1. Installation
Teac 532E-A IDE
CD Rom - Page 1
This
is one of the best seller CD ROM from Teac. Even it is around some time many
people prefer it over the latest 48x and 52x CD Roms. Is it worth buying it
? Find out by reading the review..
CD Rom Specifications :
|
Interface
|
E-IDE/ATAPI
|
Transfer Rate
|
32X MTRP ~ 4800 KB/sec
|
Functions
|
Multi Read, Horizontal & Vertical Mount, CAV/CLV,
Analog output, Plug-n-Play
|
Ultra DMA 33
|
No
|
Data Buffer
|
256KB
|
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,
Enhanced CD & CD PLUS Compatible
|
Package:
The OEM version included CD Rom, manual, drivers for Win 3.1 & DOS,
cable for connect CD Rom to soundcard.
Installation:
Installation was easy. I enabled Master jumper on the rear panel (i putted
it Master on Second IDE channel). After boot CD Rom intentified as CD-532E-A
from BIOS into Dos & as Teac 532E-A in Windows.
DMA
checked off auto from Windows since it isn't Ultra DMA compartible. I unchecked
Auto Insert notification and reboot. Since the CD Rom had 1.0A firmware I updated
it with latest version 3.0A.
All was set and time to start tests..
Test Machine:
ABIT BH6
Celeron 300A over clocked to 464 MHz
128 MB SDRAM PC 100
Quantum Fireball EX 6.4 GB UDMA
CL RivaTNT
CL AWE32
MS Windows 98 SE
Teac 532E-A Firmware : v3.0a
2. Data Tests
Teac 532E-A IDE
CD Rom - Page 2
Data Tests
Test Method:
I used CD Speed 99 v0.41b, SCSI Mechanic v2.1h (evaluation version) and
SiSoft Sandra 99 v3.5.0 to run Data tests. I run all tests with DMA On &
Off (even the CD Rom isn't support it). All test done with same CD on all Tests.
CD Speed results : (Speed
: Bigger is better, Seek Times : less is better, CPU Usage : less is better)
|
Speed (x)
|
Seek Time (ms)
|
CPU Usage (%)
|
Start
|
Average
|
End
|
Random
|
1/3
|
Full
|
1x
|
2x
|
4x
|
8x
|
DMA Off
|
14.03
|
20.49
|
20.95
|
86
|
97
|
161
|
4
|
8
|
17
|
34
|
DMA On
|
15.14
|
25.57
|
32.19
|
85
|
94
|
160
|
2
|
4
|
9
|
19
|
|
SiSoft Sandra 99 results:
|
Drive Index
|
Track Speed (ppm)
|
Buffered Read (mb/s)
|
Sequential Read (mb/s)
|
Random Read (kb/s)
|
Average Access Time (ms)
|
DMA Off
|
2307
|
11254
|
21
|
3.267
|
868
|
98
|
DMA On
|
3091
|
15925
|
128
|
4
|
966
|
96
|
|
SCSI Mechanic results:
(I/O throughput : Bigger
is better)
|
Random I/O
throughput (kb/s)
|
Sequential I/O
throughput (kb/s)
|
Same Sector I/O
throughput (kb/s)
|
Min
|
Average
|
Max
|
Min
|
Average
|
Max
|
Min
|
Average
|
Max
|
DMA Off
|
731
|
846
|
1011
|
2676
|
3655
|
3986
|
1534
|
1598
|
1682
|
DMA On
|
462
|
814
|
992
|
2656
|
4456
|
5943
|
1308
|
1537
|
1592
|
Verdict of Data Tests:
All results say the same thing. Teac 532E-A performance is max when DMA option
checked on (even the drive isn't support it). Not only it helps Data transfer
rate but reduces to half CPU usage.The next question is..How good is the performance
? (comparing to other CD Roms..) Into past i had made an roundup
between 3 drives (Teac 32x, Plextor 40x, Phillips 48x). If you go there you
will check that Teac really performs quite good (in some cases outperformed
40x and 48x drives..). From Scsi Mechanic tests it reached the 5943kb/s top
speed.
