up and loses the first place on that test.
- PSX Pressed Media:
For this test we used the PSX game 'NBA Jam Extreme' and we ripped the image
to HD with CloneCD. We measured the reading times and we found out that the
AOpen 2040 is not the best solution for someone who wants to have fast PSX images
ripped to his HD, since it's the slowest among the four tested drives:
- CDR Media: (click here
to see the CD Speed 99 graph)
Again with CDR media, the AOpen CRW2040 seems slower than the MP7200A drive.
3. RW reading tests
AOpen
CRW2040 IDE CDR-W - Page
3
RW reading tests
- Nero CD Speed v0.84b Test: (Click here
to see the CD Speed 99 graph)
For the RW tests, we used TDK's HS-RW media. The AOpen CRW2040 drive produced
readings very close to the ones by Ricoh MP7200A:
CloneCD Reading
Tests
- Procedure:
We used CloneCD (v3.0.5.1) and 5 original CDs - Euro 2000 (SafeDisc 1),
No One Lives For Ever (SafeDisc 2), Rally Masters (LaserLock 1), Desperados
(LaserLock 2) and V-Rally 2 Expert (SecuROM 2) - in order to test the reading
performance of AOpen CRW2040. We also tested the reading performance with backups
of the original CDs, since the reading speed varies between original and backup
media. For comparison reasons we added the results of the already tested Ricoh
MP7200A/MP9200A and Acer CRW2010A. The following picture shows the AOpen CRW2040
reading/writing capabilities:
- SafeDisc 1/2 Results:
The AOpen CRW2040 is the top performer when reading SafeDisc1/2 protected
CDs. Its outstanding performance gives the competition a run for its money.
Again with SafeDisc v2.0 protected CDs, the AOpen CRW2040 stays
at the top. As for the rest of the drives, they must really improve their reading
performances for be able to keep up.
LaserLock 1/2 Results:
In the LaserLock protected CDs test, the AOpen CRW1632 gave back the best
reading time with both the original and the backup CDs. The Ricoh MP7200A stays
close with the original CD but falls behind when the backup medium is used.
Again with LaserLock 2 protected CDs, the AOpen reads the original CD much
faster than the competition. With the backup CD, the Ricoh MP7200A performs
slightly better and wins.
SecuROM Results:
The AOpen CRW2040 can read SubChannel data from Data/Audio tracks very fast!
The Ricoh MP7200A can compete and win with the original CD, but it stays far
away when the backup CD is used. Truly an outstanding and impressive performance
by the AOpen CRW2040A!
4. DAE Tests
AOpen
CRW2040 IDE CDR-W - Page
4
DAE Tests
- Test Method:
We used CD DAE 99 v0.21 beta and EAC v0.9 prebeta 11 software in order to
check the DAE performance of the AOpen CRW2040 with various AudioCDs (both pressed
and CDR). The posted DAE results are the average of both applications, but the
CPU usage was only taken from CD DAE 99, since EAC occupies the system a lot
more. As a last note, we used the "BURST" reading mode of EAC. We
made a full CD Rip starting from the first to the last track of the CD. The
Average DAE reported speed along with the CPU Usage is displayed in the test
graphs.
- DAE features:
As the program reported, the drive doesn't do data "Caching", but
it does support "Accurate Stream" and "C2 Error info".
- Pressed AudioCD results: (click here
to see the CD Speed 99 graph)
The AOpen supports up to 40x DAE with both pressed and CDR media. However,
when the drive reaches 70mins it dramatically reduces its reading speed, obtaining
an average score much lower than we had expected. When compared to the competition,
the drive stays away from the top, which belongs to the Ricoh MP7200A:
- CDR AudioCD Results: (click here
to see the CD Speed 99 graph)
The drive performed much better with CDR media. Now the drive reaches its
top speed, but again it stays second right behind the MP7200A:
- EAC Secure Extract Ripping mode:
After numerous requests by many of our readers, we have added the EAC's secure
extract ripping mode results, which ensures maximum produced WAV quality. Notice
that for each drive we used the build-in detection function:
Tested Drives
|
Average DAE Speed (X)
|
Pressed
|
CDR
|
Ricoh MP7200A
|
17.60
|
21.9
|
Ricoh MP9200A
|
1.7
|
21.7
|
AOpen CRW2040
|
17.7
|
17.9
|
- Advanced DAE Quality:
The AOpen CRW2040 performed excellently at the Nero CD Speed Advanced DAE
quality test. The drive produced 0 data/sync errors and got a perfect score
(100). The drive can read "CD-Text" enabled AudioCDs, despite the
fact that CD Speed reports it doesn't, and can read "SubChannel Data"
(from audio tracks):
- Bad CDR Media results: (click here to see the CD Speed
99 graph)
Despite the fact that Nero CD Speed Advanced DAE test stretches a drive's
mechanism to the max, we decided to do real life tests with a scratched disc.
