CDRLabs.com

I just noticed something. The Cendyne 48x is a Lite-On with a model number LTR-48125W and at newegg.com the Lite-On 48x the model number is LTR-48246S.

What is the difference there is they both are the SAME 48x Lite-On burner?

Is one model better than another? I read Ian's review of the Cendyne 48x burner and it was LTR-48125W.

Thanks!

The LTR-48125W is Lite-On's 48x12x48 drive and the LTR-48246S is Lite-On's 48x24x48 drive. The two drives also use different chipsets.

LTR-48125W
48x12x48 (Mediatek 5 Chipset)

LTR-48246S
48x24x48 (Mediatek 6 Chipset)

The letter at the end, has to do with what plant it was manufactured in.

It's not that hard to figure, out, I would recomend going to Lite-On's website: http://www.liteonit.com

and using the search function of these forums.

You guys are mistaken about the last number in the model name. It's not the generation of MediaTek chipset being used.

aviationwiz

Thanks for the info! I checked out the FAQ section and that was very helpful. I now understand their method to Lite-On's madness.

To add to what I said earlier, this is how it was explained to me by Lite-On once upon a time:

LTR-aabbcT

aa = CDR write speed
bb = CDRW write speed
c = CDROM read speed (1=32X, 2=40X)
T = generation

Obviously, the CDROM read speed really doesn't hold anymore with some "6" drives reading at 48x and 52x.

aviationwiz wrote:The letter at the end, has to do with what plant it was manufactured in.

So the LTR-48246S and LTR-48246K are the same drive, just made at different factories? That just isn't true. The two drives aren't even the same physical size. In addition, their firmwares are different and completely incompatible. The LTR-40125S and LTR-40125W also use different firmwares.

If the last letter did indicate the factory, then LiteOn has been busy building and closing plants. For your idea to hold water, LiteOn would have had to first open plants B and C, then close them and open plant S followed by plant W, then finally close W and open new plant K.

What is the source of your information, aviationwiz? It doesn't seem to be very reliable.

cfitz

I remember back a while ago when I asked about the comparison of the LTD-163 and LTD-163D and the difference was the factory in which it was made. That's the anwser I got here.

So, I suppose it isn't the same for CD Burners.

Do you mean this thread where dimitri explained to you that the D meant the 163D uses a different pick-up head and requires different firmware? Again, these are indications of different models, not different factories. The bit about different factories was just a rumor (unsubstantiated) as Tril- made clear when he mentioned it.

By the way, Karr Wang, an engineer at LiteOn, has also confirmed that the different suffixes indicate different internal components (e.g. pick-up heads) for the DVD drives as well.

cfitz

Eh, so sue me.

Different heads, different firmware, different plant, all the same. Who can remember.

aviationwiz wrote:Eh, so sue me.

Different heads, different firmware, different plant, all the same. Who can remember.

You know, it is okay to tell people that you really don't know.

Well, I thought I did know, but apparently, it was just a rumor.

Here is an interesting assertion at http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 6895#36895 that the Liteon models 3, 5, and 6 are series numbers and not necessarily chipset revisions. This sounds reasonable, as once someone says "chipset" to explain something that is otherwise unknown, everyone jumps on the bandwagon and it soon becomes web lore.

Information gathered earlier at CD Freaks indicated that S Model firmware was made for the ST Microelectronics EPROM and W Model firmware was made for the Winbond EPROM. Now we are told it may be the pickup head that is responsible for the S and W designations, so the EPROM story could be apocryphal

To further confuse the issue, the S and W firmwares are completely interchangable in the models LTR40125 and LTR48125 with the proper flashing tools. The drive will operate without a hitch with either version. To my knowledge, no problems have been reported using the S firmware in an original W drive and vice versa. I have made the change myself a number of times with my original LTR40125S, which now works perfectly well as a LTR48125W.

Ian wrote:

aviationwiz wrote:Eh, so sue me.

Different heads, different firmware, different plant, all the same. Who can remember.

You know, it is okay to tell people that you really don't know.

I was going to say essentially the same thing. It is perfectly fine to take the attitude that pick-up heads, firmware and manufacturing plants are all the same to you; that such things are all just minutiae that don't get in the way of you using and enjoying your drives. In fact, that is probably the proper attitude for most to take. But if you do take that attitude and don't care to concern yourself with the details, then please don't answer questions regarding such details.

