ASUS DRW-1608P DVD Burner Review

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Review: ASUS DRW-1608P Reviewer: Wesley Novack Provided by: ASUS - USA Firmware: 1.50 Manufactured: February 2005

ASUS sent us their DRW-1608P drive, which is a 16X speed, Dual Format, Double Layer, DVD burner. This drive is based on the popular Pioneer DVR-109 drive. The name ASUS is very familiar to most people due to the companies well known computer products and peripherals. Asus is especially known for their portfolio of motherboard and video card products. The DRW-1608P is one of their latest DVD writers, but how does it perform? We'll find out in this article by running the drive through numerous tests and by analyzing its performance on a multitude of various media.

Company information:

We found the following information on the ASUS website; 

Drive specifications:

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We also found the following specifications on the ASUS website:

DRW-1608P ( DVD±R/RW Drive )

Capable of reading data from and writing data on DVD+R/RW or DVD-R/RW formats. The dual compatibility feature allows you to create DVDs that can be played or read by most DVD-ROM drives and VD players.

Check out other ASUS DRW-1608P features:

* Max. 16X DVD±R/ 8X DVD+RW/ 6X DVD-RW/ 6X DVD±R (DL)

* Max. 4 0 X CD-R/ 24X CD-RW

* Max. 16X DVD-ROM/ 40X CD-ROM

* DVD-R Dual Layer Ready*

* 8X DVD+RW Write Ready* *

Over-Speed Burning

FlextraLink™ - Buffer Underrun Errors Prevention Technology

FlextraSpeed™ - Optimal Writing Speed Adjustment Technology

DDSS II - Double Dynamic Suspension System

Compatible with a Wide Range of Disc Formats

Operates on Horizontal or Vertical Mounting

ASUS Unique Live Firmware Update Tool

Bundle Nero Burning Software & Ulead DVD MovieFactory

Windows XP/ NT/ ME/ 2000/ 98/ 98SE Supported

Retail Package

ASUS DRW-1608P Internal IDE Drive x 1

Cable Set (IDE Cable*1pc + Screw*4pcs + Audio Cable*1pc) x 1

Bundle Nero Software and Ulead DVD MovieFactory x 2

Multi-Language Quick Installation Guide x 1

Emergency Eject Pin and Instruction Slip x 1

Important Notice: The drive will offer DVD-R Dual Layer compatibility through a firmware upgrade once the DVD-R Dual Layer specification has been officially approved by the DVD Forum. The write speed for selected DVD-R Dual Layer and +R Double Layer media types can also be increased to 6X through this firmware upgrade.

The +RW Alliance is now finalising the +RW 8X format and the product can be enhanced to support this media through a firmware upgrade once the +RW 8X specification has been officially approved by the +RW Alliance.

What's
inside the box?

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Here we take a look at the ASUS DRW-1608P retail package and the contents included in the bundle.

BOX FRONT

BOX REAR

BOX LEFT

BOX RIGHT

The box has a clean design that highlights the 16x16 DVD±R capabilities and the 6X Double Layer writing ability. Next, we opened up the box and arranged all of the contents for easy viewing.

RETAIL PACKAGE

Let us look over the contents of the retail package.

The box contains;

• The DRW-1608P drive
• One emergency eject pin
• One 80 wire IDE cable
• Mounting screws
• Quick Installation Guide
• Nero OEM suite CD-ROM
• Ulead DVD MovieFactory 3 Suite SE CD-ROM
• Audio cable
• ASUS motherboard flyer

This is a pretty nice bundle. Including both Nero and Ulead software packages gives the end-user the flexibility to choose their favorite CD/DVD software. We do miss seeing a more thorough User manual (like previous ASUS models included), at least one included blank DVD±R disc and preferably also one DVD rewriteable disc. The Quick Installation guide uses very small text and only contains one small picture.

Now we shall take a closer look at the drive itself.

DRIVE BEZEL

Notice the indented line and the contours on the drive tray. This gives the drive a unique and interesting appearance. What else is on the front of the drive? On the left-side and underneath the drive tray there is an emergency eject hole, to the right there is an LED indicator, and then at the far right is the eject button. For graphics, we have the ASUS logo printed on the center of the drive tray. Underneath the drive tray from left to right we have a DVD+R DL logo, a DVD Alliance (DVD+R/RW) logo, a DVD Forum (DVD-R/RW) logo, and finally a Compact Disc Ultra Speed ReWriteable logo.

DRIVE TOP

DRIVE STICKERS

The small sticker claims the drive was Manufactured in March 2005, but the large ASUS sticker claims that it was manufactured in February 2005. The ASUS sticker also details that the drive was designed in Taiwan and made in China.

DRIVE REAR

Starting from the left of the back of the drive we have; one undocumented connection; analog audio connector; pins and jumper to set the drive to cable select, slave or master; IDE connector and finally the power connector. There is no digital audio connector.

On the next page we will take a look at the test machine testing software, drive features and the included software…

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Test machine:

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For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1533 MHz
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Motherboard: KT400-8235
BIOS: Phoenix 6.00 PG
Memory: 768 MB (60ns)
Sound: Avance AC97 Audio
Video: NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro
Hard disk: Western Digital WD1600JB-00EVA0 160GB.

System set-up:

The ASUS DRW-1604P was connected as Secondary Master and identified as ASUS DRW-1604P. DMA (Direct Memory Access) and autorun was enabled for all devices.

Software:

Windows XP Professional SP1 is installed on this computer. We will be using the following software in this review:

⋅         DVDIdentifier 4.0.1
⋅         Nero Burning ROM version 6.6.0.12
⋅         Nero CD/DVD Speed v4.00
⋅         Nero InfoTool v2.27
⋅         Slysoft CloneCD v5.0.2.2
⋅          K-Probe v2.4.2

Installation and supported features:

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Our drive came shipped with firmware 1.14. We quickly installed the drive without any problems. For this review we updated to the latest available firmware version, 1.50.

After rebooting, we captured a screenshot from Nero Info Tool:

It is nice to see that this drive supports DVD-RAM reading, because many other drives do not. It does not support Mt. Rainier, but very few drives support this feature. The buffer size is listed as 2MB, however some other drives are built with an 8MB buffer. A larger buffer is preferred, but this is a minor complaint. We are also disappointed to find that support for reading CD+G is not included.

