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im looking for a new burner.
the main purpose for the burner is to burn audio as DAO
ive heard plextor are great but come w/ roxio
ive also read a few threads here that liteon is the way to go..what software does it come with and will DAO be a problem

As far as I know, any modern burner and recording software package can burn DAO.

Lite-On drives (and many re-badged Lite-On drives) come with Nero. Although Lite-On doesn't have as many features as Plextor, it has several good points too. Lite-On drives have good writing quality, their construction seems solid, and they cost far less than the Plextor.

Whether Lite-On or Plextor is the best for you depends on whether you really want or need the extra features of the Plextor, and whether or not you are willing to pay extra for those features.

BTW, Lite-On and Plextor aren't the only good drives out there; there are many good brands.mmDespite the fact that Lite-On is my favorite brand of drives, you can see from my signature that I use other brands as well.

If your going to be burning audio, VariRec would come in handy on the Premium.

Of course, if you don't have $110-$130 to spend on the Premium, get the LTR-52246S, it has proven to be a nice drive and it only costs about $45.

The newer, LTR-52327S has not been proven to be a good drive at all. I would wait on that one.

aviationwiz wrote:If your going to be burning audio, VariRec would come in handy on the Premium.

You've mentioned this a couple of times recently, aviationwiz. Are you aware that even Plextor's promotional literature shows VariRec making jitter worse, not better?

Plextor VariRec Literature wrote:When VariRec is used at the most extreme settings, there is a chance that the playback device will not read the disc properly. In this case, use the default setting or switch VariRec off.

(from http://www.plextor.be/english/pdf/PlextorVariRec.pdf)

The VariRec "feature" is sort of hard to promote, because any improvement obtained by adjusting VariRec from the nominal setting stands as an indictment against Plextor's optimum power calibration routines, which should automatically find the best setting. In other words, if VariRec improves the burn, then Plextor's OPC isn't very good in the first place.

Actual testing confirms that adjusting VariRec makes jitter worse:

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Article ... tter+Tests

There may be rare instances where VariRec improves burn quality, but on the whole, in my opinion, VariRec is just a gimmick. And looking at Plextor's half-hearted promotional literature, I think they know the same.

cfitz

Then use Advanced Audio Master on the F1

On my tests, Jitter and the pronounciation of the pits and lands were better with VariRec on. Oh well, for each one thier own burner.

cfitz wrote:There may be rare instances where VariRec improves burn quality, but on the whole, in my opinion, VariRec is just a gimmick. And looking at Plextor's half-hearted promotional literature, I think they know the same.

yes! very well put!
(thanks cfitz. i meant to write something to this effect, but was too lazy! )

aviationwiz wrote:Then use Advanced Audio Master on the F1

now that does have some merit.