Questions about the Asus 52x CD-ROM

[dodecahedron]

a few questions for the owners of this drive:

1. does the Asus CD-S520 CD-ROM drive support C2 error reporting?
i.e. do CDSpeed ScanDisc and CD Quality Test work correctly on this drive?

2. how does it perform with CD-RW discs?

3. how good is it at reading scratched CDs?

[cfitz]

I don't own the drive, so I can't give share any personal experiences. But here's a reveiw you might want to read:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/storage/8-cdrom-roundup/

The S520 does report C2 errors (at least according to InfoTool). And it did quite well in all the tests except for the scratched CD test. The S520's little brother S500 did better on the scratched CD test.

cfitz

[dodecahedron]

thanks, cfitz.
i've already read that article (and pointed a few others to it ...)

i was looking for user impressions, and also a couple of my questions weren't answered in that review.
and we know InfoTool isn't always reliable, i was looking for verification on that particular point.

[cfitz]

i've already read that article (and pointed a few others to it ...)

I should have known. You always do your research first, then post. So, aren't there any owners of this drive out there?

cfitz

[NeilPeart]

I own 5 Asus 52x CD-ROM drives, with firmwares ranging from 1.7K - 1.9K (though they all perform identically in subjective and objective benchmarks).

1. Yes, the Asus CD-S520 supports C2 error reporting.

2. It performs well with the RW media I have tried (24X Yamaha, 12X Verbatim and 12X Memorex 700MB - the Memorex is awful BTW).

3. It has read all of my scratched media (and I have plenty of those) except one; it's an aging copy of Led Zeppelin II.

All five drives have performed admirably in their tenure, and all are the quietest in their class (of course still loud when compared to the old 12x drives of yore). On a side note, NewEgg has began offering sexy black Asus CD-S520s for only $30 (though I know it doesn't really help you in Israel, Dodecahedron).

[stix]

you may want to take a look at the reviews by people who bought this drive from newegg.

http://secure.newegg.com/app/CustratingReview.asp?item=27-134-003

[eliminator]

NeilPeart, where can I get 1.9k fware please !??



http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storag ... undup.html

[NeilPeart]

Eliminator,
The Asus 52X CD-ROM's firmware cannot be upgraded; this is done to decrease the possibility of dead drives (and thus decreased support calls) and save on ROM costs. Since the drive is intended for OEM customers, this action is understandable and cost-effective. As I mentioned earlier, I found no discrepancy between any of the 1.7K and. 1.9K drives in my objective and subjective testing. All the drives perform admirably with a minimum of noise. Don't worry what firmware your S520 has - just enjoy the superior performance and quiet environment.

[eliminator]

what is this - an Asus commercial !??

Just kiddin' - thank you very much NeilPeart !

[NeilPeart]

No problem, Eliminator. For $1,000,000, I had better be Asus' spokesman.

[Ken]

Check out the firmware on my baby.

[dodecahedron]

since the firmware isn't flashable, i'm guessing this is a new drive.
when did you buy it?

[Ken]

Ya I just got this one last week, it is the black model.

I think Asus could of showed a little more attention to this drive because only the front bezel is black and not the tray.

Nevertheless it is still an awsome drive.

[eliminator]

gotta LUV it !

[Arup]

I have always used ASUS CD drives along with my Plextor Ultra Plex and funnily, the ASUS proved to be as good and longer lasting than the costlier Plextor. The drives are firmware upgradable and the latest CDS520 has version 1.4 available at http://www.asus.com/pub/ASUS/cdrom/S520A4V14.zip

Good well built drives and quite too but no C2. Does good rips with EAC.

[eliminator]

cool,leme try that

[NeilPeart]

Only the newer 1.3 firmware drives can be flashed, and none of the Asus 52X drives approach the Plextor UltraPlex in terms of accuracy AND speed. The Asus 52X is indeed the best IDE ripper and probably the best value in CD-ROMs today (especially the newer Q drives that are firmware upgradeable), but let's not get crazy and say it defeats the might 40TSi because it doesn't (I have both drives installed on my ripping machine and the differences are obvious in both speed and accuracy). However, with the increasing scarcity and esoteric nature of SCSI and especially optical SCSI, the Asus 52X Q series is one's best option.

[Arup]

Since I own both Plextor and ASUS along with a Liteon 163 DVD player, I would say that the ASUS and Plextor are even match in terms of DAE with the Plextor doing better only on damaged CDs and the Liteon betters both the ASUS and Plextor in every aspect.

[NeilPeart]

The LTD-163 may be faster, but the accuracy of the rip is what is of paramount concern to me. The Plextor is the most accurate DAE drive ever, though the Asus 52X does approach its quality. The LTD-163 (which I own, along with many other drives) doesn't even come close to the Asus in terms of extraction quality, let alone the Plextor. While the LTD-163 is faster than the Asus and at times the Plextor, it cannot match the two regarding the quality of the rip.

[Arup]

Since I use EAC exclusively, I am yet to see any difference in the quality of rips with either of these drives. As far as the performance of the Plextor goes, it is horrible when it comes to reading data CDs, particularly the freebies given away my magazines which I presume are of poor quality to start with.

The LTD 163 is one of the best drives of the lot.