Here is another shot from Nero Burning ROM:

We notice that the Book Type Settings dialog is missing from Nero. Further tests indicated that this drive does not support bitsetting, which is a negative and could lead to DVD+R compatibility issues in older standalone players.  (DVD+R DL discs are set with the DVD-ROM booktype automatically on this drive).

Included software:

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Here we will take a look at the software that is included with the drive. Please take note that we may not use the included software in the performance testing part of the review.

The Nero program suite is owned and developed by Nero Software; it contains programs for creating most types of CD/DVD discs, a packet writing program, a media player etc. This is one of our preferred writing program suites, and we give ASUS a thumbs up for including this in their retail package.

Here we have a screenshot of the included ASUSDVD software. This software is a custom version of Cyberlinks' PowerDVD, which is one of the most popular software DVD players available.

Uleads' DVD MovieFactory 3.5 Suite is included on the other CD-ROM. MovieFactory 3.5 allows you to easily create CD and DVD projects as well as burn them to disc. Ulead DVD Player software is also included, which can also be used to playback your DVD Videos. Another thumbs up to ASUS for including multiple software solutions.

Now it's time to take a look at the reading performance! Head on over to the next page…

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Reading performance:

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For these
tests we will use Nero CD-DVD Speed to read various CD and DVD's, including
audio discs and DVD-Video. According to the product box, this drive supports a
specified read speed of 16X for DVD-ROM's and 40X for CD-ROM's.

Pressed CD-ROM
discs:

For this test we used a
pressed CD-ROM disc containing Canon Digital Camera Solution Disk ver 9.0 that
is 73:12.38 minutes long. Below you will see the produced result:

We can see that the drive
reads pressed CD-ROM discs exactly as the specification suggests. 40X CAV
(Constant Angular Velocity) reading. Let us compare this to some other
drives;

Pressed Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
Philips ED16DVDR	35.69x	20.59x	47.25x	118ms	130ms	206ms
AOpen DUW1608/ARR	37.34x	21.29x	49.42x	105ms	118ms	196ms
LG GSA-4163B	31.10x	17.91x	40.93x	102ms	123ms	192ms
Lite-On SHOW-1653S	36.54x	21.45x	48.12x	117ms	140ms	201ms
LG GSA-5160D	31.01x	16.83x	41.22x	127ms	118ms	129ms
ASUS DRW-1604P	30.62x	17.67x	40.55x	128ms	147ms	291ms
Samsung TS-E522U	35.46x	20.31x	46.96x	94ms	102ms	174ms
Philips DVDR16LS	29.98x	17.03x	39.65x	108ms	121ms	172ms
NU HDW-164	31.45x	17.54x	41.59x	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*
NEC ND-3540A	34.82x	19.88x	46.09x	122ms	132ms	210ms
ASUS DRW-1608P	30.58x	17.61x	40.82x	99ms	112ms	193ms

Please note
that the test disc size can vary slightly in these tests. The table should be
used as a rough comparison between drives.

The ASUS
DRW-1604P is one of the slowest readers. The drive is slower than the
competition because other drives can support reading CD-ROM discs up to
48x.

CD-Recordable
discs:

For this test we made a
copy of the original Canon Digital Camera Solution CD. The disc we used was a
Verbatim 48X certified CD-R disc manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemicals
Corporation.

The results look almost
identical to the CD-ROM reading graph. The drive has no trouble hitting 40x on
CD-Recordable discs.

Please note that the test
disc size can vary slightly in these tests. The table should be used as a rough
comparison between drives.

Again we can see the
drive is slower than some of the competing drives due to its 40x CD-R read
limitation.

CD-ReWriteable
discs:

The disc we used was a
Verbatim HighSpeed 12X CD-RW disc manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemicals
Corporation.

The drive reads CD-RW at
a speed of 32x CAV (Constant Angular Velocity).

Please note that the test
disc size can vary slightly in these tests. The table should be used as a rough
comparison between drives.

The drive is about
average with CD-RW reading speed, but we would still rather see 40x or 48x CD-RW
reading.

Audio - Digital
Audio Extraction:

To test the digital audio
extraction performance of the ASUS DRW-1604P, we again used Nero CD/DVD-Speed to
measure the transfer rate. The audio disc we used is approximately 74 minutes
long (74:02:70).

Here we can see that the
CD-Audio reading speed is also 40x CAV with perfect DAE quality. Let's do
another comparison!

Please note that the test
disc size can vary slightly in these tests. The table should be used as a rough
comparison between drives.

The drive performs about
average here as well.

Advanced Audio -
DAE quality test:

Before we move on to
testing DVD read speeds, we perform one last audio test. This time we used the
'Advanced DAE Quality Test" feature in CD-Speed.

The drive performed as
expected in these tests. The drive was able to read CD Text and Subchannel Data,
which is a positive. Unfortunately it does not support reading from the Leadin
or Leadout.

DVD
Reading
performance:

Again we will use
Nero CD-DVD Speed to measure the reading performance, this time for various
types of DVD discs. According to the specifications, the drive should read
pressed single layer DVD-ROM discs at 16X.

DVD - DVD
Video:

For our DVD reading
performance tests we are going to start with single and dual layered DVD video
discs. While only 1X speed is required to watch DVD movies, it is useful to be
able to read the discs at higher speeds if you're going to extract (rip) the
content of the disc to your hard drive.

Single
Layer DVD Video

Double
Layer DVD Video.

We can see that the drive
is locked to 5x CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) for both Single Layer and Double
Layer DVD Video discs. This 5x 'riplock' is not desirable and will annoy users
who wish to rip their DVD Video discs at full speed.  How does this compare
to other drives? Check the table below to find out!

Please note that the test
disc size can vary slightly in these tests. The table should be used as a rough
comparison between drives.

The ASUS DRW-1608P cannot
compete with drives such as the AOpen DUW1608, that can read SL DVD Video discs
at 16x. For comparison purposes we also tested a single layer data DVD-ROM
disc.

DVD -
DVD-ROM:

Single
Layer DVD-ROM Data

The ASUS
DRW-1608P reached over 15x speed when reading the data DVD-ROM at full 16x CAV
(Constant Angular Velocity). The slowdown in speed near the end of the disc is
due to imperfections on our test disc.

