The quiet DVD drive ultimate thread

Uriox · Post by **Uriox** » Sun May 20, 2007 10:12 am

I've been looking for a quiet unit recently and I've been unable to get reliable advice from diverse forums, though they are specialized in DVD burning. Because enough is enough, and that this question always comes back, I suggest we, silentpcreview readers, unite to find out which DVD drive is the quietest.
Performance should be decent, but not of utmost importance (same as for the HDD drives recommended here). I would also suggest people to post all their DVD drive related questions here. People can come and say : this unit is quieter than this one. I'm sure we'll manage to get a final picture of all this !

Ok, here are the brands, and the facts to my knowledge.
When possible, let's distinguish the drive outside the box from the tweaked drive (reduced speed while reading medias). Tweaks include flashing the drive with another firmware to reduce its operation speed or using software solutions (Nero Drivespeed, CD bremse) to achieve the same goal.

Please feel free to correct all my errors (I'm sure there are many).

PIONEER

Default : 109 series : reasonably quiet. 112, 112D, 212 : noisier than average. A11 and A12 : very quiet.
Tweaks : Pioneer has a Quiet Drive utility. It allows to control CD and DVD speeds. Crossflash allows some burners to make use of this (A12 firmwares for 112 drives).
Nero Drivespeed or CD bremse do not work with current Pioneer drives.

ASUS (some Asus are rebadged Pioneer, some are Mediatech)
Default : Asus 1612 is very quiet, see http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Asus-DR ... ner-Review .

Tweaks : unknown

LITEON/SONY
Default : generally not quiet (probably the noisiest of all).
Tweaks : Omnipatcher is a utility to control CD/DVD speed. Works with old burners. It seems it does not work anymore with more recent ones.
Nero Drivespeed or CD bremse seem to work with current Liteon drives.

LG
Default : quiet with pressed DVDs, not so quiet with CDs. H22 series : quieter than average (quietest for LG). Current H44 one does not seem as quiet.
Tweaks : unknown to me.
Nero Drivespeed or CD bremse seem to work with current LG drives.

SAMSUNG
Default : S182, S183 are quiet for DVD, average for CD. S184 is an external drive and not quiet (fan).
Tweaks : Magicspeed utility allow to adjust CD speed ONLY.
Nero Drivespeed or CD bremse does not seem to work with current Samsung drives.

NEC/OPTIARC
Default : there used to be quiet drives there.
Tweaks : unknown.

OTHERS
Benq : gone from the drive market.
Philips : rebadges.
Plextor : current drives are rebadges.

derekchinese · Post by **derekchinese** » Sun May 20, 2007 2:00 pm

Nice thread, good work!
what are plextors rebadges of?

Thanks!

hexen · Post by **hexen** » Sun May 20, 2007 5:58 pm

plextor is one of the best (if not the) drive manufacturers there is as far as quality goes.
it is the standard in pro audio world.

to say that it is simply a rebrand of something else is a joke right?

do you have any source or links supporting your claim?

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Sun May 20, 2007 8:42 pm

Well, I know Plextor used to be rebadged BenQs (the best burners in the world, while they were still made)....

zerok66 · Post by **zerok66** » Mon May 21, 2007 2:52 am

Interesting thread. The Samsung seems a fair bet? But not sure... be nice to hear from owners of these drives.

Uriox · Post by **Uriox** » Mon May 21, 2007 2:54 am

About Plextor :

All that I know is that Plextor used to develop its own drives (the top quality and top price ones). It seems this will not be the case in the future.
http://cdrlabs.com/news/byte/4669
Check out this thread too :
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=207064
Rebadged Nec and Liteon are cited.

Now back to the thread :

I forgot to mention for this thread : if you know for sure that drive X (default) quieter than drive Y (default), speak up !!! It is only this way that we may be able to know more about the noise characteristics of each drive.
Don't forget to mention with which media (pressed CD, pressed DVD, etc.). Remember than noise mainly depends on speed and that some burners have different speed limitations (riplocks, etc.) for different medias. By default one burner can be quiet with DVD but noisier with CD. But remember than speed isn't all either : a 16x Liteon and a 16x Samsung are indeed different beasts.

