quietest CD and DVD writer

gychang · Post by **gychang** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:05 pm

please give me advise on my media PC. Internal unit of course, plan to get one from newegg.

thanks,

gychang

Tamas · Post by **Tamas** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:14 pm

gychang wrote:please give me advise on my media PC. Internal unit of course, plan to get one from newegg.

thanks,

gychang

Pioneer has a quiet DVD writer series with anti-resonance and firmware developments.
The current version is DVR-A11XLA.
Here is a review about it: http://www.speedlabs.org/index.php?page=61

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 2:29 am

Tamas wrote:Pioneer has a quiet DVD writer series with anti-resonance and firmware developments.
The current version is DVR-A11XLA.

Froogle has no hits for that part #. Google mentions "discontinued". Might it be that there simply is not a profitable market for $100 DVD-Rs when Newegg pushes out noisier units that work great for $31, including SATA if you want?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 3:28 am

Hello,

I'm happy with the Sony DVD burner I have.

[Edit: This model.]

gychang · Post by **gychang** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 4:39 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello,

I'm happy with the Sony DVD burner I have.

what model is it? thanks,

gychang

jellybeard999 · Post by **jellybeard999** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:10 am

if you have Nero, you can use the drivespeed app to slow read speeds down

computergeek22 · Post by **computergeek22** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 4:06 pm

imho, most drives if you don't have a cd in them never make noise at all...

pyogenes · Post by **pyogenes** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:54 pm

Avoid this Samsung drive. Loud! I'm just happy i rarely have to use it.

Anodyne · Post by **Anodyne** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 7:32 pm

Avoid this Samsung drive. Loud! I'm just happy i rarely have to use it.

Odd - I have a Samsung drive (not that exact model; it's a year old and non-lightscribe), but it's really smooth and quiet. I also have two-year old Plextor that's very quiet.

mattcoz · Post by **mattcoz** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:50 pm

How do Lite-On drives compare for noise?

rei · Post by **rei** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 11:54 pm

The SATA Liteon I have is kind of loud.

tempeteduson · Post by **tempeteduson** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:01 am

It's interesting that there are sometimes conflicting opinions on the noise of optical drives. Samsung has been known (in the past, at least) for drives that operate relatively smoothly and quietly. I've even read somewhere that recommended the aforementioned Samsung drive in particular, a current model.

I don't know if they had experience with that particular one or just with previous Samsungs, but I'm starting to disagree with that statement. I have a total of three Samsung 5.25" drives: a retail DVD-ROM reader, an OEM DVD-ROM reader (black), and an OEM dual-format DVD DL burner (black). Only the first of those is quiet, and it's probably the quietest one I've ever encountered: Very smooth tray ejection and operation. The latter two are probably the worst I've ever heard, emitting a loud resonance throughout the case whenever they spin up (and one of those is in a rigid SLK3700AMB, mind you). What annoys me especially is that this happens every time on bootup--the things spin at full speed! They don't settle until I see the Windows desktop.

It seems that sample variance has something to do with the quality of noise. My advice would be to find an older drive if you can, perhaps one of the two Samsung opticals SPCR has reviewed. Or pick up a new one that has a good consensus of opinion behind it. The Pioneer model mentioned at the beginning of this thread does seem to be quite good, both in terms of its compatibility/performance using varying media and its noise. The problem is finding it, at least in the U.S. I assume the OEM version (DVR-111) lacks the fancy vibration-absorption technology and is probably not as quiet.

jedster · Post by **jedster** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:36 am

i have a pioneer dvr-111, a lite-on 16x sata, and the newer lite-on 20x IDE lightscribe (all in different boxes). the two lite-on units are quieter than the pioneer (which is in turn quieter than an LG that i had tried out). i got the dvr-111 at retail (fry's). it's fast, but i overspent. and the lite-ons are just as fast. (i'm talking about rippping dvds here.)

i get the sense that when it comes to these things, ymmv!

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:17 am

tempeteduson wrote:...The latter two are probably the worst I've ever heard, emitting a loud resonance throughout the case whenever they spin up...

Yep, the entire case vibrates, if the case has not had dampening applied (and I'm talking rubber, not foam!). Rubber dampening does greatly reduce this effect, proportional to the amount of rubber that's applied and how close to the optical drive the dampening is applied.

SPCR people well know how to solve the problem: suspend the optical drive. Nobody, and I mean nobody, at SPCR has ever suspended an optical drive as far as I'm aware. There is the additional problem of inserting and removing optical media in a suspended drive.

My conclusion: until the problem becomes important enough to suspend the optical drive, this problem is not going away. Meanwhile, rubber dampening, applied to the case as closely to the optical drive as possible, can ameliorate the problem.

With optical drives selling for $30, it's impossible for anybody to spend the money to make a quiet optical drive because nobody would buy it (nobody in a marketing sense).

