1. The buffer underrun eliminator supports 10xRW writing speed!
Sanyo
CRD-BP3 SCSI CDR-W - Page
1
The
buffer underrun eliminator supports 10xRW writing speed!
Introduction:
The BP3 is the first model of Sanyo, which includes HS-RW writing capabilities.
We have already tested the Plextor PX-W1210A that have the same read/writing
features but came with an IDE interface. Since there is no other drive out with
same features yet, we decided to compare the two drives (the IDE vs. SCSI model).
Keep in mind that this comparison is far from perfect since, while both drives
might based on the same IC chipset, they have a different internal design, as
it is shown in the test arena. But since these two drives are the only ones
who support 12x writing, 10x re-writing and support BURN-Proof, we felt that
the comparing them could lead us to some interesting conclusions.
History
We can't believe that there could be a person who reads our hardware reviews
and still doesn't know what is this feature called "BURN-Proof"
which both our drives support. Don't forget also that both drives support the
new
HS RW format that offers to users 10xRW-writing speed.
Package
The pre-release OEM version included only a drive. Below there is a
picture of the Sanyo CRD-BP3:
Notice that the drive front and back is the same with the previous BP2 and
BP900P models. Also event the drive supports 10xRW-writing speed the logo "HS
RW" has not been added in the front of the drive
Sanyo CRD-BP3 CDR-W Specifications
|
Interface
|
SCSI 3
|
Transfer Rate
|
12X-32x CAV read
(1800KB/s - 4800KB/s Data Transfer Rate)
|
Writing/Reading Speed
|
Writing : CDR 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 12x
CDRW 2x,4x, 8x, 10x
Reading : 32x (max) Full CAV
Note - Data : 12-32x
- CDDA Extraction : 13x (max)
|
Writing Methods
|
Disc At Once (DAO)
Session At Once (SAO)
Track At Once (TAO)
Packet Writing
|
Data Capacity supported
|
700MB (79min)
650MB (74min)
550MB (63min)
|
Functions
|
Multi Read, Horizontal, Analog output,
Plug & Play/ SCAM Compatible, Flash ROM
|
Data Buffer
|
2 MB
|
Supported CD Formats
|
CD-DA, CD-ROM (MODE-1,MODE-2), CD-ROM XA
MODE-2(FORM-1,FORM-2), Multi-Session Photo CD, CD-I, Video-CD, CD Extra,
CD+G, CD-RW, CD-Text
|
Installation
For installing the drive, we left the default SCSI ID to 4 and removed
the termination. After booting, the CDR-W identified itself as Sanyo CRD-BP3.
We unchecked the Auto Insert notification, checked Sync Data Transfer
and rebooted. Sanyo CRD-BP3 was a July 2000 model with firmware revision v1.03.
As we was told soon a new firmware release will come out and will upgrade DAE
up to 24x ;)
Notice that Nero 5.x supports the drive. However we faced several
problems with the latest 5.0.1.8 version (limits RW writing to 8x but enables
Overburn) so we used Nero v5.0.1.3 that worked without any problem. All CDR
Software recognises the drive as having a 4MB buffer when Sanyo states that
the drive has only a 2MB buffer. This <problem> also occurred with the
previous Sanyo CRD-BP2 drive..
- Reading properties: (Screenshot from Feurio v1.51)
Test Machine:
ABIT BH6
Celeron 300A over clocked to 450 MHz
164 MB SDRAM PC 100
WD 18GB UDMA 66
Quantum Fireball EX 6.4 GB UDMA 33
DAWI 2975 - PCI (ULTRA) SCSI Host Adapter
ATI AIW 128
Plextor UltraPlex 40max firmware v1.04
PlexWriter PX-W1210A firmware v1.02
Sanyo CRD-BP3 firmware v1.03
2. Data Tests (Pressed CDs)
Sanyo
CRD-BP3 SCSI CDR-W - Page
2
Data Tests (Pressed
CDs)
Test Method
- CD WinBench 99 v1.1. This was used to compare the Sanyo CRD-BP3
SCSI CDR-W drive with various others CDR-W drives (see charts).
- CD Speed 99 v0.70 was also used to check the drive performance with
pressed CDs. For that test we used PlexTools v1.05 original CD.
