1. Introduction/Features
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder -
Page 1
LiteOn
enters the 12X writing speed with a new
DUAL DVD burner with the model name "SOHW-1213S". The drive uses
the third generation MediaTek chipset combined with Sanyo's OPU and promises
to offer
fast recording/reading speeds. Through our tests we aim to investigate
how the drive performs compared with another 12X recorder from Plextor...
- Features
The drive features 12X DVD+R, 8X DVD-R, 4X DVD±RW,
48X CD-R and 24X CD-RW maximum burning speeds. Reading speeds are at
12X for DVD±R/RW/ROM and
48X for CD-R/RW. Also offers the below features:
- SMART-BURN avoiding Buffer UnderRun Error, Automatically adjusting writing strategy & running OPC to provide the best burning quality
- SMART-X function adjusts CD-DA / VCD / DVD data extraction
to the fastest allowable speed according to both data request rate from
host and disk quality
- VAS® system reduce vibration and noise during recording and reading
The model name SOHW-1213S, is coded according to the SONY Alliance
Models ODD Naming Rule:
- S: SONY
- O: Optical
- H: Half-Height Optical Loader
- W: DVDRW ODD Type
- 12: Main DVD writing speed
- 1:
- 3: Third generation Mediatek Chipset
- S: Sanyo Pickup Supplier
- Specifications
Interface: |
ATAPI/E-IDE supported
PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2 and Ultra DMA mode 2 |
Writing Speed: |
DVD+R: 12X Z-CLV/
-R: 8X Z-CLV, DVD+RW: 4X CLV, DVD-RW: 4X
CLV
|
|
CD-R: 48X CAV, CD-RW: 24X
Z-CLV |
Read Speed: |
DVD+R/-R/+RW/-RW: 12X
CAV
|
|
DVD-ROM: 12X CAV, CD-R/RW: 48X
CAV |
Access Time: |
DVD: 160msec
CD: 160 msec
|
Buffer Size: |
2MB |
Supported Disc Formats: |
DVD: DVD single / dual
layer ( PTP / OTP ), DVD-R ( 3.9 GB / 4.7 GB ), DVD-R multi-borders,
DVD+R, DVD+R multi-sessions, DVD-RW and DVD+RW |
|
CD: CD-DA, CD-ROM,
CD-ROM / XA, Photo-CD, Multi-session, Karaoke-CD, Video-CD, CD-I FMV,
CD Extra, CD Plus, CD-R, and CD-RW |
Installation Angle: |
Horizontal/Vertical
|
Physical Dimensions: |
145x41.3x170mm (WxHxD) |
Weight: |
0.9Kg |
The
drive also uses the RPC II region control, allowing a user to change the drive's
region
at most 5 times, which however can easily be bypassed with various utilities.
Below are the drive's main specs as given by NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro:
KProbe software
offers additional information for the LiteON drive:
- Retail package
The
retail package includes the LiteOn SOHW-1213S drive, a quick installation
guide, mounting screws, one sound cable and one DVD-R media from Taiyo Yuden.
Also included are Nero v6 OEM version and CyberLink PowerDVD v5.0
retail
version.
On the front panel, there are as usual on the tray the CD-RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+RW
and compact disc rewritable logos. The phone jack, the
sound level control and the activity led are located on
the left side, below the disc tray. On the right side there
is
the
eject
button.
On the rear panel you can see the analogue and digital outputs (SPDIF), the
IDE connector
and the power input.
The drive is a half-height internal device,
much shorter than the usual CD/DVD recorder, making mounting an easy task
for PCs
with
the smaller
cases.
Below you can see a picture of the drive with noticably smaller dimensions
compared to the Plextor Premium drive.
Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty.
For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. You can click on the mainboard
picture for a higher resolution image:
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S further incorporates (located on the underside of the controller circuit board), a high-speed DVD dual Optical Disk Controller chipset from MediaTek Inc. consisting of two CMOS ultra-scale integrated circuits, the MT1816E and MT1828E. The MT1816E is the front-end analog signal processor and the MT1828E is the servo control and Endec IC. The pickup system is the Sanyo SF-DB 10SA.
- Installation
The drive was installed as secondary master and WindowsXP recognized
it as "LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1213S".
The drive arrived with firmware vTS08.