SlaveToSilence · Post by **SlaveToSilence** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:23 am

any update on this subject? whats the current best/quietest dvdrw drive?

peerke · Post by **peerke** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:18 pm

Very strange this thread died in it's infancy. There must have been developments when the SATA drives became mainstream. Looking for my first SATA drive. Hoping for some input.

SlaveToSilence · Post by **SlaveToSilence** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:19 pm

yea, real shame, looking for my first too, hopefully with a black front to go with the p180

ACook · Post by **ACook** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:00 pm

here's some info for you:

Ripping an ifo from a 4x dvdrw:

I 06:03:44 Source Device: [3:0:0] LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1H LL06 (PATA)
I 06:06:28 Average Read Rate: 13.891 KB/s (10.0x) - Maximum Read Rate: 16.687 KB/s (12.0x)

I 06:07:26 Source Device: [0:0:0] Optiarc DVD RW AD-7200S 1.06 (SATA)
I 06:09:55 Average Read Rate: 15.196 KB/s (11.0x) - Maximum Read Rate: 17.677 KB/s (12.8x)

The liteon had a definite hum, while the optiarc had more a woosh.
the optiarc had some oscilation coming through, while the liton was a more tonal louder hum. I'd say a C.

When limiting the speed to 4X in dvddecrypter, actual speed 2-3x, the optiarc was really quiet, I couldn't tell it was working. When setting it at 8x, actual speed 4-6x, there was slight air noise.
(compare tricool at the back at low or medium, during the day you kinda know it's there, but only notice it when it stops.)
I 06:19:32 Average Read Rate: 6.291 KB/s (4.5x) - Maximum Read Rate: 8.205 KB/s (5.9x)

The liton slowed down to 8x still was louder than the optiarc, but not as much difference and still very quiet.
I 06:41:46 Average Read Rate: 6.508 KB/s (4.7x) - Maximum Read Rate: 8.516 KB/s (6.1x)

This all behind the P182 door about 2m in front of me.

So, either is a nice quiet ripping drive for dvdrws at 8x.

when watching on the other hand the Optiarc won't slow down automatically, at least with WMP, while the liteon was silent.

Exel · Post by **Exel** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:54 am

I've been very pleased with my Plextor PX-800A slowed down to 8X with Nero DriveSpeed. Has a quiet, smooth whoosh about it and no hard noises at all.

Rumbles a bit at full speed, but nothing out of the ordinary and still smoother than a lot of other drives I've tried.

BrytaPlanka · Post by **BrytaPlanka** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:58 am

I made a great find while googling, take a look at this! -> Samsung SH-D162D Low noise RPC1 Firmware

Scan-C
Hi all!

This firmware is intended for use with the Samsung SH-D162D (TS-H352D) in DVD-Players like the Kiss or gaming consoles (it's running in my original Xbox). It's patched to run at the following speeds:

DVD-Rom: 4x
DVD+-R/RW: 4x
DVD+-R DL: 4x
CD-R/Rom: 8x

Other Patches:

RPC-1 by Mr.Shine

While testing I had the drive sitting on my hand and couldn't tell if it's spinning but the movie played so I guess it did

I have to thank Mr.Shine for releasing the RPC-1 patched firmware and ala42 for helping me patching the speeds.

As always: Use at your own risk!
Attached file: SH-D162D_SB00.RPC1.low-noise.zip (93.2 KB)

And also this from the same guy. -> Samsung SH-D163B Low noise RPC1 Firmware
Attached file: SH-D163B_SB02_Low_noise_RPC1.zip (95.8 KB)

So here we have 2 potential quiet optical drives, one SATA and one IDE.
Some info about the Samsung SH-D163B
Some info about the Samsung SH-D162D

Here is an instruction on how to flash a Samsung drive.

Kaleid · Post by **Kaleid** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 3:19 pm

This list has to include Pioneer 216. I've never had anything remotely as quiet as this.

inti · Post by **inti** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 3:59 am

I'm very pleased with my new LG GGC-H20L. It's a fast Blu-Ray / HD-DVD / DVD reader (and DVD rewriter), and the quietest DVD drive I've ever used - I've not even tried Drivespeed on it yet, either.

I'm sure it's only average in noise terms compared with the Pioneer 216, but still, it's a nice performer.

Note: The LG is not the best CD reader if you use ExactAudioCopy, in that it's quite sensitive to scratches etc on CDs, and can give errors on one or two disks which read OK in other drives. But there's always some variability between drives like this.

mLy! · Post by **mLy!** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:12 am

I have a samsung SH d163a.

