Data Tests: (74min CDs)

Test Method:
We made a DataCD with Nero 5.0 and made several copies into several different media at various write speeds (4x, 8x, 12x) using various CDR-W drives in order to test the compatibility with CD media of the KenWood 72x TrueX CD-Rom.

- CD Media 74min tests (used Sanyo CRD-BP2 CDR-W drive):
We made copies of the same Data CD with different write speeds (4x, 8x, 12x) and then we used the CD Speed 99 v0.66 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 you can notice the drive does not like at all the Parrot media, since it refuses to complete the test and thus returns back an error message. Also notice that the Fullmark brand also gives very low reading speed results. The Traxdata, Princo and the Mitsui media worked very well but they also have a performance gap between them. The Mitsui media seems to work better than other CD media written at 4x.

From the above graph we see that again the Mitsui media works best with the KenWood 72x TrueX CD-Rom and gives an average performance of 62.52x reading speed. The Princo, the Traxdata media also work good and they give an average performance of 53x reading speed. The KenWood 72x TrueX drive refused again to read the Parrot media and with the Fullmark media gave very bad performance (7.46x average).

The above graph shows quite interesting stuff... The KenWood 72x TrueX CD-Rom refused to read the Parrot and the Princo media written at 12x and failed to complete the tests with the Fullmark media (again written at 12x). The Mitsui and the Traxdata media worked very well and reached an average speed of 60x-61x.

- CD Media 74min tests (used Plextor PX-W8220):

From the above graph we can see that the Ricoh, Basf and the Maxell media works good with the drive, but that's not true for the Ritek media, which produced some poor results.

Total Results from 74min Media:
The KenWood 72x TrueX CD-Rom seems to work better with the gold dye media (TraxData and Mitsui), less good with the Princo media and even worse with the blue dye (Fullmark, Parrot) media. This is defiantly the weakest point of the drive and KenWood should try to improve drive's reading performance with the blue dye media.