Recommended CD Burners

[kwiat87268]

I am looking to buy an external USB CD burner to rip hundreds of CDs using DBpoweramp. I don't have any DVDs or BlueRays to burn. Strictly for CDs. Trying to find a decent reviewed, reliable and durable external CD burner that doesn't break the bank considering my limited use. Recommendations?

[Oggy]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

I am looking to buy an external USB CD burner to rip hundreds of CDs using DBpoweramp. I don't have any DVDs or BlueRays to burn. Strictly for CDs. Trying to find a decent reviewed, reliable and durable external CD burner that doesn't break the bank considering my limited use. Recommendations?

Have a look at the Samsung (TSST) or Lite-On, both similarly priced. Alternatively, how about a 5.25" drive, with a USB / SATA powered adaptor? Probably more robust and quicker - will save you a lot of time if ripping 100s of CDs.

I have the TSST drive (Lite-On was out of stock when I bought, so decision was made for me) and use this if I've got a couple of discs to rip. If I've got a large number of discs to rip, I hook up my 5.25" Lite-On via the USB, powered adaptor, for speed and its ability with Copy protected discs.

The 5.25" drive is obviously not very neat and utilises a brick power supply - if space and style is important, then the slimline external drives, do the job.

[kwiat87268]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

I guess I didn't think of going that way. I wish I didn't donate all my cdrom drives. I have a laptop and I was initially going to get a slim drive but 95% of the usage will be this project so I guess a 5.25 drive with an adapter would be the way to go..

[Oggy]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

I guess I didn't think of going that way. I wish I didn't donate all my cdrom drives. I have a laptop and I was initially going to get a slim drive but 95% of the usage will be this project so I guess a 5.25 drive with an adapter would be the way to go..

I've checked, and the Samsung is SE-208.

As I write, I've just tried the Samsung on a disc, and it gave an inaccurate on track 1, and two frame re-rip on track 2. This is very unusual, as normally get AccurateRips. Plugged the old Lite-On in, and ripped the whole CD, giving AccurateRip on every track. Ripping speed was about double that of the slimline on this disc - a typical result.

If looks / size is not important, then I would definitely go for the 5.25" drive.

[Hotdog]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

What about the LiteOn EBAU108 8x External DVDRW with Link2TV? That's the top result on Amazon, and seems to be the most currently available external CD drive.

[Oggy]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

What about the LiteOn EBAU108 8x External DVDRW with Link2TV? That's the top result on Amazon, and seems to be the most currently available external CD drive.

I believe this is the Lite-On equivalent of the Samsung SE-208, similar price / performance, but comes with a fixed cable, unlike the Samsung.

There are reviews online, both get good reviews.

[Hotdog]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

Your previous comment about the Samsung wasn't very encouraging though!

I'm also interested in buying a good external CD drive which might successfully rip the CDs that have failed on my HP, Dell and Matshita drives.

[Oggy]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

Your previous comment about the Samsung wasn't very encouraging though!

I'm also interested in buying a good external CD drive which might successfully rip the CDs that have failed on my HP, Dell and Matshita drives.

The full-sized drives will certainly be quicker than either of the slimline devices, but owning a Matshita and HP drive myself, I guess they have failed on Copy protected discs?

I don't know anyone who has tried the slimline Lite-On on these discs, and wouldn't like to say if the firmware worked the same as the full-size Lite-On drives. All I can say from personal experience, is that my older, ide, Lite-On drive, has coped with all copy protected, European discs from the millennium, that have failed on the HP, Matshita and Samsung drives. Another person had success with a current full-sized Lite-On with a disc that had failed on other drives.

Copy protected discs appear to be more prevalent on European CDs rather than US and Japanese, so some people may have had far fewer instances of the the multi-1,000 frame re-rip issue.

Having now ripped over 1,500 CDs, the percentage of problem discs is very small and the Samsung is excellent at giving AccurateRips - it is a good drive. The 5.25" Lite-On, just happens to rip them noticeably quicker and copes with protected discs. It works for me, I guess the way that early Plextor drives worked (and still work) for others - just cheaper!