Below is a picture from Nero Burning Rom, showing the drive's specs.
We will compare the drive with the Plextor PX-712A, since
both drives have about the same DVD/CD recording
specs.
- Testing software
In order to perform our tests we used:
- Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.00
- CDVD Benchmark v1.21
- ExactAudioCopy v0.9 beta5
- Nero Info Tool v2.21
- KProbe
v2.2.2 (Reader: LiteOn LDW-811S firmware vHS0Q, Reading speed 8X CAV)
- PlexTools v2.14 (Reader:
Plextor PX-712A firmware v1.01, Reading speed 8X CLV for CD-R)
- DVDInfoPro v2.54
- LiteOn Booktype Utility v1.0.6
- Nero Burning Rom v6.3.1.15
2. Transfer Rate Reading Tests
LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 2
Transfer Rate Reading Tests
- CD Format
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports up to 48X reading speed. Below are the transfer
rate graphs:
the LiteOn is slightly faster compared with the Plextor drive
but the Plextor is
faster with rewritable media offering 40X reading speed.
- DVD Format
The SOHW-1213S was slower than the Plextor drive when using PTP single
layer DVD-ROM media.
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, towards the outer range, for each layer. The SOHW-1213S times were
about 33% slower than the Plextor's times.
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 average
reading speed is 6.01X.
With DVD+R media the SOHW-1213S is slightly faster compared
with the Plextor while with DVD-R/RW and DVD+RW media Plextor is faster about
3X transfer rate speed.
The LiteOn reached 7769 kb/s, a good ripping transfer rate.
- Appendix
Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs
3. CD Error Correction Tests
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 3
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
Errors total
|
Num: 6485532
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 83263
|
Avg: -50.1 dB(A)
|
Max: -10.7 dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 30973
|
Avg: 1.1 Samples
|
Max: 12 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 1827
|
Avg: 8.8 Samples
|
Max: 588 Samples
|
Total Test Result
|
55.0 points (out of 100.0 maximum)
|
C2 Accuracy |
56.0 % (out
of 100.0% maximum) |
The SOHW-1213S performed poorly with the ABEX TCD-721R. The total error count
of over 6 million is one of the highest we have seen.The maximum loudness error
of -10.7 dB(A), and muting errors are all very high and there were a lot of
skipped samples, so the total score of 55 points is
not surprising. We
must also note that the C2 accuracy reached 56%, a really poor performance.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total
|
Num: 1635402
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 7996
|
Avg: -28.0 dB(A)
|
Max: -4.9 dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 296
|
Avg: 3572.2 Samples
|
Max: 3584 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 2
|
Avg: 318.0 Samples
|
Max: 318 Samples
|
Total Test Result
|
60.9 points (out of 100.0
maximum)
|
C2 Accuracy |
50 % (out
of 100.0% maximum) |
The analyzing software awarded the drive with 60.9 points total and 50
% for C2 accurancy. The LiteOn offers poor error correction, even with this
easier test disc, the ABEX TCD-726.
- CD-Check Audio Test Disc
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 abilities 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
files 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.
Error Level
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
LiteOn SOHW-1213S
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
0/5
|
0/5
|
The drive passed the first three Check Levels of the test. The performance
is average for this audio teest disc. The fourth and fifth levels are generally
only read by the better drives. The fifth level includes an error size of 1.500mm
and here the drive produced many
audible
clicks.
- Conclusion
The LiteON SOHW-1213S offers rather poor CD error correction with a final
average score of 57.95 out of 100. The drive's capabilities so far seem lower than previous 2nd generation mediatek chipsets drives...
4. DVD Error Correction Tests
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 4
DVD Error Correction
Tests
In the following tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of
the 1213S drive with scratched / defective
DVD media.
For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The reference test
media
came
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.
The following transfer rate picture comes from the CDVD Benchmark v1.21 transfer
rate test.
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S read the disc at 12X CAV and the scratched area did
not affect the process. The disc was read accurately and no read errors
were
reported.
ABEX TDR-825
This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of a 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 defective areas of dimensions
ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm.
There are also fingerprints sized between 65 and
75 micrometers.
As before, the disc was read without any "read errors" and the
test was finished successfully.
- 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, in both layers.
The drive read both layers without any major problems, as the above graph
shows.
ABEX TDR-845
The disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc of 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.
