CD-R burn quality

[custompccases]

This subject doesn't seem to be covered very often since everyone is in 16x dvd heaven

Here is a recent burn/scan of a 488mb CD-R disk while using the B7T9 firmware:

General Information
Drive: BENQ DVD DD DW1620
Firmware: B7T9
Disc: Data CD (Ritek)
Selected speed: Maximum
C1 errors
Maximum: 24
Average: 1.21
Total: 4041
C2 errors
Maximum: 0
Average: 0.00
Total: 0
Jitter
Maximum: 10.9 %
Average: 7.65 %
Scanning statistics
Number of samples: 3307
Average scanning interval: 1.01 sec
Glitches removed: 0

Now to me when I see that 4000 number I immediately think something has gone horribly wrong. The media is rated at 52x so the drives maximum of 40x isn’t a problem.

Also I am wondering if it is normal for the green led to always stay on when a disk is present in the drive?

While lurking on these forums I made my decision of buying this drive. I have to thank all of you once more for such a great place to congregate and talk about drives. This drive was a OEM so you also helped me flash it to the latest firmware.

Edit- Doing a burn on some CNC magnetics it makes my Riteks look perfect... Check this out:

General Information
Drive: BENQ DVD DD DW1620
Firmware: B7T9
Disc: Data CD (CMC Magnetics)
Selected speed: Maximum
C1 errors
Maximum: 56
Average: 8.94
Total: 29805
C2 errors
Maximum: 0
Average: 0.00
Total: 0
Jitter
Maximum: 14.3 %
Average: 11.39 %
Scanning statistics
Number of samples: 3343
Average scanning interval: 1.00 sec
Glitches removed: 0

Would it be wise to return these CMC disks? Or are they still useable.

[socrates007]

I am wondering if it is normal for the green led to always stay on when a disk is present in the drive?

Yes it's normal. When there's media in the drive, the green light stays on.

This drive was a OEM so you also helped me flash it to the latest firmware.

Do a search in the BenQ forum for this. It has been covered many times in many places.

About the CMC discs, I don't see any C2 errors showing up (PIFs). That is probably because you're using an older version of Nero CD-DVD Speed, or because you don't have at least firmware B7M9/G7M9 (I think). You may need B7P9/G7P9 firmware; I don't remember. The G firmware is for OEM drives and the B firmware is for retail drives. You can get the newest version of Nero CD-DVD Speed from here (it's v3.61): http://www.cdspeed2000.com

Also, your jitter average was 11.39% which is a little high. It should be under 10% in my opinion. Maybe you were doing other things on your system when the disc was burning? It's best to not have other programs or processes running at the same time when you're burning discs. I hope this helps you out.

[custompccases]

Thanks for the reply.

I meant that thanks to you guys I was able to flash the drive. Not that I needed to.

It was also my understanding that the T9 firmware was the latest.

Only thing running in the background would be Norton.

I remember after burning with the CMC that the final quality score was 91%. With dvd’s I’ve burned thus far (and I believe the same goes for the ritek cd-r) that the overall score was in the 96+ range.

I have dled the latest cd-dvd speed program and I will be re-scanning the disks.

[socrates007]

Thanks for the reply.

I meant that thanks to you guys I was able to flash the drive. Not that I needed to.

It was also my understanding that the T9 firmware was the latest.

Looks like I misunderstood you. Glad that you already flashed your drive. The B7T9 is in fact the newest firmware. Speaking of firmware, which version did you flash to and/or are you currently using?

I would disable even Norton's when burning because it could possibly affect the quality of the burn. Depending on your OS, you may in fact have other processes running in the background that don't need to be when burning. I shut down everything that I can when I burn. It's up to you though as I'm just offering advice on what works for me.

I will be curious to see your new scans with the latest version of Nero CD-DVD Speed.

[custompccases]

I am running xp pro. I should probably shut everything down, just kind of a hassle is all. I would do it if I had to but if the burns are up to snuff I don’t mind leaving things running. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I’m not looking for the best burns possible, I am just wondering if the burns are anywhere near decent. So far it looks like the ritek are fine but the CMC’s I can still return if they aren’t a good match for my burner.

I flashed to the B7T9, I upgraded from G7H9.

I am still not getting any PIF scores while testing CD-R’s, with DVD+R’s I get them though. The score hasn’t really changed either. I lost about 1% in the score and got only a handful more reported PIE's on the 2 CD-R's I have burnt to.

Latest DVD+R Maxell 002 scan. Only 2.61gig worth though.

General Information
Drive: BENQ DVD DD DW1620
Firmware: B7T9
Disc: DVD+R (MAXELL 002)
Selected speed: 4 X
PI errors
Maximum: 12
Average: 3.12
Total: 16762
PI failures
Maximum: 7
Average: 0.17
Total: 768
PO failures: 0
Jitter
Maximum: 9.2 %
Average: 8.09 %
Scanning statistics
Elapsed time: 13:19
Number of samples: 10724
Average scanning interval: 8.00 ECC
Glitches removed: 0

Comparing other scans (of full disks) this dvd+r isn’t too bad.

[socrates007]

I flashed to the B7T9, I upgraded from G7H9.

I am still not getting any PIF scores while testing CD-R’s, with DVD+R’s I get them though. The score hasn’t really changed either. I lost about 1% in the score and got only a handful more reported PIE's on the 2 CD-R's I have burnt to.

My fault. I thought those CMC discs were DVD recordables. I now see that they were CD recordables. My mistake.

I'm almost positive that the BenQ DW1620 can't do C2 errors when scanning CD recordable media. That's why you're not getting any. I apologize for misreading your above post concerning the type of CMC discs. Well, you at least got the newest version of Nero CD-DVD Speed out of all this. :bigsmile: