Quest for finding good drive for CD-R/RW Quality Scanning

Many of us have been using these drives that are known good for CD-R/RW Quality Scanning:

- Older Lite-on CD-RW with KProbe
- Real Plextor with Plextools
- BenQ with Nero CD-DVD Speed (DQ and Advanced DQ)

At some point in the future we will have to face the reality that they will not be available anymore for various reasons: dead, broken etc. Not to mentioned that they were discontinued. So I think it is a good idea if we can find other alternatives for CD scanning.

I've seen CD scan comparisons using those drives above with Optiarc AD-7203A and AD-7200A here and here. So are these Optiarc drives good for CD scanning? Are there any other drives that are good for CD scanning? Let's discuss and please provide your opinion and when possible please include comparison scans.

If we can have a conclusion that would be great!

~

I would like to see Plextor Premium 1 or 2 CD-RW scans (meaning not Plextor DVD-RW's) with PlexTools (not the knock off app PXscan) with all the stats included along with real BenQ DVD-RW's with Nero CD-DVD Speed ADQ with all stats if possible.

If you have older Lite-On CD-RW to use with Kprobe include all stats. If you have all these drives that would really be ideal!

I don't have a 7200 series to test.

I doubt it but i'm optimistic.

I've been reading how the Optiarcs are supposedly good CD-R(W) scanners and would like to see a conclusion also zevia. Don't forget the Optiarc's (NEC chipped ones) may not be around long either. Some say older NEC's were good CD-R(W) scanners but never seen any proof compared with Plex Premium CD-RW,Lite-On CD-RW,and BenQ DVD drives.

[Slightly Off-topic]
PxScan will show the same amount of C1/C2/CU as PlexTools - the displayed format (using PxView) will simply be different.

PxScan allows more scanning speeds to be used but also requires command-unprotected firmware on some drives (PX-760/755).

So you can compare PxScan/PxView scans directly with PlexTools scans.

Hi,
many drives that are supported by CD-DVD Speed don't show the correct C1 error rates (e.g. my own LiteOn LH-20A1L shows only C1 peek values, afaik).
I am looking for a list of current drives which have a (nearly) 100% correct C1 error detection in the *CD* scan function in CD-DVD Speed (DVD scanning abilities are not the focus of this question).
Anyone to start the list, please?
Please list only drives which are currently available to buy.
Thanks,
febe

Please note that the amount of C1/C2 errors in a scan is subjective - it depends on the drive as well as the disc, and can vary from scan to scan.

Drives which support CD scanning, which you can currently buy, and that to my knowledge report C1=BLER=E11+E21+E31 as they should:

Optiarc AD-5200A/S , AD-7200A/S, AD-7201A/S, AD-7203A/S

There may be more such drives that I haven't tested.

I'm not sure about the currently available LiteOn CD-RW drives such as the DH-52R2P or combo drives such as the DH-52C2P. The latest I have tested being the SOHR-5238S and SOHR-5239V which aren't being produced anymore to my knowledge. The C1 reporting of the SOHR-5239V has been challenged in this thread.

Hmmm... currently performing a more thorough C1/C2 test of my Optiarc AD-7203A and I might have been too hasty in mentioning those drives, since my deliberately damaged CD-R doesn't produce the expected scans.

I'll provide an update after further testing.

EDIT:

Update: The Optiarc 5200...7203 series seems to be pickier than most other drives when scanning my test CD. Some comparative scans posted here with scans from other drives earlier in that thread.

---

Last edited by DrageMester; 09-11-2008 at 16:45.

Here's a little comparison of C1 error scans with various drives (C2 was 0 with all drives).
I used a 8 year old Taiyo Yuden disc for the test.

The Optiarc 7200 series are pretty good for CD scanning although they tend to report more C2 errors with low quality discs.

BenQ DW1640


Lite-On DHP20A4P


Lite-On LTR-48125W


Nec ND-4551A


Optiarc AD-7170A


Optiarc AD-7203S


TSST SH-S203B

* * Merged threads * *

Here is a CDR scanned with a BenQ 1655 and Optiarc 7200

Big difference between drives on this CDR

Another Scan of CDR

One more

Summary:

It looks to me that the Optiarc 7200 is usable for CD scanning, however it does not show jitter.

From reading this older thread I agree that using the BenQ with Advance Quality Scanning will give the best results for "Home Scanning".

I would appreciate any and all comments and suggestions.

Does the Yamaha CRW-F1 have any quality scanning ability?

I just installed mine and tried Nero CD-DVD Speed,Kprobe,and for kicks DVDInfo Pro and no go with those.