Pioneer DVR-104 DVD-R

Review Pages

1. Introduction
2. CD/DVD Data Tests
3. CloneCD reading Tests
4. DAE Tests
5. CDR Tests
6. DVD Tests
7. 2x DVD-R Compatibility
8. RW-Packet Writing Tests
9. Conclusion

Pioneer DVR-A04 IDE DVD-R/RW - Page 5

CDR Tests

Pioneer DVR-A04 supports 4x and 8x (CLV) writing. The drive does support buffer underrun protection for CD and DVD formats which is useful for today's applications. We did our tests with Nero v5.5.7.8 and CloneCD v3.3.4.1. For the CD-R tests we used: Creation 74min (12x), Taiyo Yuden 74 & 80min (24x), Mitsui 74min (24 & 16x) and Verbatim/TDK 74min HS-RW media.

- CD-R Tests

We created a "DataCD" job with data slightly higher than 74mins (74:03:65). We burned the same job with both tested drives, using the same media:

Pioneer DVR-A04 needs 601secs to finish the task, which is actually a higher writing time than the DVR-A03. (Future firmware upgrades will most likely not improve this speed).

- 80min CDs

Following the same procedure as in the previous test, we created a DataCD with data lower than 80min (79:49:50). The Pioneer DVR-A04 supports overburning but needs 10 more seconds to end the task, compared to the DVR-A03:

- Writing Quality Tests

We used Ritek 74min CD-R 16x certified media and wrote a full 74min CD. All CDs were burned with the latest Nero version. The produced CDs were measured from DigitalDrives and the test results illustrated at the following table:

*8x writing speed*
Model	C1		Average Burning Time (secs)
	Max	Average
Pioneer DVR-104	14	0,6	601

The Pioneer DVR-A04 produced a very low C1 error rate with the Ritek media. The following graph illustrates the C1 error rate over the whole disc area:

- Overburning Tests

Our attempts to overburn with the Pioneer DVR-A04 weren't successful. The drive kept locking up at the end of the project with 99min media.

- CD-Text Results

We created several AudioCDs with CD-Text enabled. Pioneer DVR-A04 can write/read CD-Text without any problems.

- CloneCD Tests

CloneCD v3.3.4.1 reports that the Pioneer DVR-A04 drive supports only SAO-RAW writing mode. According to our tests, Pioneer DVR-A04 doesn't really support RAW writing and rejects the CUE sheet file as the CloneCD software reports:

- 8cm mini CDs

The Pioneer DVR-A04 supports 8cm CDs without any problems.

Note: An 80mm disc cannot be used when the drive is mounted vertically. This case remains even when an adapter is used. The drive does not support Non-Standard discs such as Shaped or Biz Card size discs.