DAE Question with LTR 52246S & Plextor 4824TU drives

[taxman150]

I started making audio cd backups a few months ago using Nero with my Lite-On 52246S in a USB 2.0 enclosure and Plextools with my 4824TU USB 2.0 drive. I'm just making straight 1:1 cd copies - not burning on the fly. For both, I've been doing DAE and writing at 4X for maximum audio quality. So far, I have not made any coasters when doing this and all of my burns seem to be excellent (at least no C2 errors reported on CD Speed Scan Disc).

A friend mentioned that I should really be using EAC software instead of Nero or Plextools for DAE. I've searched past posts on this forum and have found that EAC seems to be pretty highly regarded for DAE. However, I also read an article on the CD Freaks site that seems to give the nod to Plextools over EAC for DAE (at least based on the tests they ran).

I'm wondering if I'm missing something by not using EAC for DAE, at least with the Lite-On drive. I will probably download the software and try it out when I have a some spare time, but I would appreciate any opinions on whether using EAC will give me better DAE over Nero and/or Plextools when I'm already ripping at a low speed. In addition, all of the audio discs I'm burning are relatively clean and scratch free and not copy protected, so no problems there.

Thanks in advance.

[G@M3FR3@K]

PlexTools was specially designed for the Plextor recorders and their ability to report C2 errors. That's why it will give better quality (especially with damages discs) than EAC for example, which was designed to work with many drives. Lite-On+EAC or PlexTools+PlexTools/EAC should give you the same quality when you're doing DAE from a 'clean' (unscratched) audio disc. But why DAE at only 4X? I see no reason to use such a slow speed. Especially nowadays, with quality software and hardware, you can do DAE at full speed without a problem..

[dodecahedron]

However, I also read an article on the CD Freaks site that seems to give the nod to Plextools over EAC for DAE (at least based on the tests they ran).

can you give a URL for that article?

from what i've heard, PlexTools is excellent at reading copy-protected audio CDs, and works well where others fail.

[taxman150]

However, I also read an article on the CD Freaks site that seems to give the nod to Plextools over EAC for DAE (at least based on the tests they ran).

can you give a URL for that article?

from what i've heard, PlexTools is excellent at reading copy-protected audio CDs, and works well where others fail.

Here is the link to the article at CD Freaks:

http://www.cdfreaks.com/document.php3?Doc=89

PlexTools was specially designed for the Plextor recorders and their ability to report C2 errors. That's why it will give better quality (especially with damages discs) than EAC for example, which was designed to work with many drives. Lite-On+EAC or PlexTools+PlexTools/EAC should give you the same quality when you're doing DAE from a 'clean' (unscratched) audio disc. But why DAE at only 4X? I see no reason to use such a slow speed. Especially nowadays, with quality software and hardware, you can do DAE at full speed without a problem.. .

Thank you very much for your response. I've been very happy with Plextools and planned on continuing to use it with the Plextor drive. I was just curious if I should be using EAC for the Lite-On drive, i.e. will it really make a difference in DAE over Nero when the audio disc is "clean" and not copy protected (which is my normal audio ripping scenario).

I am also glad to hear that ripping at a higher speed should not cause a problem. I was ripping at 4X as I thought it may result in better DAE.

Thank you,