The dimensions of the defective areas range
from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.
The
drive passed the fingerprint defective area without any reading speed drops
and finished the test without problems.
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 current TDV-541 checks also the error correcting capabilities
of the drive and includes scratches from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The reading process started at 3.38X and reached 8.08X at the 4.0GB point,
where the drive changed layer and then gradually decreased its reading
speed till the end. There are some small glitches at the start of the second
layer
which
isn't
a serious reading problem. The drive finished the reading process without
a problem.
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
micro meters fingerprints.
Black dots and fingerprints on the disc's surface did not create any reading
problems, and the drive finished the task successfully.
5. Protected Disc Tests
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 5
Protected Disc
Tests
- Reading Tests
To create the image of the various protected titles to the hard disk, we
used Alcohol 120% software and the appropriate settings, according to 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.
Game Title |
Protection Scheme |
Duration |
Reading speed |
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme" |
Lybcrypt |
3:08 min |
480 sectors/sec |
Serious Sam The Second Encounter |
SafeDisc v.2.50.051 |
11:38 min |
480 sectors/sec |
VRally II |
SecuROM v.2 |
3:39 min |
1014 sectors/sec |
The LiteOn 1213S drive performed much worse than the Plextor drive,
offering low ripping speeds with all of the game titles we used.
- Writing Tests
The LiteON SOHW-1213S 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.
- Fifa 2004 - Safe Disc v3.1x
- The Sims Superstar - Safe Disc v2.9x
- The Sims Unleashed - Safe Disc v2.8x
- Serious Sam Second Encounter - Safe Disc v2.51.021
- Max Payne - Safe Disc v2.51.020
The table below shows the results of the attempted backups and whether they worked (game installed / played normally), or not.
Drive
|
Fifa 2004
SD v3.1
|
Sims Superstar SD v2.9
|
Sims Unleashed SD
v2.8
|
Serious Sam-Second Encounter
SD v2.51.051
|
Max Payne
SD v2.51.020
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
Toshiba
SD-M1502
|
No
|
Yes |
Yes |
Creative CD5233E
|
LiteOn
SOHW-1213S
|
No |
The drive's Safedisc2 backup capabilities reached only up to v2.51.020.
The drive will produce partially working backups with the v2.8x & v2.5x
and dosen't support v2.9 & v3.1x
builds at all.
6. DAE Tests
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 6
DAE Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports up to 40X CAV DAE speed. When using a pressed
AudioCD and its CD-R copy with EAC, we logged the following results:
Plextor is faster than the LiteOn 1213S with the test discs.
As EAC reports, the drive caches DAE, supports accurate stream and can report
C2 error information.
- Advanced DAE Quality
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S received a score of 100 (perfect) in the Nero CD Speed
Advanced DAE test. CDSpeed showed that the average reading speed is 27.87X,
and
the drive supports reading of
SubChannel
data, Leadin / Leadout data and CD
Text.
- Reading 90/ 99mins AudioCDs
7. Protected AudioCDs
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 7
Protected AudioCDs
For the test procedure we used three audio discs with different
audio copy protections. The ripping process carrried out on all
protected Audio discs was performed with Exact Audio Copy v0.9beta5.
The tested protected Audio discs were:
- Sony's Key2Audio from "Celine Dion - New Day Has Come"
- Cactus Data Shield 200 from "Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies Island"
The Cactus Data Shield 200 protection scheme contains artificial errors that
are not easily bypassed by the reader, while the Key2Audio contains a
second session,
causing
problems for readers when trying to read the Table Of Contents (TOC).
The tested tasks are:
- Recognition of the inserted disc (Yes/No)
- Ripping all wavs (with EAC's Burst Mode) to the hard disk with copy&compare function.
- Listening to the produced wavs for any click/skips.
The LiteON SOHW-1213S recognized up to the 13th Audio track of the CDS200
disc,
and with the "Retrieve Native TOC" option removed the 14th Data
track.
The test results are shown in the following table:
|
Key2Audio |
CDS200 |
LiteOn SOHW-1213S |
Ripping process completed, EAC reports
timing problems, Read&Test CRC comparison successful for all tracks |
Ripping process completed, EAC reports timing problems, Read&Test CRC comparison not the same for all tracks |
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S will rip both Key2Audio/CDS200
protected audio discs. Both discs were recognized and their contents were
ripped
at the maximum speed. However, the drive may not rip 100% accurately
CD200 discs since EAC reported timing problems and at the same time,
Read&Test
CRC check comparison was not the same for all tracks. Timing problems were
noticed with Key2Audio discs also.