- CD WinBench 99 v1.1 results
- CD Speed 99 v0.70 results
Verdict of data (pressedCDs) tests
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 CDR-W drive was a little weaker than the PleXWriter PX-W1210A
in most tests. Its average reading speed using PlexTools v1.05 was 23.33x
when the PX-W1210A had 24.98x. The Sanyo CRD-BP3 however showed much better
seek times than most of the other CDR-W drives we have ever tested..In the WinBench
99 test, the Sanyo CRD-BP3 got the second best overall WinMark value behind
the PX-W1210A. It reached a transfer rate of 4.34mb/s and 2.12mb/s on the outside
and inside of the disc, which are a bit lower than the PX-W1210A ones. Again
in that test it had the lower seek time (137ms). The CPU usage was also average
(6.55%). Overall the Sanyo CRD-BP3 model seems to have been improved over the
previous BP2 model, but seems to need a little fine-tuning to reach the current
king of reading performance PX-W1210A.
3. Data Tests (74min CDs)
Sanyo
CRD-BP3 SCSI CDR-W - Page
3
Data Tests (74min
CDs)
Test Method: CD Media 74min tests
We created a DataCD with Nero 5.0 using the Sanyo CRD-BP2 CDR-W
drive. Several copies were created on different media types at 12x speed. This
test was performed in order to test the compatibility with various CD media,
that have been written at 12x, how the Sanyo CRD-BP3 drive performs.
CD Speed 99 v0.70 was used to measure the performance of the drive
with the different media.
Notice when you read the graphs, to check both the three tests
results (start, end, average) since they give the most complete view of each
media performance. Most users however, will prefer just to read only the average
speed results. ;)
As the test results shows, the Sanyo CRD-BP3 does not have any
problems reading various media, written at 12x.
- 80min tests:
The PX-W1210A takes again the lead from the BP3, but the gap
between them is very small. However BP3 takes the lead in random seek times
as the following graph states:
- RW reading tests:
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 has an improved RW reading speed (24x average) to the
PX-W1210A (18x average). That's a major improvement over the previous models
(BP2, BP900P):
Verdict of CDR Media Tests
The tests results show that the Sanyo CRD-BP3 has good, solid performance
using both pressed and normal CD media. Again, as we saw in the pressed CDs
tests, it has a lower reading performance over the PX-W1210A but better seek
times. Furthermore, it's RW reading speed is very good and that's something
that Plextor could consider improving?
4. CloneCD Tests
Sanyo
CRD-BP3 SCSI CDR-W - Page
4
CloneCD Tests
Procedure:
We used CloneCD (v2.7.2.4) and 3 original CDs (Rally Masters, Euro2000 and
Incoming) in order to test the reading time for Sanyo CRD-BP3. We also tested
the reading performance with the backups of the original CDs since the reading
speed varies from original to backup media.
Results
a) SafeDisc Results:Euro 2000 (Total: 257982 sectors -
10141 bad sectors) - Reading Speed: Max
Drive
|
Firmware
|
CD
|
Fast Skip Error - O retries - Software
Correction
|
Fast Skip Error - O retries - Hardware
Correction
|
Intelligent Bad Sector Scanner
|
"Intelligent Bad Sector Scanner"
+ Best "Fast Skip Error" result
|
Sanyo CRD-BP3
|
v1.03
|
Original
|
not supported
|
5:05 min
|
13:10 min
|
5:15 min
|
Backup
|
5:08 min
|
11:43 min
|
5:17 min
|
b) LaserLock Results: Rally Masters (Total:
321528 sectors - 6317 bad sectors) - Reading Speed: Max
Drive
|
Firmware
|
CD
|
Fast Skip Error - O retries - Software
Correction
|
Fast Skip Error - O retries - Hardware
Correction
|
Intelligent Bad Sector Scanner
|
"Intelligent Bad Sector Scanner"
+ Best "Fast Skip Error" result
|
Sanyo CRD-BP3
|
v1.03
|
Original
|
not supported
|
36:50 min
|
13:00 min
|
6:52 min
|
Backup
|
8:43 min
|
5:03 min
|
4:44 min
|
c) SecuROM Results:
As happened with previous Sanyo models, BP3 cannot read accurate subchannel
data so it cannot be used for reading SecuROM protected CDs.