[Hotdog]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

Actually, it isn't Copy Protected Discs that have been a problem, in the main. There was one track which refused to rip a few frames, but the other CPDs I had have finished ripping. The problems I've had have mainly been with older discs that pre-date the era of CD ripping, such as a 1987 Warner Bros promo CD, and re-issues on the German Bear Family label from the 1990s (their discs are known for having these problems, but there are AccurateRips of the titles in question in the database).

I've finished ripping my CD collection (probably several hundred discs), and it's these plus a couple of others which have refused to complete a Secure Rip. I think I can see the 5.25" Lite-On that you refer to, though I mainly only use a laptop, which is why I was looking for an external one. There is a Desktop PC in the family (my old one!) which has space for another external drive, so I could try that, though I don't have access to it very often. I know there are optical drive enclosures, but that's bumping up the price a bit more if I buy one of those plus a 5.25" Lite-On.

[Oggy]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

Actually, it isn't Copy Protected Discs that have been a problem, in the main. There was one track which refused to rip a few frames, but the other CPDs I had have finished ripping. The problems I've had have mainly been with older discs that pre-date the era of CD ripping, such as a 1987 Warner Bros promo CD, and re-issues on the German Bear Family label from the 1990s (their discs are known for having these problems, but there are AccurateRips of the titles in question in the database).

I've finished ripping my CD collection (probably several hundred discs), and it's these plus a couple of others which have refused to complete a Secure Rip. I think I can see the 5.25" Lite-On that you refer to, though I mainly only use a laptop, which is why I was looking for an external one. There is a Desktop PC in the family (my old one!) which has space for another external drive, so I could try that, though I don't have access to it very often. I know there are optical drive enclosures, but that's bumping up the price a bit more if I buy one of those plus a 5.25" Lite-On.

Hi Hotdog,

There are so many threads on CD drives, re-rips, copy protection etc, that it is difficult to remember what has been said where! I've just noticed your post in DRM & CD Copy Protection....

I haven't used my desktop for around 8 months now, so all my ripping has been done via a laptop, which is a dual core, Celeron, with USB 2 connectivity. To begin with, I used the internal (HP) drive. When I first hit problem discs, I tried a s/h Matshita / Panasonic UJ-85J, via a cheap enclosure with 2 USB leads. This ripped some discs, but not all, and also ripped fairly slowly.

This is when I tried the Samsung SE-208; this didn't cope with all copy protected discs.

At this stage, I bought a USB to powered sata / pata adaptor, which put simply, has been the best money I have spent whilst ripping CDs.

Having a number of old 5.25" internal drives, all with the older ide / interface, I set about trying these. I was also given a couple free, and bought another with a 2 month warranty, for £2. I've tried, HP, Asus, LG, Yamaha and Lite-On. The Yamaha, sadly didn't work, which is a shame, as it was highly regarded. All the others work.

I've settled on the Lite-On, model from 2007, model LH-20A1H, simply because it is quicker, quieter and has worked on all the discs I've tried, excepting:- some bronzed PDO discs, a very badly scratched disc, and a couple that I suspect, had very slight imperfections, on the label side. Luckily friends also had copies of these, and a third disc of both, gave AccurateRips, as opposed to multiple re-rips on the last two tracks.

All of these drives, and the slimline Samsung, I have used solely for ripping CDs, so their burning qualities, are irrelevant. Like you, I've burnt one disc from an image, and ripped that - which gave a Secure rip. At the time, this was the best that I could achieve, and before using the ide drives. The Lite-On, had since given an AccurateRip on this disc. Maybe your problem discs are in the database from a copy, or some other method?

I guess on a big collection, we may have a couple of CDs, that for whatever reason do not rip all tracks, but as you have said, appear in the AccurateRip data base. I don't think that anybody can recommend a drive, that is guaranteed to resolve these few discs, as our copy may have some very minor imperfection.

If I was starting again now, I would have saved a lot of time, money, and heartache using a 5/25", internal drive (externally!!), from the off. A friend is using the cheapest of the iHAS 124 (Lite-On), with good results.

I really should say that for 99% of all CDs, any working drive will be fine!

Good luck!