Anodyne · Post by **Anodyne** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:27 am

True - DVD writer in my main rig is a quiet Plextor, but over the holidays I rebuilt my system into a new Antec Solo case (previously it was in an Antec SX630). Now that drive is much louder - I'm sure the drive itself hasn't gotten louder, but either I didn't mount it quite right or the Solo allows a lot more noise through the front bezel vents (or both). The SX630 had no vents at the 5-1/4 bays to let noise out, but the Solo does. So I need to experiment with re-mounting the drive, or adding dampening material to the drive cage.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:58 pm

Anodyne wrote:So I need to experiment with re-mounting the drive, or adding dampening material to the drive cage.

You can see how I added damping to the optical drive about halfway down in this posting. Two layers of 1/4" rubber added using super glue.

MC FLMJIG · Post by **MC FLMJIG** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 2:59 am

I have a SONY drive and I HATE IT. I hate it, hate it, hate it!

I hate Sony products and was willing to give them one last chance. Never again.

I've had various drives and I have to say the Samsung Lighstcribe DVD burner was the most quiet drive I have ever had. I loved that drive until I fried it like a retard plugging it while psu was on.

I'm buying the SATA Sammy once price goes down a bit.

Lite-Off is junk IMO. Pioneers are a tad loud. The NEC was great but a tad too loud and long. I've tried a few others but don't remember.

hawkeye1 · Post by **hawkeye1** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 3:16 am

I bought the Mad Dog OEM version of the Samsung SH-S182D today, and after multiple burns I can tell you this thing is whisper-silent. My previous drive was a Plextor PX-716A that I decided to replace due to a failing tray mechanism, and the Mad Dog is significantly quieter. All-in-all I'm very pleased with this drive, especially since it came pre-loaded with the SB03 firmware (Nov 06 manufacture date) that obviates the problems other people have experienced with burning DVD-R's (as my test proved).

hawkeye

cjmuk · Post by **cjmuk** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:26 am

pyogenes wrote:Avoid this Samsung drive. Loud! I'm just happy i rarely have to use it.

I *think* I have the same unit. And it's awful. When a disk is in and is being used, it makes more noise than all the other components together by an order of magnitude.

I bought it because of Samsung's reputation for quiet HDDs, but I'll be rid of it as soon as I can find a drive that I'm sure is slower.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:15 am

The quietest optical drives ive been able to find are Slim slot loading panasonic drives.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=175305

i use these with a 2.5" 5400rpm samsung notebook drive, and buy an adapter that will let me mount both into a single 5.25" drive bay.

Even hard mounted, the notebook HD is ALOT quieter than suspended 3.5" drives. Idle is inaudible, vibration is negligable, and seeks are barely audible.

VERY quiet. HIGHLY recommend.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Heres a link to the mounting bracket i use:
http://www.servercase.com/miva/miva?/Me ... t_Code=FM3

it even comes with the adapter to convert the optical drive to connect to an IDE channel.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 8:17 am

hawkeye1 wrote:I bought the Mad Dog OEM version of the Samsung SH-S182D

What's the model number and/or SKU number of this Mad Dog drive?

jimmyzaas · Post by **jimmyzaas** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:19 pm

I have a LG H22N dvd burner.. and I can say it is quiet when playing or ripping dvd video because it is locked at 8x whenever you play back dvd video.. whether it is burnt or pressed.

You should be able to find these drives anywhere.. if you live in canada or us.

It will get VERY loud if you stick a game or data dvd in.. since those read at 16x.

Techno Pride · Post by **Techno Pride** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 1:58 pm

I like the 18x LG H42N.

It goes down to 2x read speed with DriveSpeed and is practically silent.

I used to have a Liteon 160P6S that made terrible screeching noises when the read speed is lowered.

Anvar · Post by **Anvar** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:14 am

Has anybody tried this drive?

I'm trying to avoid IDE connections in my new build, and this is one of only a few drives I've found in Denmark.

There's also the NEC 7170S, I found at one reseller, but can't find linkage to it anywhere. (In a language other than Danish, and even babelfish won't translate our gibberish

)

Filias Cupio · Post by **Filias Cupio** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:45 pm

I'm in a very similar boat to Anvar. I want a SATA DVD writer, but where I am (New Zealand) the only options are Plextor 760SA (*very* expensive - NZ$290 compared to NZ$55 for a cheap DVD writer) or LG GSA-H30N at about $75 (which has only just appeared on the market in the last week or so.)

Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about the noise of the LG GSA-H30N?

raynman68 · Post by **raynman68** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:54 pm

Has anybody tried this drive?

I'm trying to avoid IDE connections in my new build, and this is one of only a few drives I've found in Denmark.

I have bought of the Samsung SH-S183As. The first one I was purchased at a Best Buy and sounded like a jet running engines up before take off compared to my Plextor PX-716A. The second one I ordered was an OEM from NewEgg and it is at least as quiet as my old Plextor. The first one is now in my dad's computer, all the time he spent at the gun range have pretty much killed off his hearing.

mattcoz · Post by **mattcoz** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 5:01 pm

pyogenes wrote:Avoid this Samsung drive. Loud! I'm just happy i rarely have to use it.

I have the SATA version, ridiculously loud. Even the tray is loud, with a huge clunking noise when it goes in.

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