Not sure what to do!

[gutta]

I'm looking to pick up my first DVDR drive. I will need it mainly for backing up large amounts of data and possibly DVD authoring. I have been looking at the Pioneer 109 or the Lite On 1673S.

An important aspect of the drive is to be able to burn quality CD Audio as well. I work at a recording studio and this is very important. I have a LiteOn CDR burner that I use now and it works flawlessly with Taiyo or Verbatim medium. I have read that the Lite-On 1673S doesnt burn quality CDR Audio and some of the Pioneer 109 do not burn CD Audio at all! I burn all my media at 16X to get best results. Would burning at lower speeds increase the writing quality of either of these drives?

I have a Shuttle system and I can only fit one drive in it. That means my current Lite On CDR burner will have to go. I have leaned towards the Pioneer because I have heard it has better DVD writing quality, but I wanted to stick with the Lite On brand because I have been impressed with their products in the past.

I have read bad things about both of these drives burning CD Audio and not sure where to turn. Should I look into another brand maybe? Or should I get an external USB 2.0 Pioneer drive and keep my old Lite On cd burner for audio cds? Will an external DVDr drive cause buffer underruns etc? I have read that you need an 80 pin IDE cable for the Pioneer. I'm sure that is much faster than USB 2.0 bandwidth.

Any suggestions or help? thanks!

[dolphinius_rex]

Please do NOT consider the LiteON.

Go for the Plextor PX-716a. It has extra mastering options which will be useful to you in your recording studio. It also has excellent CD burning and testing abilities. The DVD recording is also quite good.

LiteON doesn't make good DVD burners... they used to make excellent CD burners, but those days are sadly over.

You will not regret buying the PX-716a!

[Alektron]

My $0.02.....after Plextor PX-716A, it seems that the second choice should be Pioneer DVR-A09XL. They said that it does not have digital audio output, but it has good quality, and there is a rebate available right now on DVR-A09X that makes it cheaper than PX-716A. I chose Plextor instead of LG, Samsung, Lite-on, etc because I don't mind paying for quality.

[Scour]

Hello!

I have good experiences with Pioneer DVD-writer, but I´m not sure about the quality with CD-R-media.

The Plextor 716 is a great drive for burning DVD and CD, but it´s very expensive.

Maybe you should wait for the LG 4165, I think it can be a great drive.

[gutta]

I think I am going to go with a Pioneer 109 and pick up an external USB/Firewire case for it. I can build my own for about $100. I will keep the LiteOn CD Burner in the Shuttle and not have to worry about burning crappy audio cds.

Thanks for the help!

[Ian]

I think I am going to go with a Pioneer 109 and pick up an external USB/Firewire case for it.

Just make sure you get one that can handle 16x DVD reading and writing speeds. A lot of them cannot.

[gutta]

I think I am going to go with a Pioneer 109 and pick up an external USB/Firewire case for it.

Just make sure you get one that can handle 16x DVD reading and writing speeds. A lot of them cannot.

Do you mean the case or the drive?

I'm looking to get this case.

http://www.speezeusa.com/520ui.asp

[dodecahedron]

he meant the case.
in many cases (no pun intended) putting a drive in an external case, you won't be able to reach 16x speeds.

[Scour]

Hello!

Maybe you put the 109 in the Shuttle and the Liteon in external case?

[gutta]

Hello!

Maybe you put the 109 in the Shuttle and the Liteon in external case?

In the words of the new Guiness commercials

BRILLIANT!

I'll do that. Maybe I'll just pick up the Pioneer and do my own testing of the CDRs. If they play fine in my equipment with my media, I'll just stick with the Pioneer.

[dolphinius_rex]

The Pioneer DVR-109 has been VERY picky in the past... but with the new 1.50 firmware this may have improved.... unfortunately, I took my DVR-109 out of my system 2 days ago to make room for the BenQ DW1640

I'll have to find another spot for it, maybe in my second computer if I find time.

I still think the PX-716a is the best choice, especially if you plan on mastering audio CDs, since nothing can come even close to the PX audio mastering abilities thanks to Plextools (keep i mind, I NEVER suggest buying Plextor's over BenQ DW1620's, but in this case, it's simply the better unit for the job).

[gutta]

I still think the PX-716a is the best choice, especially if you plan on mastering audio CDs, since nothing can come even close to the PX audio mastering abilities thanks to Plextools (keep i mind, I NEVER suggest buying Plextor's over BenQ DW1620's, but in this case, it's simply the better unit for the job).

Yes, I'm sure you are right. But the $100+ price tag of the Plextor seemed steep comparted to the $53 for the Pioneer (I came into this only wanting to spend $60). When I first came to this site, I inquired about CDR drives and on your recommendation, I bought the Lite Ons and have since built a few tower duplicators and never been let down.

I doubt if I would use the mastering capabilities of the Plextor. I work at a nice studio and we have nice outboard gear worth tens of thousands of dollars to do that task.

[Scour]

The Pioneer DVR-109 has been VERY picky in the past... but with the new 1.50 firmware this may have improved.... unfortunately, I took my DVR-109 out of my system 2 days ago to make room for the BenQ DW1640

Picky with what?

I know the Pioneers not the best on CD-R, but doing a good job with DVD-media; only if you want to burn 16x you have a problem with Pioneer

[dolphinius_rex]

The Pioneer DVR-109 has been VERY picky in the past... but with the new 1.50 firmware this may have improved.... unfortunately, I took my DVR-109 out of my system 2 days ago to make room for the BenQ DW1640

Picky with what?