DVD -
DVD+R(W):

For this test we used a
Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD+R and a RICOH 4X DVD+RW with about 4.4GB of data. Below are
the results:

DVD+R

DVD+RW

DVD+R discs are read at
12x CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) and DVD+RW discs are read at 8x CAV. Again,
we present a comparison table;

Please note that the test
disc size can vary slightly in these tests. The table should be used as a rough
comparison between drives.

The ASUS DRW-1608P DVD+R
reading speed at 12x is better than many other drives, but it would be even
nicer to see 16x DVD+R reading and also faster DVD+RW reading speeds.

DVD - DVD-R(W)
:

For this
test we used a Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD-R disc and a Verbatim 4X DVD-RW disc filled
with approximately 4.38Gb of data. Our test results are found below:

DVD-R

DVD-RW

DVD-R/RW
reading speeds are almost identical to the DVD+R/RW reading speeds. 12x CAV on
DVD-R and 8x CAV on DVD-RW.

Please note that the test
disc size can vary slightly in these tests. The table should be used as a rough
comparison between drives.

We have the same
thoughts regarding the DVD-R/RW performance.  12x DVD-R reading is nice and
outperforms some of the competition, but we would prefer 16x DVD-R reading and
faster DVD-RW reading.

DVD - DVD+R
DL:

For this
test we used a Verbatim DVD+R DL disc.

The ASUS DRW-1608P
is able to read DVD+R DL discs near 8x maximum.

DVD - DVD-RAM
:

For this
test we used a 3x Panasonic DVD-RAM disc.

The ASUS DRW-1608P
can read DVD-RAM media at 2x without any problems.

Overall Reading
Performance thoughts:

The ASUS
DRW-1608P seems to be an ok reader, but how about the read speeds? CD-ROM and
CD-R discs can be read at 40x without any problems. This is slower than the
competition that can read CD media at 48x. Digital Audio Extraction also reads
at 40x and is accurate. The 5x DVD Video riplock is disappointing and will cause
DVD Video discs to rip very slowly. DVD-ROM data discs can be read at 16x CAV.
The drive can also read DVD±R discs at 12x, which is faster than many other
drives that can only do 8x CAV on the same disc types. DVD±R reading at 16x
would have been nice to have, but the 12x performance is still pretty
good.

But now
let's head on to the next page for something more interesting, CD-R Writing
performance...

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The specifications of the ASUS DRW-1608P state that the drive is able to write CD-R discs at 40x. Let us find out how the drive really performs in speed and quality.

CD-R Writing perfomance:

First, let us examine the CD-R writing technology used by the ASUS DRW-1608P by burning a data disc in CD-DVD Speed:

We can see that the ASUS DRW-1608P uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write CD-R at 40x. This gives an average write speed of 30.26x. Let us compare this to a few other drives;

The NEC ND-3540A writer uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write CD-R at 48x. This gives an average speed of 36.43x. The dips in the graph illustrate points at which the drive performs calibration to ensure superior burn quality.

The Toshiba SD-R5372 DVD writer uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write CD-R at 48x. This gives an average speed of 35.33x.

As you can see from the above writing graphs, the ASUS DRW-1608P is slower than some of the competitor drives due to the 40x maximum CD-R writing speed limitation.

We also wrote a disc with 700Mb of data using Nero Burning ROM software. Writing method used is DAO (Disc At Once), and the disc is set up as a non-multisession disc with 'finalize disc" enabled.

The ASUS DRW-1608P used 3 minutes and 22 seconds to write the disc at 40x. For comparison we present the following table:

Here we can see that the ASUS DRW-1608P is slower at CD-R
writing compared to most of the competing drives on the market. But what about
the CD-R write quality?  We'll find out now!

CD-R
Write Quality:

Here we will test with a variety of different CD-R discs to
measure speed and write quality. To really measure the write speed, we used the
'create data CD" function in Nero CD-DVD Speed. The discs were written at the
maximum speed that the drive supports. For the quality test we used K-Probe 2,
which is a tool developed by a Lite-On Employee. Kprobe runs on Windows and
functions with drives made by Lite-On. Please note that different drives as well
as different reading speeds may affect the results obtained when scanning the
discs. Here we used a Lite-On LTR-32123S drive with firmware XS0Z and scanned
the discs at 40X speed (Actual speed is approximately 43X CAV on 80 minute
CD-Rs).

A written CD-R disc will always have some C1 errors; C1
errors are easily corrected by the drives' error correction capabilities. The
next level of errors is C2. C2 errors can also be corrected by most drives'
error correction capabilities, but they are not wanted on a good quality disc. A
good disc should not contain any C2 errors, and preferably have an average C1
error amount of below 2.0 for the best discs, or at least below a 10.0 C1
average for good quality discs. After C2 errors there are only un-correctable
errors that will make a disc unusable.

We now present you with our results:

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Brand:	Verbatim Data Life Plus '“ (Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	97m34s23f
Disc Type:	CD-R
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 3: Long Strategy (Cyanine or AZO)
Capacity:	79:59.73 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	52x
Write Speed:	40x
Write Time:	3m:17s
C1 Average/Sec:	0.68
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

This is high
quality Verbatim CD-R media. The Average C1 value is very good and there are no
C2 errors.

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Brand:	Fujifilm
Manufacturer:	Taiyo Yuden
Code:	97m24s01f
Disc Type:	CD-R
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
Capacity:	79:59.72 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	48x
Write Speed:	40x
Write Time:	3m:18s
C1 Average/Sec:	1.67
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

High quality
Fujifilm CD-R media manufactured by Taiyo Yuden. Results are okay.

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Brand:	Office Depot
Manufacturer:	Moser Baer India
Code:	97m17s06f
Disc Type:	CD-R
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity:	79:59.74 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	52x
Write Speed:	32x (P-CAV)
Write Time:	3m:25s
C1 Average/Sec:	3.65
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

The C1 error
average looks good in this test. We can consider these good discs.

 

Brand:	Memorex '“ (Thanks to Memorex for providing this media)
Manufacturer:	CMC Magnetics
Code:	97m26s66f
Disc Type:	CD-R
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity:	79:59.71 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	52x
Write Speed:	40x
Write Time:	3m:17s
C1 Average/Sec:	3.04
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

Good results
on Memorex CD-R, manufactured by CMC Magnetics. The previous ASUS model (1604P)
had trouble on these same discs. Good improvement!

