- Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.00
- CDVD Benchmark v1.21
- ExactAudioCopy v0.9 beta5
- Nero Info Tool v2.21
- KProbe v2.2.
4. Transfer Rate Reading Tests
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 4
Transfer Rate Reading Tests
In order to confirm the specifications for all drives in CD readings we used one CD pressed media, a copy on CD-R and HS-RW media. The results are illustrated in the following graphs.
- CD Format
In the first two tests with Pressed CD and CDR media, the LiteOn proved to
be much faster than the two other drives. With USRW media however, the Asus
was
the
fastest with
the LiteOn
slowest.
- DVD Format
We repeated the same tests with DVD media this time.
All drives reported similar speeds. The differences can be considered as negligible.
The following DVD is a PTP DVD-ROM where the two layers of the disc are
read sequentially with the drive starting reading from the inner part of the
disc,
which is the beginning of each layer, progressing towards the outer range for
each layer.
The Asus drive performed much faster with the specific media type.
The graph shown below, indicates the reading performance of
the three drives with an OTP dual layer media. 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 on 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 towards
the inner part of the disc.
As in the previous case, the Asus drive was again the fastest and by
a rather considerable difference. Hence with Double Layer media, the Asus
drive simply proved to be too fast for
the
competition.
The two following graphs include the reading performance with
recordable and rewritable media, where again the Pioneer drive is the fastest
due to its higher supported speed.
Once again the highest reading speeds belong to the Asus drive. LiteOn had
normal speeds while the Samsung was slow and below average.
We ripped the contents of a pressed Double Layer movie to the hard disk using
each of the drives. The results are summarized below:
The ASUS drive's ripping speed is quite impressive leaving the other two drives
lagging behind.
The Samsung drive is the only one that supports DVD-RAM reading, a feature
that differentiates the drive from the other two:
-Appendix Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs
Asus
Samsung
LiteOn
5. CD Error Correction Tests
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 5
CD Error Correction Tests
In the following tests we check the drives behavior when reading scratched
/ defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.
- ABEX TCD-721R
Errors total |
Num: 1599506 |
Errors (Loudness) dB(A) |
Num: 68139 |
Avg: -74.6 dB(A) |
Max: -16.9 dB(A) |
Error Muting Samples |
Num: 4826 |
Avg: 1.3 Samples |
Max: 631 Samples |
Skips Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0.0 Samples |
Max: 0 Samples |
Total Test Result |
75.8 points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
Errors total |
Num: 1105276 |
Errors (Loudness) dB(A) |
Num: 53981 |
Avg: -71.5 dB(A) |
Max: -4.7 dB(A) |
Error Muting Samples |
Num: 4209 |
Avg: 3.2 Samples |
Max: 545 Samples |
Skips Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0.0 Samples |
Max: 0 Samples |
Total Test Result |
75.3 points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
LiteOn SOHD167T |
Errors total |
Num: 1632452 |
Errors (Loudness) dB(A) |
Num: 120120 |
Avg: -45.0 dB(A) |
Max: -7.2 dB(A) |
Error Muting Samples |
Num: 34042 |
Avg: 1.5 Samples |
Max: 3401 Samples |
Skips Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0.0 Samples |
Max: 0 Samples |
Total Test Result |
73.6 points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
The performance with this test disc is acceptable for all drives. However,
the Samsung TS-H352 had a lower total error count with only a few spikes
being over the -36dB limit.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total |
Num: 0 |
Errors (Loudness) dB(A) |
Num: 0 |
Avg: -174.0 dB(A) |
Max: -174.0 dB(A) |
Error Muting Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0 Samples |
Max:0 Samples |
Skips Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0.0 Samples |
Max: 0 Samples |
Total Test Result |
100.0 points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
Errors total |
Num: 0 |
Errors (Loudness) dB(A) |
Num: 0 |
Avg: -174.0 dB(A) |
Max: -174.0 dB(A) |
Error Muting Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0 Samples |
Max:0 Samples |
Skips Samples |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0.0 Samples |
Max: 0 Samples |
Total Test Result |
100.0 points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
LiteOn SOHD167T |
Errors total |
Num: 71 |
Errors (Loudness) dB(A) |
Num: 11 |
Avg: -77.0 dB(A) |
Max: -66.5 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 |
93.3 points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
The Asus and Samsung drives managed to pass this test with an absolute score
of 100.00. The LiteOn reported some errors and its score was lower
at 93.3 but still quite acceptable.
