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

- ABEX TCD-721R

The performance of the SHW-16H5S with the specific test disc is rather good. The Total Error Count is one of the lowest as is the maximum error loudness at -37.2 dB(A). There were no skipped samples reported and the Total Test Score is quite good.

- ABEX TCD-726

The 726 test media does not present any problems for the majority of the tested drives. In the case of our LiteOn, the performance was perfect.

- 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 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.

With this test disc, the drive reported average performance, achieving flawless reading for only 3 out of 5 tracks.

- Summary

Overall, the CD error correction of the SHW-16H5s drive is good.