 

Brand:	Harmony
Manufacturer:	Digital Storage Technology Co., Ltd.
Code:	97m27s06f
Disc Type:	CD-R
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity:	79:59.73 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	24x
Write Speed:	32x (Z-CLV)
Write Time:	4m:07s
C1 Average/Sec:	1.79
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

This is the
best result we have ever seen on this CD-R type. Great job ASUS!

 

Brand:	GQ
Manufacturer:	Lead Data Inc.
Code:	97m26s54f
Disc Type:	CD-R
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 4: Long Strategy (Cyanine or AZO)
Capacity:	79:59.74 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	52x
Write Speed:	40x
Write Time:	3m:19s
C1 Average/Sec:	2.68
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

Excellent
results for this lower quality Lead Data CD-R! Many drives only support these
discs at 16x maximum and produce much worse results on this media.

 

Brand:	GQ
Manufacturer:	Lead Data Inc. with SONY ATIP (SONY)
Code:	97m24s16f
Disc Type:	CD-R
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity:	79:59.74 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	52x
Write Speed:	40x
Write Time:	3m:18s
C1 Average/Sec:	3.57
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

Acceptable
results here also. Much better than the previous ASUS model (1604P).

 

Brand:	FujiFilm '“ (Thanks to FujiFilm USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Prodisc Technology Inc.
Code:	97m32s19f
Disc Type:	CD-R
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 9: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity:	79:59.73 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	32x
Write Speed:	32x (P-CAV)
Write Time:	3m:25s
C1 Average/Sec:	3.42
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

These results are ok, the average C1 value is
good.

 

Brand:	RiDATA
Manufacturer:	RiTEK Corporation
Code:	97m15s17f
Disc Type:	CD-R
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 7: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity:	79:59.70 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	48x
Write Speed:	32x (Z-CLV)
Write Time:	4m:14s
C1 Average/Sec:	1.57
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

These results
are good.

 CD-RW
Writing performance:

The
specifications of the ASUS DRW-1608P state that the drive is able to write CD-RW
discs at 24x. Let us find out how the drive really performs in speed and
quality. First, let us examine the CD-RW writing technique used by the
ASUS.

 

The drive
writes CD-RW Ultra Speed discs at 24x using Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity). Three zones
are used to produce an average speed of 22.36x. Let's compare this to some other
drives.

 

The NEC ND-3540A uses 4 zones with its 32x
Z-CLV technique. This gives an average speed of 29.75x.

 

The Toshiba
uses 4 zones with its 24x Z-CLV
technique. The Average speed is 20.23x.

We also wrote
a disc with 650Mb of data using Nero Burning ROM software. Writing method used
is DAO (Disc At Once), and the disc is set up as a non-multisession disc with 'finalize disc"
enabled.

Total write
time was 3 minutes and 45 seconds using Nero Burning ROM.

For a better
overview we present the following comparison table:

*74min CD-RW
used.

The ASUS
DRW-1608P has about average CD-RW writing speed compared to the competition. It
can't compete with the Samsung TS-H552B, which can write CD-RW at 32x. Now we
will examine the CD-RW writing quality.

Brand:	Verbatim '“ (Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	97m34s25f
Disc Type:	CD-RW
Recording Layer:	Phase Change
Capacity:	74:43.00 (656MB)
Certified Speed:	32x
Write Speed:	24x
Write Time:	3m:46s
C1 Average/Sec:	320.60
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

The C1 errors
are very high, but at least there are no C2 errors and the disc is fully
readable.  We've seen much better results with this media on other
drives.

Brand:	Verbatim '“ (Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	97m34s23f
Disc Type:	CD-RW
Recording Layer:	Phase Change
Capacity:	74:43.00 (656MB)
Certified Speed:	4-12x
Write Speed:	10x
Write Time:	7m:54s
C1 Average/Sec:	45.06
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

No C2 errors
and the disc is fully readable on the Lite-On CD-RW drive.

Brand:	Memorex '“ (Thanks to Memorex USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Infodisc
Code:	97m25s30f
Disc Type:	CD-RW
Recording Layer:	Phase Change
Capacity:	79:59.73 (703MB)
Certified Speed:	4-12x
Write Speed:	10x
Write Time:	8m:27s
C1 Average/Sec:	39.98
C2 Average/Sec:	0.00

Again we see
no C2 error being reported and the disc is fully readable.

CD-R/RW performance Summary:
The CD-R writing performance of the ASUS DRW-1608P is good
and shows improvement over the previous ASUS DVD burner (the DRW-1604P).

But after all,
it's a DVD-Writer, so head on to next page and read about DVD-Writing
performance and DVD media compatibility…

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The specifications of this drive tell us that it should write both DVD+R and DVD-R discs at 16x. In this portion of the review we will measure the write time for various types of DVD-/+R discs. We will also focus on write quality and media compatibility.

DVD-Writing performance:

First, we shall take a look at the writing technology used for DVD+R and DVD-R writing.

16X DVD+R Writing speed:

The ASUS DRW-1604P uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16X.

16X DVD-R Writing speed:

The ASUS DRW-1604P also uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at 16X. Let us compare these to the write technologies used by some other drives:

 

The NEC ND-3540A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write to DVD+R and DVD-R discs at 16x. The dips in the graph are caused by the Active OPC technology, which improves burn quality.

 

The Toshiba SD-R5372 also uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x.

How does this drive compare to other writers on the market? We have built a table to analyze these write times. Please reference below for our comparisons:

*1 - Actual writing speed was max 14x due to USB-Bridge limitations.
*2 '“ Actual writing speed was max 13x due to USB-Bridge limitations.

The ASUS 1608P 16x writing speed is about average compared to other drives.

A more important question is; how is the DVD±R/RW write quality of this drive? After all, you do want to be able to produce discs that are readable and useful. Let us find out now!