- 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.
Error Level |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
Asus DVD-E616P2 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
0/5 |
Error Level |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
Samsung TS-H352 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
0/5 |
Error Level |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
LiteOn SOHD-167T |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
Once again the Asus and Samsung drives showed similar performance. They
managed to playback cleanly the first four tracks, revealing good error correction.
The LiteOn
on the other hand went one better with a performance that
a few drives have achieved in the past. All tracks were played flawlessly by
the LiteOn drive.
- Summary
Generally, we could say that the performance is good for all the drives.
We would simply highlight the LiteOn's performance with the CD-Check
Audio Test Disc.
6. DVD Error Correction Tests
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 6
DVD Error Correction Tests
In the following tests we examine the DVD reading capabilities of the drives
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 4.7GB capacity, and its surface has an artificial scratch of dimensions varying from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The following transfer rate screenshots come from the CDVD Benchmark
v1.21 transfer rate test.
This disc was not a problem for any of the drives. We consider that
the ASUS' reading graph was about as smooth as it gets.
ABEX TDR-825
This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of 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 instead defective areas of dimensions ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm.
There are also fingerprints sized between 65 and 75 micrometers.
The performance was again good for all the drives. However, the Samsung and
LiteOn drives had a few momentary drops, especially over the defective
area on the disc. On
the other hand, the ASUS again produced a near perfect line.
- 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, on both layers.
All drives managed to read the defective areas on the disc without any problems.
There are also very few speed fluctuations (random yellow dots), indicating
how effortlessly the drives read this disc.
ABEX TDR-845
The disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc with 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 micrometers.
The ASUS and LiteOn drives showed very good performance. The Samsung's
reading graph shows a reading error (red dot) over the middle of the first
defective region on the first
layer of the disc which is not good. We repeated the reading but the results
were the same for the Samsung drive.
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 also checks the error correcting capabilities of the drive and includes scratches from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The reading process finished successfully for all drives. The region just
after the layer switch seemed to be difficult for both the ASUS and
Samsung drives, where
both
slowed
down in order to read the contents but no errors were reported. The LiteOn
drive had the smoothest reading graph.
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 disc's surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm. It also has 65 - 75 micrometer thickness, fingerprints.
Black dots and fingerprints on the disc's surface did not create any reading problems, and all the drives finished the task successfully.
7. DAE Tests
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 7
DAE Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results
Both the ASUS and LiteOn drives support 40X DAE speed while the Samsung
32X. The following results were reported when using Exact Audio Copy.
As was expected, the Samsung was the slowest while the other two reported
similar performance with ASUS being fastest with a margin of 1X
from the LiteOn. EAC
also reported the following information for each drive:
- Advanced DAE Quality
All tested drives received a perfect quality score of 100. The average speed
for the LiteOn was the fastest.
Asus
Samsung
LiteOn
- Ripping 90mins AudioCDs
- Ripping 99mins AudioCDs
8. Protected AudioCDs
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 8
Protected AudioCDs
For the test procedure we used three audio discs with different
audio copy protections. The ripping process for 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 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.
All drives recognized up to the 13th Audio track of CDS200 disc,
and with the "Retrieve Native TOC" option removed the 13th Data
track was also read.