The disc was dirty, and with some light scratches, enough to cause problems
to most of the tested drives. We used CD DAE 99 software to rip the whole disc
(756539616 sectors) and the results were very interesting:
|
Average Speed (X)
|
Errors
|
Errors Of Total Disc (%)
|
Ricoh MP7200A
|
8.3
|
505040044
|
66,76
|
Ricoh MP9200A
|
8,0
|
537645437
|
71,07
|
AOpen CRW2040
|
8.3
|
93
|
0%
|
Acer CRW2010
|
*
|
|
|
As the tests showed, the AOpen CRW2040 reported the lowest errors than any
other drive. Both the Ricoh drives have big problems when the inserted medium
has scratches and the Acer CRW2010A simply denies reading the CD!
- Ripping 90 and 99min CDs:
>>
As we can see from the above graphs, the AOpen CRW1632 doesn't have any problem
ripping both 90min and 99min CDs.
5. CDR Tests
AOpen
CRW2040 IDE CDR-W - Page
5
CDR Tests
The
AOpen CRW2040 supports 16x CLV and 20x Z-CLV writing speeds. We used Nero CD
Speed build-in writing test in order to test the drive's writing performance.
The drive's average writing speed is 19.46X as Nero CD Speed revealed.
The
drive also supports JustSpeed, which automatically reduces the writing speed
in case an un-certified 20/24x CD is inserted. JustSpeed detects that the condition
of the medium is not suitable for the maximum writing speeds (16x/20X) and will
reduce the speed to 12x or even 8x! That may annoy some users, but we all want
fully working burned CDs, don't you agree?
Let us now find out which is the fastest of the four drives, according to
the Nero CD Speed writing tests. The Ricoh MP9200A has the higher recording
speed, mainly due to the different approach of the JustSpeed function, with
19.70X, which is very close to the theoretical 20x writing speed. The MP7200A
is the second with 19.50 and the AOpen CRW2040A comes third with only 19.46x
writing speed.
CDR-W drives
|
Average Writing Speed (X) with 80min
CD
|
Acer 2010
|
16.87
|
AOpen CRW2040
|
19.46
|
Ricoh MP7200
|
19.50
|
Ricoh MP9200
|
19.70
|
The above claims were confirmed by our tests results as you will read later
on :-)
- Procedure:
We tested the AOpen CRW2040 with Nero v5.5.4.0, CloneCD v3.0.8.2 and Padus
DJ v3.50.799 software. For the CDR tests we used: Verbatim 74min (16x) &
80min (16x), Taiyo Yuden 74 & 80min (24x), Mitsui 74min (24 & 16x) and
Ricoh/Verbatim/TDK 74min HS-RW media. Note that Nero 5.5.4.0 forgets to disable
JustSpeed in some cases, so we advise you to use a previous Nero version for
using that particular function.
- CD-R Tests:
We created a "DataCD" with an amount of data slightly higher than
74mins (74:03:65). We burned the same data amount with all 4 CDR-W drives:
The AOpen CRW2040 needs 5more seconds to finish the task than the Ricoh MP9200A.
The Ricoh MP7200A is one second faster and as for the Acer 2010 it stays far
behind since it uses Z-CLV and not CLV as the main writing technology. The CPU
Usage levels are relevant to the needed time of each drive, as you can see.
In the maximum 20x writing speed the AOpen CRW2040 is once again slower than
both Ricoh drives. The drive needs 7more secs than the MP9200A and 4secs more
than the MP7200A.
- 80min CDs:
As with the previous test, we created a DataCD (80:01:47) and used the same
media for all burns:
The AOpen CRW2040 performed better with 80min CDs. The drive needs 335secs
to end the task, which is the faster time among the 4 competitors. Both Ricoh
competitors need 1/2 more secs to finish and the Acer simply tries to follow.
With 80min CDs at the 20x writing speed, the AOpen CRW2040 is again slower
than the Ricoh drives. The drive needs 6 more seconds than the MP9200 and 4
secs more than the MP7200A. Its CPU Usage is at the same levels of the competition.
- Writing Quality tests:
We used Ricoh's 24x 74min CD-R media and wrote a full 74min CD. All CDs were
burned with Nero 5.5.3.0 and were Audio CDs with 74:51:27 of length. The produced
CDs were measured from DigitalDrives
and the results are very interesting as you can see:
20x writing speed
|
Model
|
C1
|
Average Burning Time (secs)
|
Max
|
Average
|
Acer CRW2010
|
47
|
8,2
|
314
|
Ricoh MP7200 (JustSpeed On)
|
39
|
0,7
|
277
|
Ricoh MP7200 (JustSpeed Off)
|
18
|
0,5
|
272
|
Ricoh MP9200 (JustSpeed on)
|
18
|
1,2
|
290
|
Ricoh MP9200 (JustSpeed off)
|
19
|
2,60
|
272
|
AOpen CRW2040 (JustSpeed on)
|
44
|
3,93
|
269
|
AOpen CRW2040 (JustSpeed off)
|
43
|
2,54
|
269
|
The AOpen may be the faster recorder with Ricoh 74min 24x certified media,
but it also produces high error rates during recording. Another very interesting
fact is that with "JustSpeed Off" the drive manages to produce lower
C1 error rates than when it is enabled(!). The Ricoh MP7200A is a good example
how recorders should behave while recording. We think that AOpen can improve
writing quality with future updates, as Ricoh did :-)
- Overburning Tests:
The AOpen CRW2040 supports overburning up to 99minutes!
