CD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when reading scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.

- ABEX TCD-721R

Errors total	Num: 1212483
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)	Num: 59039	Avg: -73.4 dB(A)	Max: -26.4 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples	Num: 3763	Avg: 1.1 Samples	Max: 40 Samples
Skips Samples	Num: 0	Avg: 0.0 Samples	Max: 0 Samples
Total Test Result	76.4 points (out of 100.0 maximum)
C2 Accuracy	-

The performance with the 721R test disc is satisfactory. The loudness level is fairly low with tha maximum at -26.4 dB(A). No samples were skipped and the total score of 76 .4 is about average. The drive cannot return C2 error pointers, and so there is no score posted for C2Accuracy.

- ABEX TCD-726

Errors total	Num: 506
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)	Num: 24	Avg: -71.0 dB(A)	Max: -60.2 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples	Num: 0	Avg: 0.0 Samples	Max: 0 Samples
Skips Samples	Num: 0	Avg: 0.0 Samples	Max: 0 Samples
Total Test Result	92.6 points (out of 100.0 maximum)
C2 Accuracy	-

The Abex TCD-726 test disc is much easier for drives in general to read. The ASUS DRW-1604P drive reached 92.6 score (out of 100), which is very good.

- 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 more difficult tests. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through Check Level-5.

The tracks are being reproduced through a software multimedia player (i.e. 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
NEC ND-2510A	5/5	5/5	5/5	5/5	3/5

The drive showed a remarable ability to correct errors and reached the 5th level with 3/5 score! That is one of the best performances we have seen from a PC drive!