Verdict of CloneCD Tests
- In the SafeDisc test the BP3 model had lower reading
times that the BP2 model (with fast skip error - hardware correction). The mode
"Fast Skip Error-Software correction" is not supported anymore but
the hardware correction seems faster than the software ;) Of course it cannot
reach the PX-W1210A since that drive reads SafeDisc protected CDs very fast!
- In the LaserLock test, the BP3 model had much better performance
in the "Intelligent Bad Scanner+Fast Skip Error" mode (6:52min vs.
10:28min for BP2). Comparing that performance to the PX-W1210A we see that in
LaserLock protected CD there cannot be any comparison since the reading times
for PX-W1210A are much higher (46:11 vs. 6:52min for BP3).
Overall in the CloneCD tests, the BP3 model had better performance
than BP2 and in some cases better than PX-W1210A.
5. DAE Tests (Audio pressed CDs)
Sanyo
CRD-BP3 SCSI CDR-W - Page
5
DAE Tests (Audio
pressed CDs)
Test Method
We used CD DAE 99 v0.2with AudioCDs in order to check
DAE performance of the Sanyo drive and we compared it with the PX-W1210A.
- CD DAE 99 v0.2 results:
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 DAE performance ,with pressed CDs, was the same with the
previous models (13x max) and outperformed by the PX-W1210A:
DAE Tests (CD
media)
Test Method:
We made several copies with Feurio v1.51written at 12x (used the
Sanyo CRD-BP2 CDR-W drive) in order to check the DAE performance of the drive.
We measured ripping speeds with CD DAE 99 v0.2and compared it with PX-W1210A.
CD DAE 99 v0.2 results:
- Princo 74min AudioCD
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 model performance with CDR AudioCDs is exactly the same
as with the pressed CDs:
Verdict of DAE Results
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 drive, as the previous model, has a DAE ripping speed limited
to 13x max. For some people this might sound good, but we think the same as
most people would: "We want more!" Let's hope that Sanyo will listen
to us when building its next model ;) As the test shows there isn't any direct
comparison to the two drives. The PX-W1210A keeps it's thrown as a DAE king
and delivers 16.9x average DAE speed when the BP3 model is limited at 12.6x.
All produced WAVs were free of clicks and pops so the drive will not let you
down in DAE quality.
6. CDR Tests
Sanyo
CRD-BP3 SCSI CDR-W - Page
6
CDR Tests
- Recorder properties: (Screenshot from Feurio v1.51)
As we can see the Sanyo CRD-BP3 supports most current CDR/W writing
modes except DAO RAW. We hope that soon Sanyo will add this long requested feature
with a firmware upgrade. Of course the BP3, as all the latest Sanyo models,
supports the BURN-Proof technology, which eliminates coasters and makes our
burning life much easier.
Let's head over to the CDR tests now:
Procedure:
We tested the PX-W1210A with the latest software which supports it and with
several media:
- Software used: Nero v5.0.1.3 / Padus DJ v3.00.449
/ CloneCD v2.7.2.4 / Feurio v1.51
- Media: Princo 74 & 80min / Ricoh
Platinum 74 & 80min / Mitsui Gold& SG / TDK 74min / Verbatim74min
/ Plextor HS RW / DataBank
4x-8x RW
CDR-R Tests
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 arrived without any CDR software included so
we used the latest Nero version in order to test it. As we said earlier the
v5.0.1.3 supports the drive but not the overburning part. We got the latest
version (5.0.1.8), which supports the drive also and adds Overburn support,
but has a bug and limits RW writing speed to 8x only, so all tests were done
with v5.0.1.3. Below you can see the results from a DataCD (72:40:46-639mb):
Nero v5.0.1.3 - DataCD (72:40:46-639mb)
|
Burning Speed
|
Total time (including lead-in and lead-out)
|
Average CPU usage
|
12x
|
6:38min
|
9.70%
|
8x
|
9:49min
|
6.80%
|
4x
|
19:23min
|
3.70%
|
If we compare the average CPU usage of the PleXWriter PX-W1210A
and BP3 we will notice that BP3 model has much lower CPU usage (especially in
12x writing speed). This of course we expected since all SCSI devices use less
resources than the IDE based drives.
Next we installed Nero v5.0.1.8 in order to test the Overburn
capabilities of Sanyo BP3. For that propose we used Feurio 1.51 in order to
determine how much Overburn space we could have from Ricoh 74 & 80min media.