3. DAE Tests
Teac 532E-A IDE
CD Rom - Page 3
DAE Tests
CD Speed results: (Speed
: Bigger is better, Seek Times : less is better, CPU Usage : less is better)
|
Dae Quality- Accurate Stream
|
Speed (x)
|
Seek Time (ms)
|
CPU Usage (%)
|
|
Start
|
Average
|
End
|
Random
|
1/3
|
Full
|
1x
|
2x
|
4x
|
8x
|
DMA Off
|
10 - Yes
|
11.36
|
14.88
|
15.28
|
90
|
116
|
202
|
5
|
11
|
23
|
46
|
DMA On
|
10 - Yes
|
11.36
|
15.62
|
16.33
|
94
|
116
|
202
|
3
|
6
|
13
|
26
|
|
Various Rippers Results:
Test Method: I used CDFS, EAC v0.81b, WinDAC32 &
AudioGrabber v1.50 to test audio capabilities.
Tested CD: The Chemical Brothers "Dig Your Own Hole" -
Track: 5 (Setting Sun)
Comparing Method:
- Ripped Track 5 of the CD with Drag & Drop (using CDFS) and with all
the other CD Rippers.
- Edited all wavs with Hedit v2.0.04 and located the 2 following bytes "EA
68" (chosen randomly)
- Removed all previous bytes and saved.
- Then in a Dos window compared them using: FC /b x.wav y.wav
Programs Settings:
CDFS Driver v4.00.130 :
Drag & Drop
EAC v0.81b: Burst
& Secure Mode / Rip Speed Default / Allow speed reduction / Error correction
medium
WinDAC32 v1.49: Burst
Mode / Rip Speed Default
AudioGrabber v1.50: Buffered
Burst Mode / Rip Speed Default
Program
|
DMA off
(Average Speed)
|
DMA off
Listening Quality
|
DMA On
(Average Speed)
|
DMA on Listening Quality
|
CDFS Driver v4.00.130
|
32 sec for 56.630= 11.79x
|
No
clicks..No sec lost..Seemed ok!
|
81 sec for 56.630 kb = 4.66x
|
No
clicks..No sec lost..Seemed ok!
|
EAC v0.81b (burst)
|
10.5x
|
Seconds
lost. Pops.
|
10.8x
|
Seconds
lost. Pops.
|
EAC v0.81b (secure)
|
5.7x
|
No
clicks..No sec lost..Seemed ok!
|
6.0x
|
No
clicks..No sec lost..Seemed ok!
|
WinDAC32 v1.49
|
11.0x
|
Seconds
lost. Pops.
|
4.18x
|
No
clicks..No sec lost..Seemed ok!
|
AudioGrabber v1.50
|
11.5x
|
Seconds
lost. Pops.
|
12.65x
|
Seconds
lost. Pops.
|
Comparing Results (DMA OFF)
|
|
CDFS Driver v4.00.130
|
EAC Burst
|
WinDAC32
- Burst (Rip Speed Default)
|
AudioGrabber
(Rip Speed Default)
|
EAC Secure
|
same
|
not
same
|
FC:
cdfs.wav longer than windac.wav
|
not
same
|
Comparing Results (DMA On)
|
EAC Secure
|
same
|
not
same
|
FC:
cdfs.wav longer than windac.wav
|
not
same
|
Verdict of DAE Results:
Teac 532E-A seem to have great ripping spped for IDE CD Rom. With EAC (secure
mode) reached the 6.0x ripping speed (when the same time Plextor 40x
reached 9.0x under the same track..) EAC and CDFS managed to produce
clear and exact copies without any pop or click inside. On the other hand AudioGrabber
and WinDAC32 failed to produce clear and without pops wavs. The reason is that
both programs failed to adjust ripping speed (lower it) so the Teac could perform
it's best. I suggest that Teac 532E-A users should stay away them. Some of you
might think..Why use EAC when CDFS has double ripping speed than it ?
The answer is that CDFS hasn't any error correction method. When the CD is
scratched or have surface problem CDFS will rip the wav but will not give accurate
results. So what are my final thoughts about it ? Use EAC and maybe CDFS (when
you need it). Both programs are freeware (cost nothing to you) and can really
produce exact audio copies of your favorite wavs.
4. Conclusion
Teac 532E-A IDE
CD Rom - Page 4
Conclusion
Positive (+):
|
Negative (-):
|
Multi Read
CAV/CLV
Good data transfer rates
Good seek times
Good ripping speed (for IDE)
100.000 MTBF
Flash Memory
Low Read Retry Count
(good for CDs with Errors)
Low price!
|
Not Digital Output
Only 4x when reading RW CDs
|
Should you buy Teac 32x CD Rom ? I think yes. It has very good
mechanism and performs quite good in both DATA and DAE tests. It is a decent
drive and the best off all has very low price!..(40-50$)