[Hotdog]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

Hello Oggy, I think I recognise you from the Steve Hoffman Forums. (Where I have the same name.) No worries about what I've already said, you can't be expected to remember it all!

You mention a "USB to powered sata / pata adaptor". From a quick Google, it seems this would be much cheaper than buying an enclosure. As discussed in the CD/DVD Drive Accuracy thread, there is a currently available LiteOn SATA Internal DVDRW which seems to work well:
Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ERJXTE4
So perhaps that would work with a cheap SATA adapter? It seems to be the one your friend is using.

I used to have an old internal LG drive I had bought as an additional one, but the tower it was inside has been made redundant. It worked well enough, though still had 'problem' discs.

I think if a disc has one AccurateRip in the database, it could be from a copy. But if it's five or six, I doubt all those people have gone to the effort of trying a copy. Does creating a disc image give you an exact copy of the original disc's information? That has worked for me a few times, but once, the problem track played with white noise on the copy, which is very strange indeed.

I've actually been sent replacement discs by the label that released some of these titles - Bear Family in Germany (they're who I was referring to as being known for difficult discs). On one of their box sets, I found a combination of my original set and their replacement discs on my HP and another Matshita seemed to be the only way I could get all five discs to finish accurately! It's odd that their discs seem to have these problems so often.

But yes, indeed, the vast majority of my discs (especially when kept in good condition) rip perfectly well on the drives I currently have access to. Often I've tried a different drive if I have trouble, and it's worked. Sometimes I get a Secure Rip that doesn't match the one AR in the database (or two). But I think not matching a couple of previous rips doesn't necessarily mean mine is a bad rip, especially if it's Secure. But when I've listened to Secure but Inaccurate rips of those Bear Family discs which have five or six rips, in the AR database, there is something wrong, such as the end being clipped.

I eagerly await your advice. Thanks.

[Oggy]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

Hello Oggy, I think I recognise you from the Steve Hoffman Forums. (Where I have the same name.) No worries about what I've already said, you can't be expected to remember it all!

You mention a "USB to powered sata / pata adaptor". From a quick Google, it seems this would be much cheaper than buying an enclosure. As discussed in the CD/DVD Drive Accuracy thread, there is a currently available LiteOn SATA Internal DVDRW which seems to work well:
Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ERJXTE4
So perhaps that would work with a cheap SATA adapter? It seems to be the one your friend is using.

I used to have an old internal LG drive I had bought as an additional one, but the tower it was inside has been made redundant. It worked well enough, though still had 'problem' discs.

I think if a disc has one AccurateRip in the database, it could be from a copy. But if it's five or six, I doubt all those people have gone to the effort of trying a copy. Does creating a disc image give you an exact copy of the original disc's information? That has worked for me a few times, but once, the problem track played with white noise on the copy, which is very strange indeed.

I've actually been sent replacement discs by the label that released some of these titles - Bear Family in Germany (they're who I was referring to as being known for difficult discs). On one of their box sets, I found a combination of my original set and their replacement discs on my HP and another Matshita seemed to be the only way I could get all five discs to finish accurately! It's odd that their discs seem to have these problems so often.

But yes, indeed, the vast majority of my discs (especially when kept in good condition) rip perfectly well on the drives I currently have access to. Often I've tried a different drive if I have trouble, and it's worked. Sometimes I get a Secure Rip that doesn't match the one AR in the database (or two). But I think not matching a couple of previous rips doesn't necessarily mean mine is a bad rip, especially if it's Secure. But when I've listened to Secure but Inaccurate rips of those Bear Family discs which have five or six rips, in the AR database, there is something wrong, such as the end being clipped.

I eagerly await your advice. Thanks.

Hi Hotdog,

Yes, the same Oggy! Out of 10,000's members, I'm one of the very few, who like The Enid! Just read your post, and can now understand your frustration. One of Bobby Morrow's threads is normally good therapy!

Yes, that is the Lite-On drive - under £13 for a good drive, and yes, it will work fine on one of the multitude of adaptors available. May not be the most elegant solution, but so flexible, effective and not too much more, than a budget slimline drive. If someone is ripping 100s - 1,000s of discs, this makes far more sense, than using an expensive Blu-ray burner.