It is awefull: very loud. I use nero drivespeed and it was very difficult to get it to work, now it is at 8 x and still very loud.
And performance is very bad. A single scratch will make it impossible to read a dvd, while my other drives will read the same disc without a problem.

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 8:36 am

I think it would be useful to list the size of the quiet drives too. I'm looking for a quiet DVD to fit in the NSK3480 where space is an issue.
Especially when trying to use a PSU that's longer than 140 mm. I read and heard that the LGs are the shortest DVDs, is this true?

jozi · Post by **jozi** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:02 pm

What lenght is a short/long optical drive?
Looking here: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Pioneer- ... ck-OEM-NEW!
The Pioneer 216: Dimensions: W = 148mm x D = 180mm x H = 42.3mm (inc. height of front bezel)

mattthemuppet · Post by **mattthemuppet** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:39 pm

I'm very impressed with my Pioneer DVR-216 drive - very quiet and smooth sound, no louder (possibly even quieter) than a YL Ds12SL fan at full speed. In fact, it's quite hard to distinguish between them - I sometimes think that Speedfan has closed and ramped my DS12-SL up to full speed, until I realise that Nero's burning a recoded DVD instead.

Much smoother and a bit quieter than the NEC3450 (itself a quiet drive in its day) that it replaced.

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:22 am

I just bought an LG GH22 drive and it's 170 mm long, including bezel.
I can't say yet if it's quiet or not, I'm building a new system and still can't find the mobo I want.

antivenom · Post by **antivenom** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:01 am

I bought an LG GSA-H55LBL drive back in August and it's the worst thing I've ever heard!

I was looking at some photos on CD the other day and I couldn't hear myself think, even slowed down to 8x with Nero drivespeed it was unbearable.

That pioneer 216 sounds good

I might have to invest in a new DVD drive.

blackworx · Post by **blackworx** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:04 pm

My Pioneer DVR-215D (SATA) was relatively quiet while it lasted, but it died after 6 months of light use. RMA process was like pulling teeth; I very nearly gave up at one point as it's barely worth it for something that only cost GBP15 - and I'm sure Pioneer know this.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 8:55 pm

My 109A, retail version, Pioneer drive is really quiet. It has worked for almost 4 years now. Rubber encased weirdo that it is.

216 is the new version now?

I also recommend higher end plextor's. They are also smooth.

Samsungs... well, the oem ones I have tried all died in less than a year and were noisy. about 5 of them in past 8 years.

gmat · Post by **gmat** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:51 pm

I had several Plextors and am still using a PX-716SA which i would be very annoyed to replace. Even at regular speeds it's rather quiet (does a "whoosh" at 16x, no humming), but the BIG difference comes from the PlexTools. I can activate the "silent mode" in which the drive speeds, access times, even the tray opening times can be adjusted. The read speeds can be adjusted down to 2x max that means standlone DVD performance (basically just a whisper). It's absolutely perfect for watching movies as it wont start making distracting noises.
I wonder if other manufacturers will continue where Plextor stopped (as indeed they are now just rebranding), because so far i dont see anything that can replace the PlexTools. The drives themselves were rebranded Sanyo's (expensive and built like tanks) with custom firmware developped by Plextor. Now it's not the case anymore, and the PlexTools wont work with their newer drives...
More info on the NEC drives would be appreciated.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:28 pm

i got the external slim optical drvie from samsung that was reviewed here. I only need to use an optical drive maybe one a month if that. So this way it is always completely silent until i actually need to use it for a few miniuts. Of which i have to say it is pretty quiet while in use also.

blackworx · Post by **blackworx** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:22 am

gmat wrote:I had several Plextors and am still using a PX-716SA which i would be very annoyed to replace. Even at regular speeds it's rather quiet (does a "whoosh" at 16x, no humming), but the BIG difference comes from the PlexTools. I can activate the "silent mode" in which the drive speeds, access times, even the tray opening times can be adjusted. The read speeds can be adjusted down to 2x max that means standlone DVD performance (basically just a whisper). It's absolutely perfect for watching movies as it wont start making distracting noises.

Nero DriveSpeed can do the DVD-Video speed limiting thing for most drives, but I know exactly what you mean - it's not PlexTools.