CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016

[scruffy]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: PX-230A computation

I just got done ripping about 200 CDs using EAC. To expedite things, I installed 3 optical drives: ATAPI iHAS124 W, ATAPI iHAS124 E, and an ASUS DRW-24B1ST c. It usually took between 3-6 minutes rip each CD using burst mode with AccurateRip. Out of the 200 CDs, I was getting a lot of errors but most turned out to be due to a thumb print on the CD from removing them from tight sleeves. Being more careful removing the CDs from the sleeves resulted excellent results overall, with the ASUS drive coming up with more errors than either of the Lite On drives. Both of the Lite On drives were about equal when it came to accuracy.

[marukuru]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: PX-230A computation

Same goes for the iHAS124-14 (reports itself as iHAS124 F). Both drives report to be capable of C2, but I don't trust them on that.

[marukuru]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: PX-230A computation

I recently bought an iHAS124-04 and got a revision D. It's fairly fast and accurate with your everyday CDs, but it instantly died on a copy protected CD. It didn't manage to accurately rip a single track. Still waiting for an iHAS124-14 and a PX-230A to arrive.

[HamLet]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: PX-230A computation

revision matters? W, B, C etc...
where can I buy a W ??????

Revision certainly matters. I suspect that iHAS124 W and F do not even have the same chipset, they use different numbering schemes for the firmware. (The W goes HL05, HL08, HL0A, HL0F, HL0G, a very common scheme for LiteOn, and some of these are shared with other drives. The F has CL09 and CL99.) I have both: can not tell you which is more accurate, but I can tell you that F is faster. (Of course YMMV and different specimens of the same drive might have different performance).

I use a 76 minutes long CD that is a bit worn out as a test disc (Helene Grimaud plays Bach, very nice BTW). Some drives can read all tracks on first pass, some need to re-rip a few frames, some need more than the 3 min max I allow per track. Both the F and the W can do it on the first pass but the W needs 5:44 while the F needs 2:11 and my beloved PX-230A needs just 1:56.

You can easily buy either off e-bay: just ask the seller for a picture of the label. I think the ones sold as iHAS124-14 are invariably F, and many are newish OEM while 124-04 are mostly W and used. About $20 incl shipping for a new OEM one is about right, but you can find a W or a B for less than $15. Good luck! (BTW, the cheapest way to collect drives is to go scavenging at a nearby e-waste center. :-).

Hope this helps! -- Ham

[HamLet]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: PX-230A computation

It probably means that people are using this drive to only rip discs they cannot rip with their other main drive, hence the high failure rate.

Thanks Spoon, makes sense! But OTOH it means that the former "champion" drives might be unfairly evaluated if people "save" them only for difficult cases. Good to know and thanks for publishing these stats.

[Spoon]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: PX-230A computation

It probably means that people are using this drive to only rip discs they cannot rip with their other main drive, hence the high failure rate.

[HamLet]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: PX-230A computation

I am unclear about the accuracy computation: The Accuracy List 2016 says

Drive: PLEXTOR - CD-R PX-230A (131 users): Submissions: 6957 accurate, 118 inaccurate, 98.3322 % accuracy

The 2014 list says

Drive: PLEXTOR - CD-R PX-230A (126 users): Submissions: 6591 accurate, 56 inaccurate, 99.1575 % accuracy

So if (big if) my understanding is correct in the last two years there are 5 new users of PX-230A but among the 131 (new and old) 230A users they submitted 6957-6591 = 366 new rips of which 118-56 = 62 were inaccurate! Now that seems bonkers, since it implies an accuracy of barely 83% on the new rips!!! What's going on?

BTW, the PX230A is still my favorite together with liteon ATAPI iHBS212. These are the fastest and most accurate drives I have (among a dozen or so). I have both a iHAS124 F and W, I like the F better than W, but the Bluray iHBS212 is usually the best. My standard workflow is to do 1 Pass on the PX230A or iHBS212 This results in an accurate rip in 90% of the cases in about 2 minutes. If not, polish the disk and try again in secure mode. If not start trying other drives.

Thanks! -- Ham

[Spoon]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: C2 capability

ATAPI are SCSI commands sent over the SATA bus, so any cd drive which is SATA is atapi.

[Drummerboy]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: C2 capability

I have several questions:
1. Can the various readily available SATA versions of the top-rated ATAPI iHAS124 drive be considered comparable in accuracy?
2. Any real reason to use the cache size as buying factor? Newegg list a 512kb model @ $20 & a 1MB model @ $60, while Amazon lists a 1.5MB SATA Buffer Memory @ $21,all are Lite-On 24X DVD burner iHAS124-04. Also Amazon says newer model is iHSA124-14 no cache specified @ $20.
3. I want to put this internal SATA optical disc drive in an external enclosure with SATA to USB adapter to serve as hi res burner for a Surface Pro 3. All the enclosures seem to have their own power supply & a fan ( makes sense for a 5.25" drive that won't run off USB power alone like the slim drives). But fans & power supplies seem like potential sources of noise that could affect recording. I don't see any highly rated (or even rated) external ODD's in the 2016 list, so this seems like only solution. Please point out alternatives if I am wrong, and any suggestions for enclosures is appreciated.
4. My friend has a Mac mini w/o ODD. I don't see the latest Apple SuperMulti USB drive on the list. Any experience with accuracy on this or any alternatives I can pass on to him?
This is my first post & I am very grateful for your help.

