Since the CRW 3200, Yamaha had been sitting on the sidelines of the speed race with no offer of a 32 or 40X recorder, as opposed to the rest of the providers in the market, though they were by no means resting on their laurels. They were actually developing what was to become their last CD-RW recorder before going on to the DVD+RW. And it's some recorder, too, since the CRW-F1 encompasses all of Yamaha's technological know-how, plus a whole host of new features to give the recordings more depth and sureness. Just take a look at this list of specifications, and you'll see what we're talking about:

• CAV 44X max CD-R recording
• CAV* Ultra Speed 24X max CD-RW recording
• CAV 44X CD reading
• 44X max digital audio extraction
• IDE interface
• 8 MB buffer memory
• Safe Burn technology
• Optimum Write Speed Control technology
• New YDC132-V controller
• Supports overburn
• Supports blank CDs of 80, 90 and 99 minutes
• Supports the DAO RAW mode
• Mount Rainier-compatible
• Advanced Audio Master Quality Recording technology
• DiscT@2 technology
• CD-RW Audio Track Edit
• Ahead Nero Burning Rom 5.5 and InCD software

New features of note are the adaptation of the CAV mode for burning CD-Rs, the introduction of Ultra Speed 24X for burning CD-RWs, and the highly innovative DiscT@2. Safe Burn to prevent buffer underrun errors is boosted by 8 MB of buffer memory, no less. The Optimum Write Speed Control technology, Mount Rainier compatibility and DAO Raw management are all still there. Note, too, that there's a CD-RW Audio Track Edit function which lets you modify a CD audio track burned on a CD-RW. You can now change the order of tracks, delete one or edit it, without having to save it on hard disk first.