Read Performance Part II: Audio
To test the digital audio extraction rate, or DAE, we use the DAE tool EAC 0.9b4 together with Nero CD Speed 1.0. Our test CD is a copy of "TOPP99 CD1". It contains 20 tracks and has a playing time of 78 minutes, 24 seconds.
DAE With EAC
Another point in this drive's favor is its ability to send "C2 error information" to EAC in order to deliver a low-jitter datastream. The fact that a writer caches the audio data is more of a hindrance than a help to the accurate reading with EAC.
Features in brief
- Accurate datastream. The drive delivers a clean datastream low in jitter, making time-consuming active jitter correction unnecessary.
- Caching. EAC always reads each audio sector twice and then compares each reading to make sure that the data has been read correctly. If a drive caches the data, EAC will always think its has the correct data, as the second read attempt pulls the data from the cache.
- C2 Error Info. A drive with this feature will notify EAC any time there is a read error. This is very real benefit, because it means that EAC doesn't need to read each individual sector twice; it simply relies on the drive to provide an error message if and when an error occurs. This speeds up the copying of data considerably.
For our test we transfer all 20 tracks as non-compressed WAV files from CD to hard disk. We copy the data onto the hard disk using two different modes:
- "Burst Mode":
In this mode, the audio data is copied sector by sector without any error checking. This is the fastest mode that EAC provides. - "Secure Mode":
The data being copied is checked for errors. If a read error occurs, EAC tries to correct it.
Here too, the "relationship" between both drives is evident.
EAC Burst Mode: GCE-8480B
EAC Burst Mode: GCE-8400B
In burst mode both drives reach a speed of 41.5x. The GCE-8480B is well below its claimed speed of 48x.
| EAC DAE Speeds | Burst Mode Average | Burst Mode Maximum | Secure Mode Average | Secure Mode Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liteon LXR24101A | 29,2X | 40,6X | 7,6X | 10,5X |
| Waitec Frisby II | 29,2X | 41,8X | 7,7X | 10,8X |
| Yamaha CRW-F1UX | 30,20X | 42,90X | 7,80X | 11,00X |
| LG GCE-8480B | 29,10X | 41,50X | 7,60X | 8,90X |
| LG GCE-8400B | 29,10X | 41,50X | 7,40X | 10,40X |
A direct comparison with a 44x drive (CRW-F1UX) shows the GCE-8400B performs very well in this discipline.