Quiet DVD reader(writer?)

spiffy102 · Post by **spiffy102** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:05 pm

I bought an NEC 3550A for my HTPC.

It's freaking loud.

Info on DVD-rs seem to be pretty scarce/variable through the forums, does anyone have good first-hand experience with a drive?

Using a laptop drive in a brick isn't an option for me, as it wouldn't work with my case.

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:10 pm

Many optical drives can be made to run in quiet mode, primarily by slowing down their maximum speed. Not sure how to do on a NEC, but someone in this forum may know, or may have even explained how to do it.

My Plextor comes with software that will set it to run in silent mode. Works extremely well.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:29 pm

plextor or pioneer's best retail dvd dual layer. look in forums for its mention. not the oem one the retail one.

iuppone · Post by **iuppone** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:21 am

HI,

you can find tons of information at this forum cdfreaks

Firmware to silence your -nec or even info on how to do it by software..

Hope to be useful.

By

inspane · Post by **inspane** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:00 am

Have you tried to reduce read speed with programs like Nero Drive Speed download linkand info
and CD-Bremse www.cd-bremse.de ?
Please post the results

spiffy102 · Post by **spiffy102** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:52 am

I don't think you can alter drivespeed with a firmware hack can you? It seems like that only gives you bitsetting.. I posted a question on cdfreaks, I'll let you know what they respond with.

I'm not completely sure I'll be using windows permanently either, so software probably isn't a good idea.

Thank you for the replies!

jamesfry · Post by **jamesfry** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:46 am

Hi there,

Any luck on silencing your NEC drive?
I have one of these too - running on linux.
I have noticed that its only noisy when playing back video from a DVD-R - its pretty quiet playing from a factory pressed DVD.
Interested to find out if you get a firmware solution because most other tools are windows only.

dogman-x · Post by **dogman-x** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 6:17 am

I have a Samsung SD-816B (16x DVD-ROM) that automatically spins down silent when playing DVDs within 10 seconds or so. It's a little noisy when it spins up (e.g. installing software, playing some CD-ROM games, etc.), but it's still better than most. In other words, I think the Firmware automatically controls the spin rate depending on the read throughput to dynamically achive the best noise/speed tradeoff.

Now this drive is starting to act up, (spurrious ejects, won't recognize newly inserted discs, etc.) so I'll probably need to replace it.

For me, the real issue is to find a DVD-ROM that automatically spins down silent when playing DVDs, and spins up faster when doing other things. Having to control the drive speed manually with 3rd party tools would be a pain.

I sure wish Silent PC Review would do an article on this. Last time I had to order blindly and return 2 other units before finding the Samsung.

shogo33 · Post by **shogo33** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:20 pm

Dude..

I used to have the NEC burner so i know what u mean. A cheaper alternative(free) is to download Nero Drivespeed and set the burner to a slower speed.

But i've decided to upgrade mine and gave the burner to my brother. I got the Pioneer A09 and wow...its a really good and quiet burner. Very smooth spin up ratio and its probably the quietest 16x burner that u can get at a very cheap price...

Initially i was skeptical but it works...and its a big difference to the NEC..even my mate is getting one tomorrow because he was impressed with it that he's gonna dump his old 16x Liteon..