The test results are shown in the following table:
|
Key2Audio |
CDS200 |
Asus DVD-E616P2 |
Ripping process completed, EAC reports no problems, Read&Test CRC comparison successful for all tracks |
CD is unreadable under Windows OS |
Samsung TS-H352 |
Ripping process completed, EAC reports no problems, Read&Test CRC comparison successful for all tracks |
CD is unreadable under Windows OS |
LiteOn SOHD-167T |
CD is unreadable under Windows OS |
CD works with Windows Media Player, ripping process completed with EAC which reports timing problems. Read&Test CRC comparison was unsuccessful for most of the tracks |
None of the three drives managed to play both of the tested discs.
- Cactus Data Shield 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a (Aiko Katsukino - The Love Letter)
This is a "special" CDS200 build, since it doesn't produce
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 specific
chipset weaknesses.
|
CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a |
Asus DVD-E616P2 |
Reading performed without any errors
|
Samsung TS-H352 |
LiteOn SOHD-167T |
9. Protected Disc Tests
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 9
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
for each process as well as the transfer rate in each case.
| Game Title |
Protection Scheme |
Drive |
Duration |
Reading speed |
| PSX "NBA Jam Extreme" |
Lybcrypt |
Asus |
00:57min |
1585 sectors/sec |
| Samsung |
02:11min
|
690 sectors/sec
|
| LiteOn |
04:42 min
|
320 sectors/sec
|
| Serious Sam The Second Encounter v1.07 |
SafeDisc v.2.60.052 |
Asus |
02:19
min |
2413
sectors/sec |
| Samsung |
2:24:39 min
|
39 sectors/sec
|
| LiteOn |
2:00:05 min |
47 sectors/sec
|
| VRally II |
SecuROM v.2 |
Asus |
02:37min |
2190 sectors/sec
|
| Samsung |
03:52min
|
1482 sectors/sec
|
| LiteOn |
04:47 min
|
1198 sectors/sec
|
Once again, the ASUS drive was the fastest in all cases.
Safedisc protection seemed to be especially difficult for the other
two drives.
10. Asus vs S300
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 11
Asus vs S300
- Single Layer Media
To check exactly what the ASUS DVD-E616P2 reports, we used different media,
burned with other recorders. These media have been measured with the
well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
According to CDSpeed, only three reading speeds are supported, 10X/8X/5X,
while the scanning interval is 64ECC blocks.
PISum8/PIF Comparison - 5X Reading speed
The trend line from the CDSpeed graph for the PI sum is similar to the SA300.
The values are also very close if we consider the difference in scales.
The PIF readings are also similar.
PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
Neither the PI sum or the PIF are not the same from both scans.
PISum8/PIF Comparison - 10X Reading speed
Not many similarities...
- Double Layer Media
The reading process froze at 49% at all tested speeds:
11. 167T vs S300
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 12
167T vs S300
- Single Layer Media
To check exactly what the LiteOn SOHD-167T reports and how different the
new chipset inside the new LiteOn drive is compared with the older drives,
we used different media, burned on other recorders. These 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:
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested SOHD-167T drive. Using other 167T drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!
PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The trend line is similar for both scans while the values themselves are also
quite close.
PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed
The trendline is similar here too but this time the values are quite different.
PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading speed
Once again the trend line is similar but the values very different.
- Double Layer Media
For checking exactly what the SOHW-1633S reports, we used three different media, burned with other recorders. The three media have been measured using the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
The drive is capable of reporting PI/PIF errors, so we will compare those measurements at various reading speeds:
- 3~8X CAV
- 2~6X CAV
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested LiteON SOHW-1633S drive. Using other drives, even another SOHW-1633S, can produce totally different results. Be aware!
PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
Only the PIF scans are similar for the two scans. The PI sum is totally
different.
PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading speed
Nothing in common...
12. Hacked Firmware for Asus
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 13
Hacked Firmware for Asus
There's no RPC-1 firmware yet for this drive. To make your drive region free, you can use DVD Region+CSS Free.
13. Hacked Firmware for Samsung
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 14
Hacked Firmware for Samsung
Currently, there's RPC1 firmware support for this
Samsung DVD-ROM, but it is in the older TS02 firmware revision.