- CD-Text Results:
We created several AudioCDs with CD-Text enabled. The AOpen can write/read
CD-Text Audio CDs.
- CloneCD Tests:
CloneCD
v3.0.8.2 reports that the drive supports the DAO-RAW writing feature. The drive
also supports JustLink. From our tests results, DAO-RAW writing works without
any problems for the SafeDisc 1, LaserLock 1/2 and SecuROM 2 protections.
- SD2 Support:
For the SD2 tests we used the "No One Lives For Ever" and "Emperor
Battle for Dune" CD titles. We used the AOpen CRW2040 both as reader/writer.
The produced backup didn't play using the same drive or any other drive we tested.
Therefore, the AOpen CRW2040 cannot produce SD2 working backups.
- 8cm mini CDs:
The AOpen does support 8cm CDs and/or business cards. We tried a burn with
a business card CD which was successful, despite the loud noise while writing/reading.
- Buffer Underrun tests:
The AOpen CRW2040 supports the "JustLink" anti-buffer underrun
technology that has been developed by Ricoh. The drive worked without any problems
whenever we tried to cause all kinds of difficult situations for it.
6. RW Writing Tests
AOpen
CRW2040 IDE CDR-W - Page
6
RW Writing Tests
We used Nero 5.5.4.0 for writing CDs in maximum RW writing speed for all the
tested drives in 10x HS-RW media. All drives fully support the HS-RW writing
standard:
The AOpen CRW2040 did not perform as well as we expected. It finishes last,
however with very little time difference from its competitors. The Acer CRW2010A
is a nice surprise and manages to take the lead in this test, not only in the
burning time but also in the very low erase time.
- Packet Writing
Tests:
We used Ahead InCD v2.26 for all Packet Writing tests. We used TDK
HS-RW media and we formatted it. The formatted disc revealed 530mbs of free
space. We copied a 403 MB file (403.147 kbs) from a Hard Disk (on the same PC
as the writers) to the formatted RW medium using explorer (we dragged and dropped),
and we completed the test twice to eliminate possible time measurement faults
and user errors:
The results showed that the AOpen CRW2040 did not perform as well as we expected
in the writing part, but on the other hand it showed the best packet reading
performance ever measured in our labs. Its writing speed of 6.84X during the
packet writing mode is lower from what the competition has to offer, but reading
performance is much higher.
7. Conclusion
AOpen
CRW2040 IDE CDR-W - Page
7
Conclusion
Positive (+):
|
Negative (-):
|
- Supports 20x writing (Z-CLV) speed
- "JustLink" anti-coaster technology
- "JustSpeed" media quality detection system
- Very Good data reading performance
- Very Good Seek times
- Very good DAE quality even with scratched CDs!
- Best packet reading performance ever measured!
- Supports HS-RW standard (10x re-write)
- Supports DAO-RAW
- Very Good CloneCD reading performance
- Supports reading/writing of SubChannel Data
- Supports CD-Text (reading/writing)
- Supports Overburning (up to 99mins)
- Supports Ultra-DMA 33 connection interface
- Retail package includes Nero 5.5
- Looowww price (91$<=)
|
- Much higher C1 error rates than Ricoh's
MP7200A
- Low PSX reading time
- Lower DAE speed than competition with our pressed test disc
- Some recognition problems with our pressed test disc
- Failed to backup SD2 protected CDs
|
AOpen's 20x writing proposal seems very interesting, since it includes all
the latest technologies that will not only avoid buffer underruns but also ensure
optimum writing quality. Are these claims proven right in real life tests? Yes
and no. The drive's general performance was very good, but in many tests it
came second behind Ricoh's MP7200A model. The biggest problem of the drive is
the much higher C1 error rate during recording. Even if the readings stay within
the Orange Book specification limits, they are way higher from what Ricoh MP7200A
can give.
Of course, the AOpen CRW2040 has a much better DAE quality with scratched
CDs and low CloneCD reading times that will make users happy. Lastly, it doesn't
backup SD2 protected CDs as you might have been wondering.
Let's see if the drive can compete its rivals in the area that is supposed
to: "Price". A quick scan over Pricewatch shows that AOpen 20x lowest
price is $91, Ricoh MP7200A $95 and Acer CRW2010A $90. As it seems, all three
recorders are in the same price tag category, so the choice is even harder.
You just have to think carefully about your needs of use and decide :-)