The tests results showed that we could Overburn with up to 75:31:51 and 81:09:23.
We prepared 2 data jobs (75:01:38 and 80:54:18) and we burned
them. Sanyo CRD-BP3 finished both jobs with success. We also tested if the BP3
had any problem reading the oveburn CDs with CD Check utility. No problems here.We
also tested Sanyo CRD-BP3 with 99min CDs..Using CD Speed 0.7 overburning test
we saw that the drive can only overburn up to 81:19min using them. So forget
using Sanyo CRD-BP3 with 99min CDs..
After that we made several AudioCDs (including CD-Text). All
produced CDs tested with Plextor PX-40TS and Plextor's CD-Text compatible CD
player and from what we saw, everything worked just fine. Padus DJ v3.00.705
supports the Sanyo CRD-BP3 with a generic driver but didn't recognized that
the drive had CD-Text capabilities.
After contacting Padus we were able to enable CD-Text with a
little tweak when we added the following lines:
[MMC Sanyo CRD-BP3]
FlagsMMC = 0000001Fh
in the Pfc.ini file. Note that Padus DJ v3.00.449 doesn't support SAO RAW
(yet..) so you cannot use the BP3 in order to make your backups with it. Finally,
the Sanyo BP3 worked fine with CloneCD
v2.7.2.4 with the compatible SAO RAW mode.
BURN-Proof Tests
We tested if the BURN-Proof really works. How? Try doing the following tasks
at the same time we you burn CDs:
1) Load tons of programs while burning. That should increase
CPU utilization up to 100%
2) Stop the burn (just press Ctrl+Alt+Del for 10sec) and then unfreeze the PC.
If the burning continues we are in a good way.
3) Test the quality of the produced CD. (Make an AudioCD and do step 2 from
the 20%-30% total time. Then check the cd with CD Speed's CD quality mode).
As all previous Sanyo models the BP3 completed the above tasks
without any problem. Let's hope that something will be done for coasters caused
buy power failures as well ;)
Verdict of CDR Results
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 performed very good in all our tests. From making normal
CDs, to overburning and writing AudioCDs (with CD-Text) with various media,
we didn't encounter nor a problem with it. You can also forget 99min media since
the drive simply cannot write above 81:19mins. BURN-Proof worked fine but...
What would we love to see being added? What else than DAO RAW! All burns were
done with over 38 degrees room temperature. Even the drive temperature was noticeable
high, but writing many CDs in a raw didn't cause any problem (notice that the
drive has no internal fan for cooling itself).
7. CDR-W Tests
Sanyo
CRD-BP3 SCSI CDR-W - Page
7
CDR-W Tests
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 is the first Sanyo drive that supports 10xRW-writing
speed. As most of you remember, the PX-W1210A also supports 10xRW writing speed,
so we decided to de exactly the same tests as we did in the PX-W1210A review
and compare both drives. Let's begin with:
- RW tests:
We used Nero 5.0.1.3 for writing CDs in 10x RW writing speed.
Below are some results from various RW writing speeds:
Nero v5.0.1.3 - DataCD (73:40:71 - 648mbs)
|
Burning Speed
|
Total time (including lead-in and lead-out)
|
Average CPU usage
|
10x
|
8:06 min
|
9%
|
8x
|
10:01 min
|
6.5%
|
4x
|
18:07 min
|
4.35%
|
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 worked fine with the only HS RW media we possessed
(Plextor HS RW media) with various writing speeds. It also doesn't face any
problems writing at normal 4x RW media (only at 4x of course).
- Erase Time
We used Padus DJ v3.00.449 for measuring the erase times for the Sanyo CRD-BP3
using HS RW media:
|
Writing speeds
|
10x
|
8x
|
4x
|
Quick Erase
|
0:41 min
|
0:39 min
|
0:42 min
|
Full Erase
|
5:31 min
|
8.39 min
|
19:25 min
|
The results we got also showed several differences in the erase
time as in the case of Plextor PX-W1210A? Notice that sometimes drive halted
after doing a full erase. We are not sure if that happened due to the media
or due to a drive bug. When we receive more HS RW media we will retest the drive
and post some updated results.
-
Packet Writing
We installed PacketCD v3.00.209 and downloaded the latest driver pack (mmc2
v2.49). The updated driver worked and recognized Sanyo CRD-BP3. A new tab was
added in the drive's properties, from which you can select reading and writing
speeds for PacketCD formatted CDs.