Write quality:

You should first take note that this is not a scientific and
professional way to test the discs. But according to our testing done in the
past, we would conclude that there is a clear link between the quality reported
when scanning the disc and the playability of the disc in different devices.
Also notice that different drives report different amounts of errors. K-Probe was designed to work with Lite-On DVD-Writers. So we recommend using a
DVD-Writer from Lite-On. In these
tests we use a Lite-On SOHW-1633S
DVD-Writer, as already said; remember that scans done
with a Lite-On DVD-ROM or Lite-On combo drive can't be compared
with the results obtained with a Lite-On DVD-Writer. Also remember that different
PI/PIF ECC sum settings along with
different reading speeds in K-Probe will affect the result, we use these settings;  PI (Parity Inner) set to
summarize 8 ECC blocks, PIF (Parity Inner Failueres) set to
summarize 1 ECC block, reading
speed: 4X CLV (Constant Linear Velocity). Setting the PI sum to 8 and the PIF sum to 1 will give a result that we
may compare to the standards for DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW.

But what is a good scan? That is a discussion that we don't
think will end soon. This is due to the fact that different drives report
different amounts of errors, some players are more picky about media than others
and many other factors. For comparison purposes we present you with a scan from
two pressed DVD discs.

Please note that these 2 example scans below were performed
with an older version of Kprobe. In this older version, PIF is mistakenly
labelled as 'PO".

This scan shows the results from a pressed, Single Layer
DVD-Video disc (Ronin).

 

This next scan shows the result from a pressed DVD-Video
disk (Lord of the Rings, Return of the King). Notice the error jump when
shifting to the second layer (the error level actually drops from the end of the
first layer to the beginning of the second layer).

If you read below you will see that both of the pressed
DVD-discs are well within the standards.

Download the ECMA 267 Standard for DVD-ROM, the ECMA 337 Standard for DVD+R/RW and the ECMA 338 Standard for DVD-R/RW at http://www.ecma-international.org if you want to look at the standards for yourself. Here is
some data from the ECMA standards
(it is the same for DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW):

Random errors:

A row of an
ECC Block that has at least 1 byte
in error constitutes a PI error. In any 8
consecutive
ECC Blocks the total number of PI
errors before correction shall not exceed 280.

Here we see what a PI error is defined as a row in an ECC block having 1 byte or more
containing errors. And that the sum of PI errors in 8 ECC blocks after each other should not exceed 280 PI
errors.

But what is a row and what is an ECC block? Again we refer to the ECMA standards. We do not copy and paste everything
but if interested look in the ECMA
standards. A row is 182 bytes long where the last 10 bytes contain PI (Parity Inner) information. An
ECC block is 208 rows long where
the last 16 rows contain the PO (Parity Outer) information. This gives us a maximum possible PI
error amount of 208 errors per block and for 8 blocks after each other this sum
is of course 8 times higher giving a maximum possible amount of 1664 PI-8
errors. In practical use a disc with 1664 PI-8 errors is unreadable.

According to our tests the specified max PI-8 sum of 280 for
good discs seems to be a good guideline, as some readers have problems reading
discs when the PI-8 errors are over 300 and most players start to have problems
when the PI-8 error level reaches 600 or more.

But what are the PIF errors that K-Probe reports? They are Parity
Inner Failures, meaning errors left after PI correction. Only the ECMA 337 standard describes the Parity
Inner Failures. So how is a Parity Inner Failure defined? Here is what the ECMA 337 states:

'If a row of
an ECC Block as defined in 13.3
contains more than 5 erroneous bytes, the row is said to be 'PI-uncorrectable"."

In theory an
ECC block may in the worst case
have 208 PIF since every ECC block is 208 rows long. But the
ECMA 337 standard goes further and
specifies the max amount of accepted PI Failures (uncorrectable errors) allowed on a good
disc:

'- In any ECC
Block the number of PI-uncorrectable rows should not exceed
4."  

This means that when the PIF sum is set to 1 the maximum error value should
not exceed 4. The theoretical maximum value for PIF is 208 errors.

But what makes a disc unreadable? A POF (Parity Outer Failure) error will
make the disc unreadable, but K-Probe does not display the POF's.

Notice that there are other aspects such as disc
reflectivity, jitter, tracking errors and so on that also will affect the
readability of a DVD disc '“ but for this we do not have measuring equipment
available.

Another detail to note is that we have scanned the discs at
4X CLV speed, by lowering the
speed to 2X(DVD-R/RW)/2.4X(DVD+R/RW) or 1X the amount of reported
errors may drop on some discs. We use the 4X CLV scan speed for all of our PI/PIF
tests.

To see if there is a connection between the reported amount
of errors and readability of the discs, we also include a transfer rate test
reading curve from the NEC ND-3500A DVD-Writer. A small speed reduction near the
end of the reading curve is still accepted on good discs, but serious reading
problems or reading failures is a bad sign.

Easier
explanation on how to read the test results.

Maybe this got too technical, and you are wondering what to
look for in Kprobe
reports?

Use this as a guideline for good
discs:

PI(Parity Inner):
No larger areas on the disc should exceed 280 PI-8 errors, do not worry too much
about high single spikes that exceed 280. Lower error levels are always
better.
PIF(Parity Inner
Failures): No larger areas on the disc should exceed 4 PIF-1
errors, do not worry too much about high single spikes that exceed 4. Lower
error levels are always better.

What about the reading curve? If the graph looks clean with
no dips then the disc should be very good. A small slowdown near the end is
acceptable.

DVD+R
media compatibility and write quality:

Brand:	Memorex '“ (Thanks to Memorex for providing)
Manufacturer:	CMC Magnetics
Code:	CMC MAGM01
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	12x
Write Time:	7m:12s
PI-8 errors Avg/Sec:	5.62
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.05

Very good writing quality on this 16x CMC DVD+R media. We
are disappointed to find that it is only supported at 12x maximum writing
speed.

Brand:	Verbatim '“ (Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	MCC004
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:55s
PI-8 errors Avg/Sec:	0.46
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.01

Very good
quality results here with Verbatim 16x DVD+R. Highly recommended.

Brand:	Optodisc - (Thanks to Optodisc Taiwan for providing)
Manufacturer:	Optodisc
Code:	OPTODISC R16
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	12x
Write Time:	7m:13s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	0.33
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.03

16x DVD+R from
Optodisc could only be written at 12x maximum. We can see very nice quality
results here, but ASUS definitely needs to fix the support and enable proper 16x
writing!