14. Hacked Firmware for LiteOn
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 15
Hacked Firmware for LiteOn
We flashed the drive to the v9S19 firmware revision, which is not official
but does support 16X DVD SL reading and 10X DL. We then repeated
some tests in order
to find out if there were any differences.
In all cases, the patched LiteOn was faster with the hacked firmware than
with the official.
In order to check if a patched firmware will affect the reading ability of a drive we repeat our DVD error correction tests.
ABEX TDR-821
ABEX TDR-825
ABEX TDR-841
ABEX TDR-845
ABEX TDV-541
ABEX TDV-545
As you can see, there is no difference in this series of tests.
Using Kprobe software, we managed to successfully remove the RPC lock.
15. Conclusion
DVD-ROM Roundup Vol.4 - Page 16
Conclusion
To start with, we saw fast CD reading speed for the LiteOn due
to its supported 52X speed, while the Asus and Samsung follow with 40X and
32X respectively. The
seek times
were
also
low for the LiteOn drive. On the other hand, with USRW reading, the LiteOn
supports up to 24X and for this reason was the slowest among the drives,
where the Asus and Samsung support 32X.
All the drives had similar performance when reading Single Layer pressed DVD-ROM
media, where 16X speed was achieved with all the drives. The situation
is not the same with Double Layer pressed media where Asus leads the race.
When
the
other two drives finished the task reporting 8X, Asus was over 12X. Notice
that the tests were done with the official firmware revisions. The same also
happened with recordable media. The maximum speed for the LiteOn and Samsung
at the end of reading, was close to 8X. In the same test, Asus was almost
up to
10X.
Most owners use their DVD-ROM drives for transferring their pressed movie
titles onto their hard disks. One more time, the Asus drive performed excellently.
The average ripping speed, as it was reported by DVD Decrypter, was at
11620KB/s ( 8.4X).
The transfer rates for the LiteOn and Samsung, for the same task, were 8715KB/s
and 9376KB/s respectively.
A very strong advantage for the Samsung drive is its ability to read
DVD-RAM media, while both the other drives do not recognize this format.
CD error correction was good for all the drives with the LiteOn shining through
with the CD-Check Audio Test Disc and the Samsung with the ABEX TCD-721R.
Generally, the performance
was similar for all drives.
According to our DVD error correction tests, the LiteOn performed flawlessly.
Very good performance was also shown by the other two drives with the exception
of a single
reading error that the Samsung drive reported during the reading of the ABEX
TDR-845 test disc.
The DAE speed was similar for the LiteOn and Asus drives, nearing 40X,
while the Samsung lagged behind due to its 32X supported speed. The advanced
DAE quality score from CDSpeed
was
100 for all drives. The LiteOn drive also managed to read successfully both
90min and 99min test discs, while the Asus failed with the 99min disc and the
Samsung with the 90min.
Key2Audio and CDS200, AudioCD protections, worked partially in the drives.
Key2Audio proved to be a minor problem for the LiteOn drive while CDS200
for the Asus and Samsung. The latest CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a was not a
problem for
any
of the drives.
Asus is fast in ripping protected CD games, especially with SafeDisk protection
where the other two drives had major problems. Overall, the LiteOn was the
slowest and Asus the fastest.
The ability of the Asus and LiteOn drives to measure quality in DVD media
is a strong feature. Asus works well with CDSpeed while LiteOn with Kprobe.
Their
accuracy
however cannot be compared to a reference device and the results can only be
used for personal comparisons.
Another important feature of any drive, at least in our estimations, is its
unofficial support from firmware revisions that can change the behavior
of the drive. In
our tests,
the LiteOn leads the race in this regard, while the Asus has no unofficial
firmware support, not even for setting the drive to region free. The Samsung
has a previous firmware release with region free
support, while the LiteOn can be flashed so that
the drive can read 16X DVD SL media and 10X for DL. The region free option
is also available.
The pricing for all three drives is almost the same, at around
$25.