- Cactus Data Shield 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a (Aiko Katsukino - The Love Letter)
This
is a "special" CDS200 build which 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 connected to the 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/KProbe software using Plextor PX-712A (firmware v1.01) and LiteOn LDW-811S (firmware vHS0Q).
|
CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a |
LiteOn SOHW-1213S |
Reading completed
without any errors but writing resulted in some C2 errors. |
- C1C2 Error rate from PleXWriter PX-712A (8X CLV reading speed)
- BETA/Jitter Error rate from PleXWriter PX-712A
The C1/C2 error graphs indicate that the drive dosen't manage to produce
a 100% error free disc. There are small C2 errors around 42minutes.
Lets try to extract all wav files with the Plextor PX-712A and PlexTool DAE Error Correction 5th Level enabled:
No errors were reported after extracting all files. Good performance from the drive.
8. CD Recording Tests
LiteON SOHW-1213S
Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 8
CD Recording Tests
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports 48X CD-R and 24X US-RW recording speeds.
The drive
supports 8X, 16X (CLV), 24X, 32X, 40X (P-CAV) and 48X (CAV) writing speeds. Below
are
the recording speeds as detected by Nero Burning Rom.
It's quite possible that due to the Smart-Burn system, the maximum burning
speed is reduced down to 32X or even 24X (for example Mam 48X SG Ultra). The
user can disable Smart-Burn and get the maximum writing speed. This can be
done
under
Nero Burning Rom->Choose Recorder->Options->Un-tick Smart-Burn Enabled.
Another utility that can be used to check the maximum speed of the inserted
media comes from LiteON - "SMART-BURN
Media
Check Program", a very useful utility for LiteON users:
According to Nero CDSpeed, the drive reached the maximum 48X speed. The test
started at 21.77X and finished at 48.87X having an average speed of 37.03X.
Click on the image below to see the whole graph.
For the burning tests we created an 80min data compilation through Nero Burning
Rom, recording the data on a 700MB disc. The LiteON SOHW-1213S finished the
task in
2:43 minutes, for the maximum 48X writing speed.
The
writing performance varies according to the inserted media. The SmartBurn
system will lower the writing speed if the media ID code is not found in the
drive's firmware. Below is a chart demonstrating
all recording times with various media.
The best performance came with CMC 80min 52X media at 163secs (2:43
mins) with SmartBurn disabled. The highest recording time was with
Taiyo Yuden
80min 48X media at 188 secs (3:08 mins).
- Other features
Overburning writing
|
|
CD text reading/writing
|
Yes
|
The SOHW-1213S supports the 16X CLV & 24X Z-CLV rewriting speeds 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 15.98X and reaches the maximum 24X
at the 14:00 min address mark on the disc. According to CDSpeed, the average
writing speed is 22.48X.
We also used Nero Burning Rom in order to burn a data disc with 24X US-RW
media from MCC. The data compilation we burned had a size of 651 MB and the
duration of the recording process was 3:56 minutes.
- CD-RW Mount Rainier Tests
The Mount Rainier format isn't supported by the SOHW-1213S drive.
9. 3T Jitter Tests
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 9
3T Jitter Tests
In this page you can
see the 3T
Pit & Land Jitter graphs using various media burned at 48X CAV writing
speed.
- 3T Pit results
The drive performed satisfactorily with three of the five
media used although all media at some point overshot the 35nsec Redbook limit.
The highest average 3T Pit jitter reached was 37,33nsec.
The best results came with BenQ 52X CD-R media.
- 3T Land results
The average 3T Land results were also satisfactory. The maximum average 3T
Land Jitter reached wass 36,56nsec while Verbatim 52X CD-R media produced
the best results. Again, no media managed to stay below the 35nsec limit.
On the following page we check the C1 and C2 error rates for the same discs,
to come up with more specific conclusions.