Sounds like you've gone down a similar route to me, with your drives and ripping!

Reading the thread on the Bear Family discs, this looks like a very specific problem to these CDs, and I'm not convinced a Lite-On, Plextor or gold plated, ruby encrusted drive from any manufacturer would rip all of these discs without problems - too many people using good software(!) and good drives, having similar issues. If you bite the bullet, I'm interested in your results, especially if one drive rips the set OK, that previously took multiple drives. Just don't overwrite good rips, just in case!! (I know you wouldn't!)

I don't really know enough about creating a disc image, and if there are some offset issues going on, but would love to know the answer. When I used this, I got a Secure rip, from a burnt CD. The Lite-On, ripped it as Accurate, the Matshita gave multiple errors.

I'm not sure any of this, has helped your very specific problem, on a few very specific discs, but I'm intrigued to find out!

Good luck on those pesky discs.....

Oggy.

[Hotdog]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

Hello again Oggy! The Enid? Must admit I'm baffled there.

On the one hand, I was content with iTunes rips of many of these CDs before. On the other, I often discovered pops and clicks when listening back to iTunes rips later, and it was irritating having to go back and do those tracks again.

Thanks for the info about the Lite-On and buying an adapter. I may give that a go. Yeah, I'll try not to get my hopes up that it will rip anything that failed previously.

Er, I'm a bit confused by the multitude of SATA/PATA/IDE adapters out there and what will and won't work with this drive, though. Do I need a power adaptor? Please advise. Any links to recommended products to link it to my laptop? Would appreciate some assistance here please, before I buy the wrong thing!

[Oggy]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

Hello again Oggy! The Enid? Must admit I'm baffled there.

On the one hand, I was content with iTunes rips of many of these CDs before. On the other, I often discovered pops and clicks when listening back to iTunes rips later, and it was irritating having to go back and do those tracks again.

Thanks for the info about the Lite-On and buying an adapter. I may give that a go. Yeah, I'll try not to get my hopes up that it will rip anything that failed previously.

Er, I'm a bit confused by the multitude of SATA/PATA/IDE adapters out there and what will and won't work with this drive, though. Do I need a power adaptor? Please advise. Any links to recommended products to link it to my laptop? Would appreciate some assistance here please, before I buy the wrong thing!

Hi, Hotdog!

Yes, you need a powered adaptor USB to 5.25" SATA. There is no speed advantage in USB3.

If you may want to use earlier DVD drives, with the ide interface, then a powered adaptor with SATA / ide adaptor kit is available. These also tend to have all adaptors and connectors to connect 2.5 and 3.5" HDD and SSD. These are a great bit of kit that can add external storage, but also help you retrieve data from a hard drive that is failing.

For using either a SATA or ide 5.25" CD drive, there is no speed advantage in USB3 over USB2. I got a Lindy USB2, powered ide / SATA kit from a colleague, which has allowed all sorts of HDD to be used, though I normally use it for powering my ripping CD drive. It is very well made and works perfectly.

I guess if I was buying new, I would future proof things and get a USB3, all in kit. This is simply to have one item, that would enable higher transfer rates from / to drives / computers, that I do not currently own, and is not necessary for ripping CDs. It is a flexible and incredibly useful, some would say essential piece of kit, that may help you retrieve some vital data in the future.

You really do pay your money and make your choice, branded / generic, basic or all singing, all dancing .....

The only advice that I would offer, is read the vendors feedback, as there are some poor power supplies and loose connectors in some kits, with undesirable, and expensive consequences.

Hope this helps!

Oggy.


P.S. The Enid are a classically influenced rock band : Prog Rock, doesn't do them, or their music justice - my favourite band.

[garym]

Re: Recommended CD Burners

for example, I bought this as an enclosure/power that will hold many different full size drives:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_12?url=search-alias%3Dcomputers&field-keywords=vantec+usa+nexstar+dx+external+usb+3.0+enclosure&sprefix=vantec+usa+n%2Ccomputers%2C285

then I put this in it. (drop in, plug in, and a couple of screws to hold it....took 2 minutes)

http://www.amazon.com/Lite-Super-AllWrite-Layer-Drive/dp/B002YIG9AQ?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00