I know the Pioneers not the best on CD-R, but doing a good job with DVD-media; only if you want to burn 16x you have a problem with Pioneer

So far, the Pioneer is good with 2 types of media.... Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden... but like I said, the new firmware may have fixed a lot of these problems. The Prodisc I tried didn't work that great either (but I only tried 1 out of 4 of the 8x DVD-Rs).

[hoxlund]

hey gutty i have that exact case, mines the firewire/usb2.0

lights up red and blue all around it

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835150747

well and mine is just a 3.5", for just hard drive, but i love it

[Scour]

So far, the Pioneer is good with 2 types of media.... Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden... but like I said, the new firmware may have fixed a lot of these problems. The Prodisc I tried didn't work that great either (but I only tried 1 out of 4 of the 8x DVD-Rs).

Look at Ian´s review

IMHO there´s no real bad quality with all media he tried. Only Memorex +R 16x and Ritek DL have higher error-rates, but it´s still ok

[dolphinius_rex]

So far, the Pioneer is good with 2 types of media.... Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden... but like I said, the new firmware may have fixed a lot of these problems. The Prodisc I tried didn't work that great either (but I only tried 1 out of 4 of the 8x DVD-Rs).

Look at Ian´s review

IMHO there´s no real bad quality with all media he tried. Only Memorex +R 16x and Ritek DL have higher error-rates, but it´s still ok

With all due respect to Ian, he doesn't test a very large amount of media (due to time constraints). However, I've had the oppurtunity to plug the DVR-109 into my other system, and upgraded the firmware, and things seem to be a little better. It now supports some Optodisc media properly (all 4x and 8x media!), and can burn a few other middle range brands at their rated speed instead of 4x.

[Scour]

With all due respect to Ian, he doesn't test a very large amount of media (due to time constraints). However, I've had the oppurtunity to plug the DVR-109 into my other system, and upgraded the firmware, and things seem to be a little better. It now supports some Optodisc media properly (all 4x and 8x media!), and can burn a few other middle range brands at their rated speed instead of 4x.

Ian test some media that you´ll find everywhere.

I don´t know why you ever set Optodisc for reference how good a DVD-writer is. Optodisc (in Europe) can´t be called a premium quality, not really a md-range-product like Ritek, CMC and Prodisc, OD is a under-mid-range-product. Nobody in Europe buy a DVD-writer only for burning OD.

I kow the Pioneer-support for 16x is very small, but the 109 burns many 8x-media at 12x with good quality

[dolphinius_rex]

With all due respect to Ian, he doesn't test a very large amount of media (due to time constraints). However, I've had the oppurtunity to plug the DVR-109 into my other system, and upgraded the firmware, and things seem to be a little better. It now supports some Optodisc media properly (all 4x and 8x media!), and can burn a few other middle range brands at their rated speed instead of 4x.

Ian test some media that you´ll find everywhere.

I don´t know why you ever set Optodisc for reference how good a DVD-writer is. Optodisc (in Europe) can´t be called a premium quality, not really a md-range-product like Ritek, CMC and Prodisc, OD is a under-mid-range-product. Nobody in Europe buy a DVD-writer only for burning OD.

I kow the Pioneer-support for 16x is very small, but the 109 burns many 8x-media at 12x with good quality

Well, I'm going with what is common in my area. And in my area, we have Acro Circle (premium Optodisc) and BenQ brand DVDRs a plenty. Ritek is also common, but more unstable quality wise. Taiyo Yuden is more common now as well. Some local computer stores in my area (the bigger ones) sell more Optodisc, or even more Taiyo Yuden then Ritek, and way WAY more of Ritek then Prodisc. (if any Prodisc is sold at all). Most of the duplication places that favoured Prodisc have now turned away from it because Prodisc 8x DVDR media sucks something fierce, and fails on too many of their machines. As it happens, I'm quite close with all the major duplication companies and media suppliers in Western Canada, and some of the Central Canada and Eastern Canada ones as well. It's somewhat unfortunate the Canadian user base of this forum is so small

Now, when I do reviews, I try to get as much media as possible, from as many places as possible. That's why I stock Datawrite and BulkPaq brand media as well as Ritek, Prodisc, BenQ, Optodisc, Taiyo Yuden, Maxell, Memorex, Fuji, Verbatim and Mitsui. So yes, I'm pickier about what drives I support, because I try to look at a much larger picture then the average person/reviewer.

But anyways, like I said, I've looked at the new Pioneer DVR-109 firmware, and many of the problems revolving around 8x DVDR burning have been solved, and it looks like some 12x and 16x burning issues have also been solved. I expect that in one or maybe 2 firmware releases tops, the DVR-109 will be quite compatible with most media available in most regions.

[Scour]

Now, when I do reviews, I try to get as much media as possible, from as many places as possible. That's why I stock Datawrite and BulkPaq brand media as well as Ritek, Prodisc, BenQ, Optodisc, Taiyo Yuden, Maxell, Memorex, Fuji, Verbatim and Mitsui. So yes, I'm pickier about what drives I support, because I try to look at a much larger picture then the average person/reviewer.

Yeah, and I like that you make reviews with many media.

In Germany you can get Acro Circle, too:

http://opusshop.de/produkten_specific.a ... 315&gid=30

http://opusshop.de/produkten_specific.a ... 313&gid=29


But media from Ritek, CMC, Prodisc you can have everywhere with many diffrent labels, so those media is more important for the most users here.

[Ian]

But anyways, like I said, I've looked at the new Pioneer DVR-109 firmware, and many of the problems revolving around 8x DVDR burning have been solved, and it looks like some 12x and 16x burning issues have also been solved. I expect that in one or maybe 2 firmware releases tops, the DVR-109 will be quite compatible with most media available in most regions.

Yup.. fixed just in time for the DVR-110.