10. C1 / C2 Error Measurements
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 10
C1 / C2 Error Measurements
We measured the C1 / C2 error rate on the recorded discs we burned at the
various supported writing speeds. The software we used is PleXTools Professional
v2.14, and particularly the built-in Q-Check utility. The reader was the Plextor
PX-712A (firmware v1.01)
BenQ 80min 52X CD-R @ 48X
CMC Magnetics 80min 48X @ 48X
Verbatim 80min 52X @ 48X
TraxData 80min 52X @ 48X
TaiyoYuden 80min 48X @ 48X
- Summary
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S offers good writing quality with certain CD-R media.
Only with Taiyo Yuden & CMC media did we notice C2 errors.
- Appendix
Media Label |
ID Code |
Manufacturer Name |
Lead Out TIme |
Verbatim 80min 52X |
97m34s23f |
Verbatim |
79m59s73f |
CMC Magnetics 80min 48X |
97m26s66f |
CMC Magnetics |
79m59s71f |
BenQ 80min 48X |
97m22s67f |
Daxon Technology |
79m59s74f |
TY 80min 48X |
97m24s 1f |
Taiyo Yuden |
79m59s72f |
TraxData 80min 52X |
97m15s17f |
Ritek |
79m59s70f |
11. DVD Recording Tests
LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 11
DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports
the DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW writing formats. The maximum supported speed for
DVD+R is
12X ( Z-CLV, for DVD-R 8X ( Z-CLV) & 4X CLV
for DVD±RW
media. Nero Burning Rom reported speeds are shown below.
Nero CD-DVD Speed's "create disc" function with Taiyo Yuden 8X
DVD+R media, shows us the 12X Z-CLV recording technology being used
by
the LiteOn SOHW-1213S
recorder.
The drive starts writing at 5.97X until 0.6GB where it shifts up to 8X
until 2.4GB where it further shifts to 12X and stays there till the end. The
average writing speed is 9.56X. The Zone-CLV recording strategy is used
for both
DVD±R
formats but for DVD-R the maximum writing speed stops at 8X, as shown below.
The writing procedure for DVD-R media starts at 4.02X until
0.4GB where it shifts up to 6X until 1.6GB where it shifts to 8X and
stays there
till the
end, yielding a final average writing speed of 7.09X.
- Burning Tests
We burned 4315MB of data on various DVD±R, DVD±RW media.
We used the maximum allowed writing speed for each disc, with the SmartBurn
feature enabled. For the 12X DVD+R burning speed, the supported
media list is poor as only three of our media was compatible with that speed.
The best recording times for the DVD+R format came from Taiyo Yuden 8X media
with
7:14 mins burning time.
With DVD-R media, we also have poor supported media list for the 8X writing
speed. The lowest burning time and incompatibility came with 3A 8X DVD+R
media at 14:34 mins and 4X writing speed.
Below are all the burning results with the various media types used.
Disc Label |
Disc Information |
Max Allowed Writing Speed |
Total Recording Time (mins) |
MKM/Verbatim 8X
|
MCC 02RG20
|
8X
|
9:29
|
CMC 8X
|
CMC MAG. AE1
|
8X
|
9:21
|
TraxData 8X
|
RITEKG05
|
8X
|
9:18
|
Maxell 8X
|
MXL RG03
|
6X
|
10:42
|
MKM/Verbatim 4X
|
MCC 01RG20
|
4X
|
14:29
|
MMore 4X
|
MBI 01RG20
|
4X
|
14:32
|
Taiyo Yuden 8X
|
TYG01
|
8X
|
9:48
|
BenQ 4X
|
SONY04D1
|
4X
|
14:30
|
Mam 4X
|
MAM4XG02
|
4X
|
14:31
|
3A 8X
|
POMS3A
|
4X
|
14:34
|
TraxData 4X
|
RITEKG04
|
4X
|
14:31
|
Verbatim 4X RW
|
MCC 01RW4X
|
4X
|
14:18
|
TraxData 4X RW
|
RITEK W04
|
2X
|
29:04
|
Disc Label |
Disc Information |
Max Allowed Writing Speed |
Total Recording Time (mins) |
MKM/Verbatim 8X
|
MCC 003
|
12X
|
7:28
|
3A 8X
|
Plasmon1 C01
|
8X
|
8:27
|
CMC 8X
|
CMC MAG E01
|
8X
|
8:10
|
Taiyo Yuden 8X
|
YUDEN000 T02
|
12X
|
7:14
|
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4X
|
MCC 002
|
4X
|
14:10
|
Traxdata 4X
|
RICOHJPN R01
|
4X
|
14:10
|
Traxdata 8X
|
RITEK R03
|
8X
|
8:01
|
Ricoh 8X
|
RICOHJPN R02
|
12X
|
7:24
|
MCC 4X RW
|
MKM A02
|
4X
|
13:43
|
TraxData 4X RW
|
RICOHJPNW11
|
4X
|
13:40
|
- DVD Overburning Tests
In order to test the drive's DVD overburning capabilities, we used two media
types, one from CMC 8X DVD-R and one from 3A 8X DVD+R. As you can
see, the drive refused to start the test with DVD-R media.
