Performance in Nero CD-DVD Speed: Advanced DAE Quality Test

To determine the drives?ability to create precise copies of audio discs I performed the Advanced DAE Quality Test. Two special CD-R discs, prepared by the Nero CD-DVD Speed utility itself, were employed to check the hardware characteristics of the devices pertaining to audio extraction. The first disc is normal, but the other has deliberately inflicted scratches on its surface, imitating a long-used CD.

LG GSA-4082B	LG GSA-4160B
Sony DW-D22A

These three screenshots show you how the drives work with the normal disc. Alas, even in such favorable conditions, the GSA-4082B couldn’t achieve the maximum possible quality score. This is unacceptable, of course. Besides that, this drive has a big offset that also makes it hard to create an accurate audio copy. The GSA-4082B can read three types of housekeeping data out of four. The newer model, the GSA-4160B, has got the highest quality score, working at a much higher speed. The rest of its results are practically the same as with the previous model with the only exception of its ability to copy “on the fly?at 16x. The Sony DW-D22A shows the best performance in this test. Besides the maximum possible quality score, this drive has the smallest offset and reads all four types of housekeeping information.

LG GSA-4082B	LG GSA-4160B
Sony DW-D22A

Here we deal with a bad, scratched disc. The GSA-4082B finds the changed conditions unfavorable and reduces its quality score and makes errors when copying on the fly. The GSA-4160B performs somewhat better, although its quality score has reduced, too. The GSA-4160B couldn’t perform on the fly copying with the bad disc. The Sony DW-D22A committed a minimum of errors, retaining its 100-percent quality score. It could also perform on-the-fly copying at any speed, so this drive seems to be preferable as concerns making audio copies.