Yesterday Plextor announced their 40/12/40 writer, that has one new option, VariRec. I emailed Plextor for some more information about this new technology and they pointed me to their website.
VariRec, the Variable Recording function should change the sound or the sound quality and an should have an increase of playability or compatibility with existing players.
Technical Background: |
- The write strategy of a drive is the list of parameters that are used for writing on CD-R/RW media.
- For every disc type, and every possible speed, an optimised laser power value is chosen from a database
that is the result of thorough tests in the lab. - At the start of writing, the OPC (Optical Power Calibration) will retrieve the necessary information from
the database and set the parameters. - The most optimised write strategy will result in the lowest jitter.
VariRec can change the value of the laser power. The resulting effects are:
- change of sound quality of recorded disc (there should be a slight change, some kind of effect when VariRec
is used on the different settings) - change of playability or compatibility with Home CD Players or Car CD Players (some players need a slightly
higher or lower laser power) - Most audio professionals have a personal preference for higher/lower laser power (some even say they can hear
the difference between a recording at high speed and at 1X)
Read more about this technology on the Plextor page. Keep in mind that other brands will probably build in similair technologies (with an other name) in their drives too.
Source: Plextor