While with DVD+R, the test started but when it reached 4.38GB, stopped with
an error message.
The LiteON SOHW-1213S cannot overburn either with DVD±R formats.
- DVD+MRW Tests
The drive doesn't support Mount Rainier format.
12. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 1
LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 12
KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 1
In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD+R/RW
media we burned with the LiteOn SOHW-1213S. The software we used for all measurements
is the KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is the LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q
patched" firmware, being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV.
All scans have been performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives
cannot report PO but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition,
all discs have been scanned with PX-712A v1.01 using PlexTools v2.14 for comparison
levels.
Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences in the
reported PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different
readers, with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different
reading speeds (8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). It's interesting
to see the
disc scanned at low & high speed, since when error rate increases at a
specific disc area, it should appear in both scans...else it would be, perhaps,
a reading glitch of the tested reader.
Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error
rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria
of the burning quality but as an indication level.
CMC 8X DVD+R @ 8X
3A 8X DVD+R @ 8X
MKM/Verbatim 8X DVD+R @ 12X
Taiyo Yuden DVD+R 8X @ 12X
MCC DVD+R 4X @ 4X
Ricoh DVD+R 8X @ 12X
TraxData 8X DVD+R @ 8X
MCC 4X DVD+RW @ 4X
TraxData 4X DVD+RW @ 4X
- Summary
According to the PIE/PIF scans, we can conclude that the LiteON SOHW-1213S
performed rather poorly with the used DVD+R media. All the DVD+R media presented
high PI errors
except for Mitsubishi Cemicals recorded at 4X speed. There are cases
where PI failures occurred, but
this
was specifically MKM/Verbatim 8X recorded at 12X & Traxdata 8X DVD+R recorded
at 8X, where the latter didn't finish the quality check process
with Plextools. Both
DVD+RW media we used offer good burning quality.
- Appendix
Disc Label |
Disc Information |
Max Allowed Writing Speed |
Total Recording Time (mins) |
MKM/Verbatim 8X
|
MCC 003
|
12X
|
7:28
|
3A 8X
|
Plasmon1 C01
|
8X
|
8:27
|
CMC 8X
|
CMC MAG E01
|
8X
|
8:10
|
Taiyo Yuden 8X
|
YUDEN000 T02
|
12X
|
7:14
|
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4X
|
MCC 002
|
4X
|
14:10
|
Traxdata 4X
|
RICOHJPN R01
|
4X
|
14:10
|
Traxdata 8X
|
RITEK R03
|
8X
|
8:01
|
Ricoh 8X
|
RICOHJPN R02
|
12X
|
7:24
|
MCC 4X RW
|
MKM A02
|
4X
|
13:43
|
TraxData 4X RW
|
RICOHJPNW11
|
4X
|
13:40
|
13. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 2
LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 13
KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 2
In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD-R/RW
media we burned with the LiteOn SOHW-1213S. The software we used for all measurements
is the KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is a LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q patched" firmware,
being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV. All scans have been
performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives cannot report PO
but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition all discs have been
scanned with PX-712A v1.01 using PlexTools v2.14 for comparison levels.
Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences at the reported
PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers,
with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds
(8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). Its interesting to see the disc
scanned at low & high speed, since when error rate increases at a specific
disc area, it should appear at both scans...else it would be, perhaps, a reading
glitch of the tested reader.
Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error
rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria
of the burning quality but as an indication level.