The 10x writing selection was not selectable so we assumed that
the default setting is for this writing speed. We left the defaults settings
and we did for both HS RW and 4x RW media the following tests:
1) We tried to format the HS RW media. The test took 20:36min
to complete (same time as with the PX-W1210A).
2)
We tried a normal 4x RW media to format it. The format completed in 32:39mins
(same time as with the PX-W120A).
The Sanyo CRD-BP3 was recognized from PacketCD formatter as "Generic
SCSI3/ATAPI driver" however worked fine:
After the PacketCD format we had a CD with 530mbs free space
(due to PacketCD format). We copied a file-sized 403mbs (403.1476kbs) from HD
to the PacketCD formatted RW media using explorer drag and drop move. We used
2 RW media. One was the HS RW and the other one a standard 4x RW media in order
to see the differences in the reading/writing speed:
|
File Size: 403147 kbs
|
Time
|
Average CPU Usage
|
Average Writing Speed
|
HS (4x-10x) media
|
348 secs
|
9%
|
6.80x
|
4x media
|
826 secs
|
2.56%
|
2.77x
|
The results are very close to the ones we got from the same test
with the PX-W1210A. Again the 10xRW writing speed in Packet Writing seems to
be a dream since the real average writing speed reaches 6.80x. However it is
much faster than the previous packet writing speeds we had (2.77x).
Next, we tried to copy the same file to the HD using the Explorer
drag and drop method. This was completed in 344sec (average reading speed
6.66x) for the HS RW media and in 820secs for the 4x RW media (average
reading speed 2.79x). Here we have a difference from the PX-W1210A since
it showed the same reading speeds for both HS and normal RW PacketCD formatted
CDs. Erasing files from PacketCD formatted media took only a couple of seconds
to complete.
Verdict of CDR-W Results
As we expected the drive worked great in most of the tests however we faced
some problems. The drive locked up after every full erase task in both HS and
normal RW media. We are not sure what caused it (maybe it was the media, maybe
a drive bug...). Again the erase time for different writing speeds seems different
(we noticed the same thing with the PX-W1210A). The drive's performance with
PacketCD is the same, as with the PX-W1210A, it seems to be reading HS RW media
faster and normal 4x RW media slower. Overall, the drive's performance with
the new HS RW format was great!
8. Conclusion
Sanyo
CRD-BP3 SCSI CDR-W - Page
8
Conclusion
Positive (+)
|
Negative (-)
|
- Burn Proof (anti-coaster) Technology!
- Supports HS RW (10xRW)
- Supports CD-Text
- Supports overburn
- Support most burn speeds (1x,2x,4x,8x,12x)
- Very good RW reading speed
- Solid 12x DAE speed
- Improved reading performance over previous Sanyo models
- All know burning method (TAO,DAO,SAO,Packet Writing) support
- No problems with uncertified 12x Media
|
- No MMC DAO Raw writing
- DAE speed could be faster...
- Drive halted after every full erase
- Not enough overburn for using 99mins CDs
|
Sanyo this time added the new HS RW recording standard and improved
some specific features over the previous models. Having a drive, which is capable
of 10xRW writing, is a strong weapons for the people who use it RW for backuping
their important files. We guess that when 10xRW media also starts coming out
(Ricoh will start selling 10x RW media from this coming September) things will
be easier for users. As you saw, even though the PX-W1210A and BP3 share some
basic components, the final products are quite distinct.
The Sanyo BP3 performed better than the previous BP2 and BP900P
models. It has much lower seek times and much higher RW reading speed (24x average).
The DAE performance is again locked to 13x max and this is be a point, which
Sanyo should consider improving at their next models. Also the CloneCD reading
performance seems improved and manages to beat PX-W1210A when reading LaserLock
protected CDs. Overall we could say that this drive is the best Sanyo drive
ever tested, with important improvements over the previous models? (BP2
and BP900P).
You should know that Sanyo doesn't sell their drives on retail, so you will
probably meet the drive with another brand name (Iomega, IODATA, Logitec, Lacie).
Finally, be prepared for a full roundup of the coming Ricoh and Teac 12/10/32,
the BP3 and PX-W1210A in the near future ;)