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ASUS Introduces QuieTrack Series, the World’s Quietest Optical Drives

Taipei, Taiwan, January 5, 2004 – ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (ASUS), a leading provider of high-performance optical drives, today introduced the ASUS QuieTrack Optical Drive Series. Incorporating two advanced features, the all-new QuieTrack drives, as the name suggests, provide a quiet, distraction-free environments. The first two models of the series are the CD-S520/A4 52X CD-ROM and CRW-5232AS CD Rewriter. They are the world’s quietest optical drives operating at 39dB while competing products are still at approximately 50dB.

The rise of multimedia and entertainment applications has moved PCs into the living room. PCs now include functions such as Dolby Digital surround sounds, optical fiber output, wireless networking and advanced video performance, turning them into the centerpiece of home entertainment. Unfortunately, increase functionalities and performance also come with the baggage of loud system noise. ASUS has always worked very hard in developing noise-reduction technologies and its efforts have now entered the optical drive sector.

The ASUS QuieTrack Series successfully reduced noise without compromising performance.

Airflow Field Modification (AFFM): Noise and vibration are two major headaches users encounter when using a high-speed drive. AFFM is designed to change the uneven airflow field inside the drive because even pressure distribution leads to quieter and more stable operation.

Double Dynamic Suspension System II (DDSSII): The cutting-edge technology is designed to minimize vibration caused by spindle motors, components and PC cases. The patented DDSSII stabilize the pick-up head, both horizontally and vertically, achieving more precise tracking while reducing vibration and noise caused by high-revolution motors.

Smart Speed: This innovation intelligently adjusts reading speeds according to different applications, providing quieter operation when speed demand is low and lengthening the lifecycle of your drive.

ASUS CRW-5232AS Features:
 QuieTrack Series
DDSS II: Double Dynamic Suspension System
AFFM: Airflow Field Modification
 Live Firmware Update Tool
 FlextraLink™ Buffer Underrun Errors Prevention Technology
 FlextraSpeed™ Optimal Writing Speed Adjustment Technology
 Compact Drive
 CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) Writing Strategy
 High-Speed Digital Audio Extraction (Max. 52X) and VCD Data Extraction
 Latest Nero Software Bundle
 Vertical/ Horizontal Mounting Available
 Unique Dust-Proof and Noise-Control Design

ASUS CD-S520/A4 Features:
 QuieTrack Series
DDSS II: Double Dynamic Suspension System
AFFM: Airflow Field Modification
 CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) Writing Strategy
 AI Auto Speed Adjustment Technology
 Vertical/ Horizontal Mounting Available
 Unique Dust-Proof and Noise-Control Design

For additional information about ASUS optical drives and other products, please visit the company homepage at http://www.asus.com.

About ASUS
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (TSE:2357), the perennial leader of the motherboard industry, is also a leading manufacturer of top-quality desktop barebones, notebooks, IA devices, servers, graphics cards, broadband modems, wireless products and optical drives. With world-class engineering and offices and subsidiaries located in all corners of the world, ASUSTeK provides innovative solutions to consumers, businesses and OEM customers. The company has been amongst Business Week’s “InfoTech 100” since 1998.

bumpity bump bump

Yawns

is DDSS II new? i thought all Asus drives already come with it!

i wonder if there's a differende in the performance of the (current) CD-S520 and the new CD-S520/A4.
i was contemplating getting on of these, they're excellent CDROM drives. but now i'm wondering if the new ones will be just as good.

Smart Speed sounds like Lite-On's SMART-X.

Hi guys,
I have not been lucky with Asus drives.My two friends had Asus 52X's (I dont exactly remember the model nos.) just dont read CD's anymore.The CD's just spin inside the drive,but are not recognised.One drive was out of warranty and the other drive was replaced for new one.The newer one did work nice for a few days,but now it's toooooo damn slow.
I have 5 friends having Samsung 52x's,and most funny part is that the drives read CD's well,but all of them have tray problems.The tray comes out when eject button is pressed,but wont go in until the tray is pushed in manually.The tray gets hooked up somewhere while it tries to go in.
Others that have LG drives praise it,but also say that the drive shatters weak CD's.
See ya guys later,

::Pranav::

39 dB. Wow, that's really silent 8)

Honestly, Asus has been known for horribly loud drives and it looks like they are doing damage control.

Of course, proof is in the pudding, but I'd be surprised if they were the least loudest drives on the market.

dodecahedron wrote:is DDSS II new? i thought all Asus drives already come with it!

yes.
i was right.
DDSS II goes back as far as Asus's 32x burner.
ASUS CRW-3212A 32/12/40 CD-RW.

it seems to me that SmartSpeed is the major improvement here.

dodecahedron wrote:it seems to me that SmartSpeed is the major improvement here.

What about AFFM?

well, the three "new features" that make the drives silent, are AFFM, DDSS II and SmartSpeed.

like i said, DDSS II isn't really new.
from the remaining 2 i said that i think SmartSpeed is the major thing. at least to me is seems that the airflow issue isn't the major cause of noise. i could be wrong of course.

i still think it's funny (or insulting) that one of the features they give for "making quite drives" is DDSS II, which like i pointed out has been in their drives a long time (your review of the 32x drive: March 2002) and like you yourself said their drives aren't very quiet...so apparently DDSS II isn't all that great at keeping the noise down.

maybe they should come up with DDSS III