BenQ 4X DVD-R @ 4X
3A 8X DVD-R @ 4X
MKM/Verbatim 8X DVD-R @ 8X
CMC 8X DVD-R @ 8X
TraxData 4X DVD-R @ 4X
TraxData 8X DVD-R @ 8X
Mam 4X DVD-R @ 4X
Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD-R @ 8X
Maxell 8X DVD-R @ 6X
MMore 4X DVD-R @ 4X
MKM/Verbatim 4X DVD-R @ 4X
Verbatim 4X DVD-RW @ 4X
TraxData 4X DVD-RW @ 4X
- Summary
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S offers about the same results with DVD-R media as it
did with +R media. Burned media at 4X speed, offers good quality but the recorded
media at 8x speed
has
high
PI
errors and three of the discs showed incompatibility with the supported writing
speed - 3A 8X recorded at 4X, Maxell 8X at 6X and Traxdata 4X DVD-RW at 2X
writing
speeds. The incompatibility issue should be looked at by LiteON
engineers
and fixed in the near future with upcoming firmware releases.
- Appendix
Disc Label |
Disc Information |
Max Allowed Writing Speed |
Total Recording Time (mins) |
MKM/Verbatim 8X
|
MCC 02RG20
|
8X
|
9:29
|
CMC 8X
|
CMC MAG. AE1
|
8X
|
9:21
|
TraxData 8X
|
RITEKG05
|
8X
|
9:18
|
Maxell 8X
|
MXL RG03
|
6X
|
10:42
|
MKM/Verbatim 4X
|
MCC 01RG20
|
4X
|
14:29
|
MMore 4X
|
MBI 01RG20
|
4X
|
14:32
|
Taiyo Yuden 8X
|
TYG01
|
8X
|
9:48
|
BenQ 4X
|
SONY04D1
|
4X
|
14:30
|
Mam 4X
|
MAM4XG02
|
4X
|
14:31
|
3A 8X
|
POMS3A
|
4X
|
14:34
|
TraxData 4X
|
RITEKG04
|
4X
|
14:31
|
Verbatim 4X RW
|
MCC 01RW4X
|
4X
|
14:18
|
TraxData 4X RW
|
RITEK W04
|
2X
|
29:04
|
14. 1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 1
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 14
1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 1
To check exactly what the LiteOn SOHW-1213S & SOHW-832S report and how
different the new chipset inside the new LiteOn drive is compared with the
old one, we used different media, burned with other recorders. Three
media
have
been
measured
with
the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
Since all LiteON drives report only PI/PIF errors, we will compare those
measurements at various reading speeds:
- 12X CAV
- 3~8X CAV
- 2~6X CAV
- 4X CLV
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested SOHW-1213S
drive. Using other 1213S drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!
For comparison levels we have also included the results from an 832S drive.
#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 12X Reading speed
The PI error rate is about the same as the SA300 and PIF error rate trend
line looks similar to the SA300 but with totally different value levels.
#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The PI error rate line looks similar to the SA300 but with
different value levels while the PIF error rate line looks similar to the SA300
at about the same value
levels
#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed
About the same results as previously.
#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading
speed
With this test disc, all reading speeds 12X, 8X, 6X, 4X showed that at the
end of the disc, the PI/PIF error rate increases compared with the SA300 system
which also measured similar performance.
We can observe a difference with the measurements between the LiteOn SOHW-1213S & SOHW-832S
but with no significant improvements with the new chipset compared through
the
SA300.
15. 1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 2
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 15
1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 2
For checking exactly what the SOHW-1213S & SOHW-832S reports and how
different the new chipset inside the LiteOn is compared with the previous
one, we used different media, burned with other recorders. Three media
have
been
measured with
the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
Since all LiteON drives reports only PI/PIF errors, we will compare those measurements at three reading speeds:
- 12X CAV
- 3~8X CAV
- 2~6X CAV
- 4X CLV
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested SOHW-1213S
drive. Using other 1213S drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!
For comparison levels we have included the results from an 832S drive.
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 12X Reading speed
At 12X reading speed, the error trend line rises at
the end. This is also what the SA300 series showed but not at the
same level. The PIF error trend line as reported by the 1213S shows the same
behavior
as the SA300 system.
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
Using the LiteOn SOHW-1213S & 832S as readers at 8X is not recommended
because the reported PI/PIF error level results are low, which is definitely
not the case.
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed
The same as above.
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading
speed
The 8X, 6X & 4X reading speeds, results in almost high quality. Again,
not recommended.