Sorry if I am missing something but following oddoc7 question 1 above, I too had the same question but cannot see that the subsequent replies answered this point. For example, at the moment after an initial search on ebay UK, I only seem to be able to find the sata version of the iHAS124, and cannot readily find an ATAPi version yet. Does this matter? Will the SATA version be just as reliable as the top rated ATAPi model?

Thanks

[Oggy]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: C2 capability

Thanks for quick reply. Any recommendations on external enclosures & SATA to USB adapter for the Lite-On drives? If Apple drive is just a rebranded slim drive, then sounds like it would give poor accuracy like other slims, unless you have any recommendations for external slim drives for Mac or for PC? Otherwise best bets seem to be the external enclosure route for a hi-rated internal drive like the Lite-On for PC, unsure for MAC compatible drive.

I can't remember who makes the latest Superdrive, but the older one was Matshita / Panasonic, which I have bought and used. A full sized drive, like the Lite-On, will be a lot quicker ripping.

To go for an enclosure or an adaptor is solely down to the individual. I went the adaptor route with both SATA and ide / PATA, so I can use this with any DVD drive and HDDs. This works superbly, but is not as elegant as an enclosure.

As for a recommendation, a couple of friends both use different brands, all with good results. So price, features, seller feedback, reliability.

[oddoc7]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: C2 capability

Thanks for quick reply. Any recommendations on external enclosures & SATA to USB adapter for the Lite-On drives? If Apple drive is just a rebranded slim drive, then sounds like it would give poor accuracy like other slims, unless you have any recommendations for external slim drives for Mac or for PC? Otherwise best bets seem to be the external enclosure route for a hi-rated internal drive like the Lite-On for PC, unsure for MAC compatible drive.

Cache size is not relevant.

Fans and Power supplies do not affect digital extraction of audio in the way that you are thinking.

Apple drives are just rebranded drives.

[Spoon]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: C2 capability

Cache size is not relevant.

Fans and Power supplies do not affect digital extraction of audio in the way that you are thinking.

Apple drives are just rebranded drives.

[oddoc7]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: C2 capability

I have several questions:
1. Can the various readily available SATA versions of the top-rated ATAPI iHAS124 drive be considered comparable in accuracy?
2. Any real reason to use the cache size as buying factor? Newegg list a 512kb model @ $20 & a 1MB model @ $60, while Amazon lists a 1.5MB SATA Buffer Memory @ $21,all are Lite-On 24X DVD burner iHAS124-04. Also Amazon says newer model is iHSA124-14 no cache specified @ $20.
3. I want to put this internal SATA optical disc drive in an external enclosure with SATA to USB adapter to serve as hi res burner for a Surface Pro 3. All the enclosures seem to have their own power supply & a fan ( makes sense for a 5.25" drive that won't run off USB power alone like the slim drives). But fans & power supplies seem like potential sources of noise that could affect recording. I don't see any highly rated (or even rated) external ODD's in the 2016 list, so this seems like only solution. Please point out alternatives if I am wrong, and any suggestions for enclosures is appreciated.
4. My friend has a Mac mini w/o ODD. I don't see the latest Apple SuperMulti USB drive on the list. Any experience with accuracy on this or any alternatives I can pass on to him?
This is my first post & I am very grateful for your help.

[Oggy]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016: C2 capability

Hey guys -- perhaps a somewhat related sub-topic from a non-technical person.

I recently had an internal drive malfunction, and want to replace my internal drive. Originally I was in a hurry to finish some work so I tried my local Best Buy Geek Squad. In their store they had two drives available -- an LG (internal and external variations) and an HP, the latter of which the Geek person suggested against, from personal experience. I believe DBPA generally recommends using a drive with C2 capability. but neither the stand-alone external LG model nor the internal LG model seems to offer C2 capability.

Do any or most of the top models include a C2 capability? (I do all of my ripping from a stationary desktop PC.)
Should I limit my choice to a drive with C2?

Thanks.

I've achieved either a Secure rip or an AccurateRip with drives that both do, and do not support C2 pointers fully, and that is the desired result. I couldn't tell you which drives on the current list give full support, but was pleased to see that a drive that is still available for under £15, is top of the list, and had good feedback - see c-elings post, above.

I've also had good results from HP, LG, TSST and Matshita drives. My favourite is an older Lite-On (Atapi), simply because for me it ripped the fastest of the drives I own, and ripped a Copy Controlled disc that other drives wouldn't. For me it performed better than the Matshita, which was the previous top of the list drive.

C2 pointers or not, slightly faster ripping or not, an AccurateRip is an AccurateRip, so any number of drives will serve you well. A different spare, a good idea.

[wdesbrow]

Re: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016

Did we ever get an answer to the question of which of these two units to buy? I am confused -- did I miss something???

Thanks!