Plextor Premium-U...Where?

[mark4man]

Crew...

My mixing & mastering engineer friends tell me that the Plextor Premium is the CD-R/RW drive of choice for burning pre-master CD-A's to be used for replication. My replication house basically confirms this; & even uses Plextor drives in their OTA's (Optical Transport Assembly.)

But...Plextor no longer mfg.'s the Premium as an external unit (which is the Premium-U), which is the unit I really wanted. The unit is nowhere to be found; & internet resellers & auction houses alike are out of stock.

I called Plextor this afternoon; & after the support tech confirmed various technical aspects about the Premium series...he then suggested that I may be able to get one (a Premium-U) from a distributor that specializes in marketing discontinued drive products. He said the name was Que Tech...but I've searched everywhere & can't find such an outfit.

So my question is: Do any forum members know where I might be able to find this unit? (or...the correct name of this specialty distributor?)

Anything ring a bell?

Any ideas?

Thanks,

mark4man


BTW - Plextor still mfg.'s the internal Premium CD-RW...but I've always been a bit leery over burning in the box (heat buildup, etc.). The tech told me I could get an external drive enclosure...but the Bridge Chip has to be right on the money...on a par with that offered by Plextor in their external drive, which is mfg.'d by NEC (& I'm not sure I want to take that chance.)

[Justin42]

I really doubt you'd have much issue with any decent (Oxford, or apparently later Prolific) chipset in an external case. The Premium is an awesome drive but it IS just a CDR, a technology that's been around for a while. While chipsets can make a difference, I'd try it -- odds are it'll work fine. (The NEC probably just uses an Oxford chipset anyway)

I've run drives in external cases (HDD, Sony DRU500a DVD burner) for years with no problems.

[mark4man]

Justin42,

Thanks.

I found an external; but have another question:

On the bridge chip/chipset issue...Am I going to get as accurate a burn utilizing USB, as I would from an internal drive hooked up to the IDE ribbon cable in the tower?

Is the data that's transferred identical...or is it converted somehow?

Thanks,

mark4man

[Justin42]

Sorry I didn't see this until today. It sounds like you already have the situation fairly sorted out.

As for the bridge chip... some people have noticed some quirks of writing quality in the cases with DVDs... but I think, when you're talking CDs, there is a much smaller chance of that. And the question is -- even if it IS different, is it really "worse"?

Ok, bad answer to your question. I can't say with 100% certainty you will get exactly the same data written to the disc. You absolutely SHOULD but there is some minor evidence out there you may not.

I am 99.99% certain no external case, that is functioning properly, and of a decent make, will make your drive behave in such a way that it creates worse-quality discs.