Brand:	Memorex '“ (Thanks to Memorex USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Moser Baer India
Code:	MBIPG101R04
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:10s
PI-8 errors Avg/Sec:	0.73
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.02

Spectacular
results with this 8x Memorex media manufactured by Moser Baer. We can easily
recommend these discs.

Brand:	Fujifilm '“ (Thanks to Fujifilm USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Made at CMC Magnetics using Fujifilm dye
Code:	PHILIPS C16
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	6m:04s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	1.67
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.03

The Kprobe
results look excellent. Unfortunately the reading curve had some problems, which
could indicate some quality problems. The writing speed also dropped to 12x near
the end of the burn. Overall it appears to be an okay result.

Brand:	FujiFilm '“ (Thanks to Fujifilm USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Taiyo Yuden
Code:	YUDEN000T02
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	12x
Write Time:	7m:15s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	9.97
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.01

This high quality 8x DVD+R made by Taiyo Yuden was written
at 12x with good results. We have seen even better results on this media at
higher speeds on other DVD writers.

Brand:	GQ
Manufacturer:	Lead Data
Code:	LDS03
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:12s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.28
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.09

This is crap
media that produced horrid results. We tried writing another disc and the burn
process failed. Avoid this media!

Brand:	RiDATA '“ (Thanks to Advanced Media/Ritek USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Ritek
Code:	RITEK R03 (Revision 02)
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:05s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	108.60
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.02

Our testing
reported elevated PI levels in the Kprobe graph, but they are still within the
acceptable guideline. The PIF levels and the reading curve look good.

Brand:	Verbatim '“ (Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	MCC 003
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	12x
Write Time:	7m:10s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	4.31
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.08

This 8x
Verbatim media was written at 12x! The Kprobe scan as well as the reading curve
both show ok results.

Brand:	Memorex '“ (Thanks to Memorex USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	CMC Magnetics
Code:	CMCMAG E01
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	12x
Write Time:	7m:09s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	0.42
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.04

Very nice!
This 8x Memorex DVD+R media was written at 12x with good results. Highly
Recommended media for this burner.

Brand:	Optodisc - (Thanks to Optodisc Taiwan for providing)
Manufacturer:	Optodisc
Code:	OPTODISC OR8
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:10s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	1.34
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.03

Results look
very good on Optodisc 8x DVD+R.

Brand:	CompUSA
Manufacturer:	Anwell Precision Technology
Code:	AML001
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	4x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	8m:10s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	1.34
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.03

Acceptable results here on this 4x CompUSA DVD+R media. The
reading trouble at the end of the transfer rate graph could indicate some small
quality problems near the end of the disc.

DVD+RW
media compatibility and write quality:

Brand:	Ritek '“ (Thanks to Advanced Media/Ritek USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Ritek
Code:	RITEK008
Disc Type:	DVD+RW
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	3x
Write Time:	18m:14s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	412.50
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.29

Scary results
with this 8x Ritek DVD+RW burned at 3x. ASUS really needs to fix the support for
these discs!

Brand:	Memorex - (Thanks to Memorex USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Infodisc
Code:	INFODISCA10
Disc Type:	DVD+RW
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	4x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	14m:09s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	40.72
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	1.08

There is a
small block of reported PI errors that reached up into the 250 range, but other
than that the result is pretty good. The reading curve is perfect.

Brand:	Verbatim
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	MKM A02
Disc Type:	DVD+RW
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	4x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	14m:09s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	7.66
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	1.72

Good results
on Verbatim 4x DVD+RW, written at 4x.

DVD+R/RW
Performance Summary: The ASUS
DRW-1608P displayed excellent writing quality on a range of DVD+R/RW media. ASUS
needs to fix the media support to enable proper support for more 16x media such
as RICOH, Ritek, CMC and OPTODISC. The 8x DVD+RW media support is also lacking
as we were unable to write either Verbatim or Ritek 8x DVD+RW at the proper
speed. A few 8x DVD+R media (Mitsubishi, Taiyo Yuden, CMC) were able to be
written at 12x with good results, which is a big plus. The overall writing
quality is very good but the support for 16x media and 8x DVD+RW media is
lackluster.

Head on to
next page and read about DVD-R/RW compatibility and write
quality...

---

DVD-R/RW media compatibility
and write quality:

Brand:	Verbatim Data Life Plus
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Singapore
Code:	MCC 03RG20
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:55s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	1.57
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.04

Excellent
results on 16x DVD-R media from Verbatim. Recommended!

 

Brand:	Memorex - (Thanks to Memorex USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	CMC Magnetics
Code:	CMCMAGAM3
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:56s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.96
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.31

Acceptable
results with this 16x Memorex DVD-R media, made by CMC.

 

Brand:	Optodisc - (Thanks to Optodisc Taiwan for providing)
Manufacturer:	Optodisc
Code:	OPTODISCR016
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	15m:06s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	17.69
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.05

Not good! This
16x Optodisc DVD-R is only supported at 4x and the resulting write quality is
not that great. We've seen much better results with this media on other drives
that can support it properly at 16x writing speed.

Brand:	SONY - (Thanks to SONY USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	SONY Japan
Code:	SONY08D1
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:12s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	3.97
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.04

Superb results
with this 8x SONY DVD-R made in Japan.

Brand:	Verbatim Data Life Plus
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Singapore
Code:	MCC 02RG20
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:13s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	0.76
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.00

Amazing
results! Highly recommended!

Brand:	Fujifilm - (Thanks to Fujifilm USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Taiyo Yuden
Code:	TYG02
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	12x
Write Time:	7m:12s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	0.95
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.00

Again we have
simply excellent results from this high quality Fujifilm media, manufactured by
Taiyo Yuden Japan. This 8x media was written at 12x with excellent
results.

Brand:	RiDATA (Thanks to Advanced Media/Ritek USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Ritek
Code:	RITEKG05
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	12x
Write Time:	7m:28s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	10.81
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.08

This 8x
certified Ritek disc was written at 12x by the ASUS DRW-1608P. The burn speed
dropped to 8x near the end of the write process. ASUS might need to fine tune
this 12x writing strategy further because the first test resulted in an
unreadable disc. The second test shown here is an okay result.

