Quiet'ish DVD: Asustek DRW-2014L1T SATA

mrCow · Post by **mrCow** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:59 pm

The subject of quiet DVD drives comes up quite often on SPCR, and the usual advice to to just avoid a few particularly loud player and reduce the read speed through software like Nero Drive Speed. Just thought I'd recommend a drive that is relatively quiet out of the box without throttling, the Asustek DRW-2014L1T SATA w/ lightscribe. Just finished assembling my computer yesterday, and the drive was barely audible throughout Windows installation and games instals, despite running at 20x.

I do have heavy accounstiPack treatment on my p182, however, even with the front door open, this drive is quieter than my old 4x and 8x Pioneer and LG drives (in a Sonata). Still not silent, but the quietest drive I've even owned.

BrytaPlanka · Post by **BrytaPlanka** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:51 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.

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:01 pm

I have the same drive and agree it is pretty darn quiet at normal speeds. When cranked up for high-speed writing or reading it's got a lot of whoosh, but vibrations are pretty minimal.

I'd recommend it. It's definitely quieter than my old NEC ND-3550A.

PartEleven · Post by **PartEleven** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:47 am

I'll third this also. Drive is impressively quiet at reading DVDs without any throttling. It does crank up the speed when reading CDs however, but still far better than my NEC-Optiarc.