What would be a quiet DVDRW drive?

line · Post by **line** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:51 am

Hi,

I'm in the market for a DVDRW drive and I think I could a good advice. I'm looking for a drive with a good noise character (no whining and no excessive vibrations) that works well and scales well with DriveSpeed.

I've already filtered NEC, LiteOn, Pioneer and LG 44 out of the list because from what I have read they are considered loud or louder than other drives. LG 62 has been reported to be quiet but I can't pick it since it has a serious issue with CD-R writing.

That leaves me with LG 30, 50 and 55, Samsung SH-S183L and Asus 1814BLT. Can somebody help me choose?

Thanks.

jolynsbass · Post by **jolynsbass** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:55 am

I will have an Asus 1814BL arriving either this evening or sometime tomorrow, so I'll be able to give you my impressions of the noise character (I'm pretty sure that the BL should have same noise as BLT, as it's only PATA vs. SATA interface that's different) as well as it's response to DriveSpeed.

So, if you don't mind waiting a day or two, I should be able to help you out a little!

(It was a toss up for me also between the Samsung and the Asus - the deciding factor was that newegg has only OEM Samsung drives, but has the retail Asus drives, so I will be able to update firmware, get support from Asus, etc...)

line · Post by **line** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:47 pm

Sure, I can wait a couple of days as I'll be placing my order next week. Hope you like the new drive and the bundle that comes with it.

jolynsbass · Post by **jolynsbass** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:48 pm

Finally, got that drive in, did a little testing. Here's what I think:
-The drive is pretty quiet while reading a DVD-video... Not as quiet as my Plextor 708A, though. I believe the Asus is spinning at 4x, while my Plextor would be at 2x(I know it does 2x - it's documented.)
-Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to play well with DriveSpeed. I couldn't actually get it to change speeds higher or lower while playing a DVD-video. Perhaps it would be different if I were copying data, but I didn't try that.
-Next, I burned a DVD at 18x. Predictably loud, but the character of the sound is better than most high-speed burners I've heard. Very whooshy instead of whiny.
-Then I lightscribed a label. It was very quiet for this operation. I imagine the drive was spinning at 4x, based on the ~20 minute burn time...
-It worked like a charm, and I can only assume that the SATA version would be similar.

I understand that the Samsung drives have a special software that you can download from Samsung directly that let's you choose between "Silent" and "Fast" modes. So, if Drivespeed-like control is important to you, I'd suggest looking at that software option.

I also learned an interesting thing about the Lightscribe software. If I had Daemon Tools running, the system couldn't recognize the Lightscribe capabilities of my DVDRW drive! As soon as I closed Daemon Tools down, the drive was recognized correctly, and could write labels. Weird, but there you have it, in case anyone is having trouble with Lightscribe not recognizing their drive.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 3:39 am

Plextor all the way. Better controlled sample variance than Samsung and have had speed control from the get-go. The Samsungs are not bad when they work, but on these forums there have been reports of bad samples. Also, just about any drive goes quiet when speeds get dropped to acceptable levels: even my buzzsaw LG is a fine sample when CD-Bremse is there to control it. It's a GSA-4082B.

But here's the question: why fool around with extra software when you can get hardware control?

jolynsbass · Post by **jolynsbass** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 8:26 pm

Two problems I can foresee with a Plextor recommendation:
1) No lightscribe. If this is an important feature to "line" then Plextor is a no-go
2) Quality of the latest Plextor drives is in question, since they are no longer manufacturing their own drives. This is easy to confirm, since Plextools Pro will not work with them(and they do not come with it). I agree, though, that a genuine Plextor is probably the quietest and most reliable drive out there. Too bad you can't really buy them new anymore.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:11 am

Sorry, I made some assumptions:

#1 No one really uses LightScribe. OP didn't list it as a requirement.
#2 People know only to buy the established drives.

Uriox · Post by **Uriox** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:00 am

It seems you've already got the quietest drives in your list , the Samsung SH-S183L and Asus 1814BLT (yes *true* Plextor drives used to be better -- i think the 760 was the last one -- as you could reduce the speed).
Both were compared by the german C't maganize with other drives, see this thread :
viewtopic.php?t=40597

What you need to know :

1) The Asus and Samsung models have the best damping systems (=they produce the less noise than others at the same speed) around. The Asus drive is the absolute best, the Samsung being a close second. Was easily checked with CD-ROM reading.

2) However their default speeds are not the best. While the Pioneer 112 is not as well damped, its default DVD-video read speed is the lowest of all models = 5x from what I gathered. By default Samsung is at 8x, and if I recall corrrectly the Asus is even higher.

3) Using CD-Bremse the speed of the Samsung can be reduced to 4x as shown by a german thread (can't read german but automatic translation is good enough).
http://www.silenthardware.de/forum/inde ... opic=23614
Using the Magicspeed Samsung utility, you can reduce CD-speed too. Then it should be a lot quieter than the Pioneer. Drive speed is reported to work.

4) I'm afraid I don't know much about the Asus in term of compatibility with software speed reducers. In terms of burning/reading it is better than the Samsung, though.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:08 am

I still maintain the opinion that OS-independet hardware control wins over software control any day. No need to install, update or keep anything extra running. CD-Bremse is great, but I'd give it up any day -- plus it doesn't work before I log in, so the BF2142 disc goes full tilt!

My LG is inaudible at 5x when watching movies, during heavy use the rapid seeks can be heard depending on DVD.

GaryJ · Post by **GaryJ** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:51 am

Agree with the "avoid Plextor" comments. I had a Plextor 708a in my last build and loved it. I just built a new vista/c2d machine and purchased the Plextor 800. Night and day difference. I knew as soon as I hit the open button that the reviews I had been reading were true. The 708a opening was buttery-smooth while the new one wheezes - the rest of the performance comparison is similiar. It doesn't bug ME too much, but if you're looking for quiet, look elsewhere.

Kipa

IdontexistM8 · Post by **IdontexistM8** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:34 pm

GaryJ wrote:Agree with the "avoid Plextor" comments. I had a Plextor 708a in my last build and loved it. I just built a new vista/c2d machine and purchased the Plextor 800. Night and day difference. I knew as soon as I hit the open button that the reviews I had been reading were true. The 708a opening was buttery-smooth while the new one wheezes - the rest of the performance comparison is similiar. It doesn't bug ME too much, but if you're looking for quiet, look elsewhere.

Kipa

That'll be because it's been Plextor badged..i.e. not one of their own drives.