Brand:	Memorex - (Thanks to Memorex USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Prodisc
Code:	ProdiscF01
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	8X
Write Speed:	8X
Write Time:	8m:13s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.02
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.06

The writing
quality of the ASUS DRW-1608P continues to impress us. Great results on this 8x
DVD-R media manufactured by Prodisc.

Brand:	Memorex '“ (Thanks to Memorex for providing)
Manufacturer:	CMC
Code:	CMC MAG. AE1
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:14s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	9.73
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.03

More
impressive performance by the ASUS 1608P. Excellent writing quality!

 

Brand:	Optodisc - (Thanks to Optodisc Taiwan for providing)
Manufacturer:	Optodisc
Code:	OPTODISCR008
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:12s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	15.53
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.15

Not good! This
8x DVD-R from Optodisc was unreadable in our NEC drive. We tried multiple discs
and the results were the same: unreadable disc.

DVD-RW
media compatibility and write quality:

Brand:	Verbatim '“ (Thanks to Verbatim for providing)
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	MKM01RW6X01
Disc Type:	DVD-RW
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	6x
Write Speed:	6x
Write Time:	9m:52s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	3.35
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.02

Nice results with
Verbatim 6x DVD-RW media!

---

Brand:	RiDATA '“ (Thanks to Advanced Media/Ritek USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Ritek
Code:	RITEKW06
Disc Type:	DVD-RW
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	6x
Write Speed:	6x
Write Time:	9m:52s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	4.87
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.04

Writing quality on
Ritek 6x DVD-RW is very nice as well!

---

Brand:	Optodisc '“ (Thanks to Optodisc Taiwan for providing)
Manufacturer:	Optodisc
Code:	OPTODISCW004
Disc Type:	DVD-RW
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	4x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	14m:48s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	11.56
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	3.19

Optodisc 4x DVD-RW
performance is okay, but not quite as good as the Verbatim and Ritek
DVD-RW.

---

Brand:	RiDATA '“ (Thanks to Advanced Media/Ritek USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Ritek
Code:	RITEKW04
Disc Type:	DVD-RW
Capacity:	4489MB
Certified Speed:	4x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	15m:08s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	7.66
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	1.72

Ritek 4x DVD-RW
performance is okay.

---

DVD-R/RW
Performance Summary: The ASUS DRW-1608P is an
excellent DVD-R/RW writer. The writing quality is very good across a range of
media. We can clearly see that the support for DVD-R/RW media is much better
than the support for DVD+R/RW. This is most likely because ASUS drives are
powered by Pioneer techology. Pioneer, who is one of the most important members
of the DVD Forum.

Now let us
take a look at the DVD+R/-R DL writing abilities of this
drive…

---

DVD+R/-R DL writing speed and compatibility:

The ASUS DRW-1608P supports the DVD+R9 DL standard for writing Double Layer discs with a size of 8.5 GB, at a writing speed of 6x.
The ASUS DRW-1608P also supports the DVD-R9 DL standard for writing Dual Layer discs with a size of 8.5 GB, at a writing speed of 6x.

Testing procedure:

We wrote a DVD ISO image in CD-DVD Speed: 

Verbatim 2.4x DVD+R9 Double Layer, written at 6x. Total writing time is 19 minutes and 13 seconds. 

RiDATA 2.4x DVD+R9 Double Layer, written at 2.4x. Total writing time is 45 minutes and 15 seconds.

Memorex 2.4x DVD+R9 Double Layer, written at 2.4x. Total writing time is 44 minutes and 59 seconds.

Fujifilm 2.4x DVD+R9 Double Layer, written at 2.4x. Total writing time is 44 minutes and 20 seconds.

Verbatim 4x DVD-R9 Dual Layer, written at 6x/4x. Total writing time is 23 minutes and 07 seconds.

The Verbatim DVD-R DL slowed down to 4x near the end of the burn process. We tested with an additional DVD-R DL disc and saw very similar behavior where the burn process slowed to 4x near the end. But now let us test the writing quality of these DL discs.

Testing results:  

Brand:	Verbatim '“ (Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing this media)
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi (Singapore)
Code:	MKM 001
Disc Type:	DVD+R DL
Capacity:	8152MB
Certified Speed:	2.4x
Write Speed:	6x
Write Time:	19m:13s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.48
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.16

The PI/PIF levels are very good and the transfer rate graph on the Matshita DVD writer is good. For some reason the NEC drive was unable to fully read this disc.

Brand:	RiDATA '“ (Thanks to Advanced Media/Ritek USA for providing)
Manufacturer:	Ritek
Code:	RITEKD01
Disc Type:	DVD+R DL
Capacity:	8152MB
Certified Speed:	2.4x
Write Speed:	2.4x
Write Time:	45m:15s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	9.13
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.63

The reported PI/PIF levels look good except for the large singular spike located on the second layer. Transfer rate reading curves look okay except for some minor slowdowns near the layerbreak.

We have 4 standalone DVD-Players available to test the DVD+R DL media (Book Type: DVD-ROM) and the DVD-R DL media (Book Type: DVD-R):

• Philips DVP-642
• Koss KD-365
• Philips DVD 704
• Toshiba SD-K620
  

Compatibility results: 

The Fujifilm disc failed on all players. The Verbatim DVD-R Dual Layer disc would not play on the Koss KD365 standalone player.

DVD+R9 DL Summary: The ASUS DRW-1608P drive can write to Verbatim DVD+R DL media at 6x, producing discs with a DVD-ROM Book Type that can be played without hassle in a range of standalone DVD players. Results on Ritek DVD+R DL media are ok, but our tests with the RICOH DL media were a complete failure. The Verbatim DVD-R Dual Layer discs may have trouble on some standalone players. We recommend sticking to Mitsubishi or Ritek DVD+R DL discs for use in this drive.

Before we round off this review, let us run the drive through some advanced tests at next page…

---

To round off this review we will run some advanced tests on the ASUS DRW-1608P.

The "sheep test":

For this test, we will use the Sheep tests made by Alexander Noé. Why is it called sheep test? That is because the symbol of the first 1 to 1 copy program named CloneCD is a sheep. When looking at supported writers, you will notice that the feature list has sheep to indicate if a feature is supported or not. In this case we are interested in the writer's ability to backup/write weak sectors. Also called: 'Correct EFM encoding of regular bit-patterns".

