X-bit labs

ASUS SCB-2408-D Combo Drive Review (page 6)

Category: Storage

by Andrey Kuznetcov

[ 10/06/2004 | 08:20 AM ]

Nero CD-DVD Speed: Advanced DAE Quality Test

The Advanced DAE Quality Test will help us determine the hardware properties of the drive pertinent to the quality of audio copies you make with it. I used two special CD-R discs Nero CD-DVD Speed had prepared. One disc was normal, the other had defects of the surface which every long-used disc has.

The first screenshot tells us that the drive provides the maximum quality (no read errors at all) when working with good discs. However, I can’t say it’s perfect for making ideal audio copies since the big offset value prevents the driver from positioning exactly over the necessary spot of the audio CD. The inability of the drive to read the lead-in and lead-out information has a negative effect on making precise audio copies, too.

The second screenshot shows you the drive’s handling an audio disc with scratches on the surface. The average read speed degenerated by a half, and there appear read errors, but the overall quality score remained the same, i.e. the maximum possible. This signifies that the drive is capable of processing errors effectively.

Nero CD-DVD Speed: Advanced DAE Error Correction Test

I used the Advanced DAE Error Correction Test for an in-depth examination of the drive’s ability to process C2 errors when extracting audio tracks. Nero CD-DVD Speed itself created a test disc – with scratches on the surface. The program then determines how many C2 errors should be found at all, and how many of them the drive did find. Basing on that, the quality score and the C2 accuracy parameters are calculated, which reflect the efficiency of the hardware error correction mechanism of that optical drive.

The screenshots above suggest that the SCB-2408-D is quite efficient at correcting errors. It missed few C2 errors, approaching closely the maximum possible result.