[Edwood]

Was looking into the Plextor PX-Premium/SW or Plextor DVD+-R/RW . I already have a Pioneer 105 DVD-R/RW, so I really I don't need another one.

Although, if the Plextor DVD+-R/RW is significantly better, then I suppose I can justify the upgrade.

Anyone have the skinny on the best drive for ripping? I want speed, but accuracy and reliability are more important to me. I have an old Adaptec Ultra SCSI card, so I can go with SCSI and older drives too.

I am currently using a Pioneer 105 DVD-R/RW as my Ripping drive.

-Ed

 

[Whit]

I would reccomend the Plextor 40TS or Yamaha CRW-F1 if you can find either. I love my Plextor. So much so that I have three backup drives.

 

[Welly Wu]

Edwood:

The LiteOn drives are quite good bargains but the Plextor drives are the "King of Quality" in terms of optical drives. The Plextor PX-Premium is one of the finest CD-RW drives on the market (IMHO) and I used it on a friend's computer through EAC. He was getting like 15x secure rips. It comes with their proprietary PlexTools Professional software program which has its own digital audio extraction tool but the real cool thing about that software is that you can do GigaRec and secure the CD-R with a 128bit encryption key. It's really nice and I would love to get my hands on one some time in the future but I think it's been discontinued because I can't find it on the Plextor website. It has been my experience that a Plextor CD-RW drive will beat the pants off a Plextor DVD + / - R/RW & CD-RW drive. I have the Plextor PX-W4824TU and PX-708UF and the former is a dedicated CD-RW drive. It is mad fast for secure rips through EAC when I had the program installed on my computer. I now use dBpowerAMP Music Convertor 10.1 with Power Pack Release 3 (registered) and I'm getting like 30x accurate stream rips with AccurateRip technology. My CD-RW drive is like 2 - 3 years old too...it ain't no top of the line CD-RW drive nowadays.

Basically, I think that you ought to get a Plextor CD-RW drive and not some kind of combo drive because my experience with my other single layer, dual format, DVD burner is that it's way slower though it still produces the same accurate rips. Accuracy is paramount to me. Next comes speed. I think the multi-format Plextor drives are a compromise in speed (and you'll pay for the premium options) but not accuracy.

Now that I think about it, Plextor is going to release a 16x DVD + / - R/RW Double Layer (9.4GB native ~8.5GB usable space) burner with a 52x32x-52x CD-RW drive in the late 3rd quarter of 2004. That's something I ought to save up my money for when I get a job after graduation. It should be about $350 - $400 USD new but you can get it about $20 - $50 USD cheaper by doing searches through online merchants.

I hope this helps.

 

[minya]

My Creative DVD-ROM (couldn't be very expensive) rips at about an average of 17X in Secure mode in EAC with 99.9% - 100% accuracy. I'm at work so I don't know the model number at the moment, but I can retrieve it at home if you'd like.

- Chris

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whit I would reccomend the Plextor 40TS or Yamaha CRW-F1 if you can find either. I love my Plextor. So much so that I have three backup drives.

I had a Plextor 40TS, but the damn thing died. I was getting an insane amount of read errors beofre it died. It was the loudest CDrom I ever owned, though. I don't really miss it.

I have two Lite-on 52x CDroms, Lite-on 48x12x48 CDRW, Pioneer 106 DVD-R/RW, and a Panasonic CW-8123-B CDRW/DVD drive.

The Pioneer 106 seems to be the most reliable so far. (not the fastest though. )

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

What about the Plextor PX-W4012S SCSI ?

Pretty fast secure mode DAE.

*EDIT* Sheesh. $200+ for a new one? Ah, the price of NOS.
-Ed

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Of the drives that you do have, which has the fastest rip speed in secure mode (with C2 error correction)?

My best one is the Toshiba SD-M1502, 16X DVD drive, it rips at about 13x, and as Ed knows, is pretty stinkin' quiet.

 

[Glassman]

Plextor is history guys, their DVD drives are manufactured by NEC I believe and the quality is no longer described as 'Plextor, then long long nothing and then the rest'.. we shall wake up from out Plextor dreams, probably the best drives now are Liteons, believe it or not.. their DVD writers 411 and 811 are reference drives used by many internet sites specialised in optical drives.. I don't know how good are the newer 851 but they're supposed to have optics from different manufacturer, so they still need to prove themselves, but with 811 you can't go wrong, period.

 

[Whit]

Quote:

*EDIT* Sheesh. $200+ for a new one? Ah, the price of NOS.

How is it NOS when the drive is still in production? Also the 4012S is actually produced by Plextor and not simply a rebranded drive.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whit How is it NOS when the drive is still in production? Also the 4012S is actually produced by Plextor and not simply a rebranded drive.

Well, considering it's limited availability and high cost........

-Ed

 

[Stoner]

Lite-On CDRWs and DVDRWs make excellent CD rippers w/ EAC using secure mode. I've liked Plextor once... back when they made expensive SCSI optical drives. But Plextor just look so cheap now. Lite-On is affordable and out performs virtually every other drive. Working on my 5th pair of Lite-On now (always a pair, rather it's CD/CDRW or DVD/CDRW or DVD/DVDRW). I gave the others away when I upgraded to faster speeds. I suggest you check out the in-depth reviews @ cdfreaks.com and cdrlabs.com for all the latest optical drives, and a bunch of old ones.

 

[NeilPeart]

I believe I replied to a similar thread not so long ago but I might as well post it again. The best ripper I own is by far the Plextor 40TSi (secure DAE @ 24X with flawless results - can rip nearly any disc). While some drives are a tad faster none match the quality achieved by the 40TSi. Mine is over 5 years old and still in top form (though it is a bit loud when ripping). Other options include the Yamaha F1 you mentioned and the Plextor Premium is also quite good. However, the best currently available drive for ripping/reading and overall use is the $20 Asus CD-S520A 52X CDROM. Not only is it very affordable (and it's IDE so no SCSI card is needed), but also extremely fast (23X secure) at DAE and the results are 99.9% of the Plextor is terms of quality. No other drive (Yamaha, Ricoh, etc.) comes close in CD reading and DAE, IMO. I already own over 4 of these wonderful drives and when the Plextor 40TSi finally kicks the bucket I will cry for an hour and then happily replace it with the $20 CD-S520A. I also have the perfect EAC settings for the drive if you want - it's so cheap you might as well give it a shot (I usually buy my PC hardware from NewEgg).

 

[some1x]

The beauty of EAC is that it works well with most drives. That said, I think Plextors are the best in general, but Lite-Ons are 99% there at a much cheaper price.

 

[kunwar]

I will go further then some have and state unequivocally that the Liteon's are by far the best drives out there.
Nowadays Plextor has just been left behind.
I mean I have the Liteon 411S and get 21X rips in secure mode on it.
I would say the Liteons are the way to go.
cheers
Kunwar