⋅        No sheep: Can't backup any safedisc 2 versions without the help of software tricks
⋅        1 Sheep: Can backup safedisc 2 up to version 2.4x without software tricks
⋅        2 Sheep: Can backup safedisc 2, including version 2.5x
⋅        3 Sheep: Can write all possible weak sectors, few if any writers could do this.

One of our forum moderators, Womble, has written a guide concerning the 'Sheep Test" that could be found here.

In the screenshot below we see that the ASUS DRW-1608P supports all available write and read features in CloneCD:

The ASUS DRW-1604P supports DAO-RAW96 recording mode. This means that the drive is able to write uncorrected data as well as subchannel data.

Below are our results from the 'Sheep Tests":

The ASUS DRW-1608P qualifies as a zero sheep writer. This indicates that it will have trouble copying discs protected with various versions of Safedisc as well as other copy protection schemes.

Overburning:

To test the overburning capabilities of the ASUS DRW-1608P, we used the overburning test in Nero CD/DVD-Speed.

The maximum capacity that we could reach is 82:10.27 when testing with an 80 minute Ritek CD-R. The drive may be able to overburn at a greater capacity when using other CD-R types that are more suited for overburning.

This completes our review, head on to the last page to read our conclusion…

---

Positive:

• Multiple software packages.
• 12x DVD+R and 12x DVD-R reading speeds.
• Able to read DVD-RAM media.
• 16x/16x/6x/6x/8x/6x DVD+R/DVD-R/+R DL/-R DL/+RW/-RW writing speeds
• Perfect DAE quality.
• Supports reading CD Text and Subchannel data.
• Good write quality on a variety of DVD+R/RW discs.
• Good write quality on a variety of DVD-R/RW discs.
• Able to overspeed burn some 8x DVD±R media at 12x.
• Automatically sets the Book Type for DVD+R DL media to DVD-ROM.
• Supports DAO-RAW writing.
• 8x reading on DVD+R Double Layer media.
• Good 6x DVD+R Double Layer writing performance.

Negative:

• Slower CD-R/RW reading and writing speeds compared to the competition.
• Poor documentation compared to previous models.
• No support for reading CD+G (Karaoke) discs.
• Poor DVD+R/RW media support/compatibility.
• Does not support reading from the Leadin or Leadout.
• 5x DVD riplock on DVD-ROM Video discs.
• Does not support bitsetting ( Book Type modification ) on DVD+R/RW discs.
• Only 12x writing supported on some very popular 16x media types.
• Qualifies as a "0 sheep" writer.
• No PI/PIF/PO (Disc Quality) scanning support.

Conclusion:

ASUS has brought an impressive offering to the market with the DRW-1608P DVD Writer. As with any DVD writer, it has some positive aspects as well as some negative ones. Here we will discuss what we feel are the most important points of this drive.

The main positive points: Once again ASUS has put together a nice retail package, this time with the ASUS DRW-1608P DVD Writer. The package includes software suites from both Nero Software and Ulead Systems. The 12x reading speed on DVD±R media is ahead of many other drives on the market and will help you to read your DVD recordable media with ease. This also makes the ASUS DRW-1608P a good drive to use as a source for copy on-the-fly burning at 12x or less. The DAE quality is perfect and the drive can also read CD Text and Subchannel data. But the real area that the ASUS DRW-1608P shines in is the writing quality department. This drive can write to a variety of media from various manufacturers and achieve good quality results. This should help to ensure minimal problems with the playback and use of recorded DVD media. DVD-RW support is excellent. 6x DVD-RW media from Ritek and Verbatim can both be written at 6x with good quality. 2.4x DVD+R DL media from Verbatim was able to be written at 6x on the DRW-1608P. We found the resulting Double Layer discs to be of acceptable quality. The ASUS DRW-1608P is able to read back DVD+R DL media at 8x. To ensure maximum compatibility, the drive will automatically set the Book Type to DVD-ROM on the Double Layer media that it burns. This is a positive feature and will prevent some disc recognition problems that could otherwise occur if the DVD+R DL Book Type was used.

The main negative points: One of the first things we noticed is that this drive is missing a comprehensive instruction guide that previous ASUS models contained. Instead we only have the Quick Installation Guide for documentation. The CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW reading speeds are slower than the competition. For DVD-ROM Video discs, there is a limitation of 5x maximum reading & ripping. This limitation will definitely annoy some users who will want the ability to backup their DVD Video discs at full speed. Other drives offer 16x reading speed for SL DVD Video discs. We also miss bitsetting support for DVD+R and DVD+RW discs. The inability to alter the Book Type of DVD+R discs could lead to compatibility problems in older standalone players. The drive also disappointed us in the field of DVD+R/RW media support & compatibility. 16x media from RICOH, RITEK, CMC and Optodisc was only supported at 12x maximum, even though this media has been available for many months. The 8x DVD+RW media support was also very disappointing. 8x DVD+RW media from both Verbatim and Ritek are not supported correctly. Lastly, we would like to point out that this drive qualifies as a zero sheep writer, which means that it will have trouble backing up some copy protected discs.

The OEM version of this drive is available starting as low as $ 44.99 USD from some online retailers (Price from http://cdfreaks.pricegrabber.com in August 2005).

To sum it all up, the best we could say is; 'An impressive CD and DVD writer with excellent writing quality, however the media support/compatibility needs to be improved."

You may discuss and comment on this review in this forum thread. This forum thread may also be used to ask questions about this drive or request additional tests.

Thanks to:

 For providing the Verbatim media used in this review. Verbatim provides high quality media all over the world and strives to be the standard for DVD hardware reviewing.

Advanced Media/Ritek-USA for providing some of the RiDATA media used in this review. RiDATA is an official Ritek brand and thus you are guaranteed to get quality Ritek manufactured discs when buying RiData media.

 For providing the Memorex media used in this review. Memorex is one of the largest providers of all types of media for larger parts of the world.

 For providing the Fujifilm media used in this review. Fujifilm makes high-performance media for video and storage applications.

For providing the SONY media used in this review. SONY is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.

For providing the Optodisc media used in this review. Optodisc Technology Corporation excels at the manufacturing and selling of High-Density Optical Storage Media DVDs.