Trailblazing with CRW-F1 and DiscT@2!

Burn Time And Compatibility

The burn time test was combined with the compatibility test. The system consisted of burning CD-Rs of different models and makes certified with a range of 40 to 24X. Each model was burned twice: once with Optimum Write Speed Control enabled, and once with it disabled. Optimum Write Speed Control is a technology specific to Yamaha recorders which automatically reduces burn speed according to the quality of the blank CD used, even while burning is in progress.

The chart shows that the CRW-F1 burns all 40X-certified CD-Rs at maximum speed with no trouble, whether OWSC is used or not. The minimum speed was 2 minutes 59 seconds, which is really outstanding for a full 700 MB CD-R. The only real problem we found was with ADM 74-minute, 24X-certified CD-Rs. When Optimum Write Speed Control is enabled, the recorder slows down to 24X and the operation takes place quite normally. But if pushed to 44X by disabling, there will be a write error. This is due to a weakness of the CD, rather than the recorder. Direct CD-to-CD copy test results were similar, give or take a few seconds.

The chart above shows the time taken to burn a 650 MB CD-RW in 24X and 12X. It shows that the Ultra Speed mode saves a significant amount of time with 3 minutes 36 seconds to terminate a recording.

The CRW-F1 supports the DAO-RAW mode, so it can be used optimally with Clone CD software to copy CDs as faithfully as possible. We made copies of CDs protected by SafeDisc 2.60.0.52 and 2.60.0.20. In the first case, the operation was impeccable, but in the second, the CD only worked if played from the CRW-F1, showing that the copy was not 100% perfect.

To test the capacities of the CRW-F1 with Clone CD, we ran a test of it as a player. The operation involved making an exact image of a protected CD on hard disk, something which is often impossible or very longwinded with a lambda burner or CD which contains unreadable tracks. The recorder performed beautifully, creating an image in about 30 minutes 30 seconds. The CRW-F1 is therefore a must for Clone CD users, both for burning and playing.