16. 1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 3
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 16
1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 3
For checking exactly what the SOHW-1213S & SOHW-832S reports and how
different the new chipset inside the LiteOn is compared with the previous
one, we used different media, burned with other recorders. Three media
have
been
measured
with
the well
known
AudioDev
SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
Since all LiteON drives report only PI/PIF errors, we will compare those
measurements at three reading speeds:
- 12X CAV
- 3~8X CAV
- 2~6X CAV
- 4X CLV
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested SOHW-1213S
drive. Using other 1213S drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!
#3rd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 12X Reading speed
At the 12X reading speed, the drive reported a totally different PIE/PIF error
trend line compared with the SA300 system and of course the values
are not the same.
#3rd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The same as above.
#3rd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed
The same as above.
#3rd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading speed
The 4X reading speed is not recommended too, since the reported PI/PIF error
rate(s) gives the viewer the impression that the disc is at perfect condition...
17. 1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 4
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 17
1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 4
For checking exactly what the SOHW-1213S reports, we used different media,
burned with other recorders. Three media have been measured using
the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X. Since all LiteON drives
report
only PI/PIF errors, we will compare those measurements at one reading speed
(max). The disc actually read from 2.4X~5.5CAV. We didn't use KProbe v2.2.2
for the scan since all the times we tried, froze at 50%, with ASPI/SPTI
layer.
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested SOHW-1213S
drive. Using other 1213S drives can produce totally different results. Be
aware!
#4th Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - MAX Reading speed
The SOHW-1213S as well as 832S certainly cannot be used for scanning DVD+R
DL media since they report much higher error rates than what the SA300 series actually measured.
18. BookType Setting
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 18
BookType Setting
The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports the BookType Setting for the DVD±R/RW formats.
The user must set the BookType setting before burning any project.
Using KProbe, under Tools->Bitsetting, the user can view the current Disc
Type and change the BookType to either DVD-ROM/DVD+R/+RW. Unfortunately, Bit
Setting isn't
supported for DVD-R/RW media.
Lets now try changing the Bit Setting for DVD+R media, the current Booktype
is NORMAL (DVD+R)
After pressing the "Set" button, the booktype changed to DVD-ROM
19. Conclusion
LiteON
SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 19
Conclusion
The SOHW-1213S is the first LiteON recorder to include the 3rd generation
MediaTek chipset, allowing up to 12X DVD+R. That's the drive's strongest
feature which
unfortunaly dissapointed us... Its performance with either of DVD±R
was at best mediocre tending towards bad, resulting in successful burns but
with high PI/PIF error rates. Certainly the drive needs major improvements
in this
area
in order to become
competitive
in the 12X writer playground, against the likes of drives such as the Plextor
PX-712A.
The drive's inability to backup the latest SafeDisc protected titles along
with the very low CD Error Correction/C2% accuracy, certainly made us stop
and think about the abilities of the 3rd generation MediaTek chipsets.
The previous generation had very good performance in this department, but we don't know if this can be improved with a future firmware update.
The CD recording tests were good with low C1/C2 errors but again problems
were noticed with various media (TY and CMC Magnetics), which should be improved.
Concluding, we can say that the drive has potential, but LiteON needs to improve
its performance with firmware update(s). The cost of the drive is around US$100.00.
- The Good
- Low price
- Good DVD error correction
- Can overburn CDs up to 91 minutes
- Supports protected Audio discs (CDS200, Key2Audio)
- Good transfer speed for CSS DVD video ripping
- Supports BookType BitSetting for DVD+R/RW formats
- Big unofficial community support (KProbe, Speedhacks, RPC1 utilities)
- Frequent firmware updates from LiteON
- The Bad
- DVD±R incompatibility at the maximum writing speeds
- DVD±R needs improvement as
drive produces high PI error rates and PI failures in some cases
- Poor CD error correction
- Low C2% accuracy
- Doesn't backup SafeDisc v2.9 & 3.1x protected discs and dosen't create
accurately backup for v2.8x &2.5x
- Doesn't support reading of DVD-RAM media
- Doesn't support DVD overburning
- Doesn't accurately backup "Aiko Katsukino - The Love Letter",
Audio protected disc.
- Like to be fixed
- DVD±R writing performance compatibility with the media