Everyone can make mistakes, but if you know from the start that you are unsure about the subject and don't really care about its details, then you are too likely to get it wrong and it doesn't help the person asking the question. If you nonetheless feel you just must post something even under these circumstances, then please at least qualify your answer with something like "I'm not sure, but I think that perhaps..." or "I heard a rumor that...", much the way Tril- did when he replied to you. That at least gives the questioner a fair feel for the reliability of your answer.

cfitz

Inertia wrote:Now we are told it may be the pickup head that is responsible for the S and W designations, so the EPROM story could be apocryphal

Not necessarily. If the different letters designate designs based on different internal components, then EEPROM and/or pick-up heads and/or other components could be different. In my reply I gave pick-up heads as one example of internal components that may differ. Karr indicated that pickup heads were different on the DVD drives of which he spoke, but that doesn't mean those are the only internal components that could differ.

cfitz

cfitz wrote:

Inertia wrote:Now we are told it may be the pickup head that is responsible for the S and W designations, so the EPROM story could be apocryphal

Not necessarily. If the different letters designate designs based on different internal components, then EEPROM and/or pick-up heads and/or other components could be different. In my reply I gave pick-up heads as one example of internal components that may differ. Karr indicated that pickup heads were different on the DVD drives of which he spoke, but that doesn't mean those are the only internal components that could differ.

cfitz

"Could be apocryphal" does not imply necessity, and I don't disagree with you.

Ian wrote:To add to what I said earlier, this is how it was explained to me by Lite-On once upon a time:

LTR-aabbcT

aa = CDR write speed
bb = CDRW write speed
c = CDROM read speed (1=32X, 2=40X)
T = generation

Obviously, the CDROM read speed really doesn't hold anymore with some "6" drives reading at 48x and 52x.

Don't forget that if that was true then the 52246S and the 52327S would have different read speeds as well. Given the history of the LiteON's overclocking abilities, I would think that the final digit does indeed have to do with the chipset used. This is why the 32125W can be overclocked to a 40125S which can in turn be overclocked to 48125W. Also the 48126S can be overclocked to a 48246S which can be overclocked to a 52246S.

Oddly enough, some people have been able to overclock the 32123S into a 40125S, but the results on this one vart quite a bit, and it is not recommended. I think it is only possible due to a strong similarity between the chipsets, but that is just a guess on my part.

dolphinius_rex wrote:

Ian wrote:To add to what I said earlier, this is how it was explained to me by Lite-On once upon a time:

LTR-aabbcT

aa = CDR write speed
bb = CDRW write speed
c = CDROM read speed (1=32X, 2=40X)
T = generation

Obviously, the CDROM read speed really doesn't hold anymore with some "6" drives reading at 48x and 52x.

Don't forget that if that was true then the 52246S and the 52327S would have different read speeds as well. Given the history of the LiteON's overclocking abilities, I would think that the final digit does indeed have to do with the chipset used. This is why the 32125W can be overclocked to a 40125S which can in turn be overclocked to 48125W. Also the 48126S can be overclocked to a 48246S which can be overclocked to a 52246S.

Oddly enough, some people have been able to overclock the 32123S into a 40125S, but the results on this one vart quite a bit, and it is not recommended. I think it is only possible due to a strong similarity between the chipsets, but that is just a guess on my part.

Technically, the last isn't true. All you are doing is converting the 32123S to a 40123S and NOT a 40125S. This is due to Lite-On releasing a one-off special firmware for the 40123S drive, which got into the hands of a guy from Poland, who (very rightly) posted it @ cdfreaks.
The original thread:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php ... adid=54277

ahhh, thanks for the clarification on that one. I was wondering how a 32123S could become a 40125S.... it just seemed wrong to me.

Here's a question though, why does the 40125S overclock to a 48125W??? shouldn't it overclock to a 48125S?

It overclocks to both, 48125S and 48125W. The 48125S has a different firmware series, ie 1S05 etc, while the 48125W has the VSXX series. They are all inter-flashable.

I didn't know *that* one either

Well, live and learn they say

thanks!

No worries,mate. We're all here to learn stuff

Hi...

FYI: this is what I accidentally found in LiteOn's website

Q11 What is the meaning of the last letter of LITE-ON IT's model number?
A11 The last letter of LITE-ON IT"s model numbers are just for differentiating the provider of the components. All of the LITE-ON IT's product have gone through whole set of quality control process, please do not hesitate for purchasing LITE-ON IT's product.
BACK

http://www.liteonit.com.tw/english/engl ... .htm#rw-11

Thanks for the confirmation, mikey4. Just to be clear, this should not be read to mean that drives whose model numbers differ only in the suffix are necessarily identical. Different internal components = different models, and in the case of the K, even different external dimensions.

cfitz

No worries,mate.

bhairavp,

You sound more like an Aussie than a Bombadian.

.. I'm changing . Nahh.. stayed in Oz for a bit when I was a kid, so I think some linguistic weirdness just stuck!