Lite-On LTR-48246S 48x24x48 CD-RW
Reviewed by Akimoto
Provided by Lite-On Inc
 

Benchmarks

Test System:

AMD Athlon XP 1900+
Soyo Dragon KT333 Ultra
512MB PC2100 DDR
Asus GeForce 3 Original
Maxtor D740X 40GB Quiet Drive ATA/133
Lite-On LTR-48246S 48x24x48 CD-RW
Toshiba 16x DVD-ROM

Programs Used:

Nero Burning ROM and InCD
Nero CD Speed
Clone CD

Clone CD Information

The LTR-48246S Supports absolutely everything for which clone CD tests. Writing in RAW modes means that in many cases the drive can burn exact copies of CDs, which also means that it should be able to reproduce copy protections. This drive was able to make copies of Serious Sam 2, Max Payne, and the Diablo II Play Disc. All were playable in the test bed's Toshiba 16x DVD drive.

Audio Read Tests - Pressed Media

The CD used for the audio tests is the Nine Inch Nails "...And All That Could Have Been" Disc One, as it is almost exactly 74 minutes in length.

The LTR-48246S reads pressed discs very well, even surpassing 48x read in CAV mode at the 74 minute mark. The LTR-48246S succeeds the 40125W (previously reviewed by Techware Labs) in every single read test of a pressed CD. The advantages may be marginal, but advantages they are nonetheless.

Audio Read Tests - Recorded Media

A copy of the "...And All That Could Have Been" Disc One was made and used for this test.

There is essentially no real difference in the reading between pressed media and recorded media, which is good to see. Such drives as Teac's 40x12x48 CD-RW had a lot of trouble reading back recorded media. The only differences are slightly higher CPU usage and slightly higher seek times.

Data Read Tests - Pressed Media

The Diablo II installation disc was used for this test. Remember that read speeds will be higher with longer data discs.

Again, only slight improvement over previous models. The CPU usage is slightly lower reading data discs, and interface burst rates are higher. All in all, the LTR-48246S reads data discs very fast.

Data Read Tests - Recorded Media

The LTR-48246S reads recorded data discs only slightly slower than it reads pressed ones. The seeks times are slightly higher, but there is not too much of a disparity.

Scratched Read Test

The CD used for this test is Dr. Dre "The Chronic - 2001". It bumped around the bottom of a car for over a year, and is scuffed enough to ride with the best of them.

The CD starts out pretty well, but slows down considerably at the points where the CD is scratched. This really shows the benefits of Lite-On's Smart-X in action. The CD that was reproduced from this scratched disc was playable in all available audio CD players and sounded fine. The LTR-48246S reads scuffed discs excellently.

Write Tests

The CD Speed graphic is a simulation test.

This simulation shows just how the LTR-48246S goes about writing on 48x media. It starts at 22.25x and goes beyond 48x for an 80 minute disc. with an average write speed of 37.22x, this CD-RW is terribly fast!

For the real write tests, the CD used is the Nine Inch Nails "...And All That Could Have Been" Disc One because it is almost precisely 74 minutes long. A Nero CD image was copied to the hard drive, rather than burning "on-the-fly".

The LTR-48246S drive is a very fast writer. These times are excellent for anyone in any sort of hurry. A thirty second increase actually does make a bit of a difference. If you have a 40x CD-RW, however, upgrading only for the write times probably is not worth it.

ReWrite Tests

The First graphic is a simulation to show the rewrite strategy for the LTR-48246S.

The LTR-48246S rewrites in CAV mode. It starts at just under 12x and goes beyond 24x, averaging just under 19x, which equates to rewriting around one and a half times as fast as drives that rewrite at 12x in CLV mode.

For the rewriting tests, Nero was used to rewrite 500MB of random files to a 24x CDRW. Afterward, a full erase of this data was timed. For the Mt. Rainier tests, Nero's InCD was used to format the CDRWs to the Mt. Rainier standard, and then rewrite the same 500MB of files to disc.

The LTR-48246S drive really shows a strong advantage over the 12x CLV mode. It ranges from being one and a half to two and a half minutes faster than the 12x rewriter in all of the tests, and makes rewriting quite a bit more realistic for those who are spoiled by extremely fast writing. Right now 24x CDRW media is not very readily available, but as was seen when 40x writers came out, this should change in the course of about a month. This drive is a very strong rewriter, and should be heavily considered by anyone who hates one time use media.

As a final note on performance, this drive can definitely be heard. It is loud, even with its VAS system. However, for those with loud CPU fans or who are not bothered by louder drives it should not be an issue.