Since Plextor recently seems to put quite a bit of effort into enhancing CD-burning with their DVD-burners (write performance updates in both 1.05 and 1.07 firmwares for 716a, for example) and since some folks in this forum complained about quality issues in relation to CD-burning with their Plextor DVD-burners i thought it would be useful to collect CD-burning results in an analogue way as DVD-burning results are currently collected in the "Post your Plextor DVD quality scans here" thread http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=115081.

Basically the same rules as in the first post of the DVD scans thread apply.

Basic information on how to interpret the tests can be found here: http://www.plextor.com/english/suppo...o/HT00006.html

I'd also humbly ask the moderators to make this thread sticky.

716a TLA#0202 FW 1.07
Ritek, Type 7, 700MB, 48x @48x, plain CAV, no slowdown by Powerec.
Sold as TDK METALLIC, Package code listed as recommended by Plextor.

Following are scans for FT/TE, C1/2/U, Beta/Jitter.

Comment: Rather big radial error (TE), super low C1 errors, nice Beta, some spikes in Jitter variation.

What a coincidence, hwp! I was thinking to start a new thread, with the same title as I was testing both my 716a and 712a CD burns. Thanks for starting the thread and yes I agreed to make this thread sticky.

I will post my tests in a moment.

716a TLA#0202 FW 1.07
Hitachi/Maxell, Type 9, 700MB, no speed rating on disc, @48x, plain CAV, no slowdown by Powerec.
Labeled "Plextor", came packaged with a drive.

Following are scans for FT/TE, C1/2/U, Beta/Jitter.

Comment: Radial error (TE) just a bit big, super low C1 errors, ok Beta, rather many spikes in Jitter variation.

Taiyo Yuden 48x CDR burned @48x
Plextor PX-712A FW1.07. Media sold as Fuji CDR 50 pack (Made in Japan).

Burned three disks from the same spindle, post only one Nero CD-DVD Speed create data disk (the other two are similar), followed by three Q-Check C1/C2 tests.

FE/TE test reported good for all disks.

I havn't burnt a CD in awhile, I do have a stack of Verbatim's...

What are you guys burning? data, music, games or just what ever?

Just for the consistency of my DVD/CD tests, I use Nero CD-DVD Speed "create data disk".

plex 716A fw 1.06 burned at x16
TY unbranded
now i will try fw 1.07

716a TLA#0202 FW 1.07
Sony, Type 5, 700MB, 40x, 48x offered and selected burn speed in Plextools, Powerec decided on 32x PCAV.
Sold as Sony.

Following are scans for FT/TE, C1/2/U, Beta/Jitter.

Comment: Big radial error (TE, sign of bad stamper) and axial error (FE, disc is not flat) test says disc can be written at maximum speed (but done at 32x), super low C1 errors, Beta starts out a little high (should be withing 1- 0.08), rather many spikes in Jitter variation.

-delete-

716a TLA#0202 FW 1.07
Fuji Photo Film, Type 5, 700MB, 24x, 48x offered and selected burn speed in Plextools, Powerec decided on 32x PCAV.
Sold as Fujifilm Silver Disc.

Following are scans for FT/TE, C1/2/U, Beta/Jitter.

Comment: This test is a bit academic since 24x media are not in production any more. The media is also rather old (approximatively 4 years) which may affect the result. Unfortunately i only have one disc left, so i cannot compare @16x. The test can thus bee seen as a check how good the 716a is at overspeeding CD burns.
Huge rise in radial error (TE) and axial error (FE) however the test says the disc can be written at maximum speed, super low C1 errors, Beta seems out of specifications in the area between 20 and 60 minutes (should be within +- 0.08) the disc reads fine @48x in my drive (smooth reading curve) but this might cause reading problems in other drives, huge Jitter variation.

Damn hwp, your 716a burns CD perfectly @48x. I just found out that mine is not @48x. However 16-32x is great. Will post some 716a scans later.

now with the new firmware 1.07 , looks the same ...

716a TLA#0202 FW 1.07
TDK Corporation, Type 5, 700MB, 24x, 48x offered and selected burn speed in Plextools, Powerec decided to fall back to 40x at around 70 minutes mark (at a speed of 46x).
Sold as TDK Ultra Reflex.

Following are scans for FT/TE, C1/2/U, Beta/Jitter.

Comment: This test is a bit academic since 24x media are not in production any more. The media is also rather old (approximatively 3 years) which may affect the result. The test can thus be seen as a check how good the 716a is at overspeeding CD burns.
HUGE rise in radial error (TE) axial error (FE) stays moderate, the test says the disc can be written at maximum speed, C1 errors are a bit high at the beginning but still within specifications (limit is 220), Beta is pretty good and the Jitter variation has relatively few and low spikes.

Absolutely AMAZING! After the result of the old Fujifilm disc above I wondered whether I should do this test or not. I'm glad I did! Unlike with DVD burning it seems, that radial errors are far less important in CD burning. While Powerec is likely to slow down when the tracking error goes beyond a value 40, this test shows that even overspeed burning can be done on CDs with a high radial error present. OF course, since DVDs have far smaller pits this seems natural. This test also rather well shows the difference in quality between two different 24x media.

"And now for something completely different" err i meant something "ugly" even "very ugly"

MPO, Type 7, 700MB, 24x @16x, no slowdown by Powerec (hah!).
Sold as EMTEC. Package labeled "Fantastic Security"

Following are scans for FT/TE, C1/2/U (First: 716a FW 1.07; Second: 712a FW 1.07). Given the results i did not even bother to make a Beta/Jitter scan.

Comment: FE/TE says not writeable at maximum speed. I therefore wisely limited the burning speed to 16x. To no avail. YES those are CU errors! Since the result seemed extreme i tried another disc in my 712a. As the same error happens in a different place i would conclude that these media (already 3 years old in minimum, and known to be cheap and of low quality) are showing signs of random dissolving.

These results should be a warning to all those who don't believe in buying quality media!

RiData-branded Ritek (type 7) 48× 80min/700MB CD-R
Plextor PX712a FW1.07
Plextools Professional v.2.21
Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.55

on Windows 2000 Pro SP4

716a TLA#0202 FW 1.07
kdg mdiatech AG, Type 1, 700MB, 12x, @16x.
Sold as "Athena", the computer-equipment label of a local supermarket.

Following are scans for FT/TE, C1/2/U.

Comment: This test is a bit academic since 12x media are to be considered antiquities . Therefore no Beta/Jitter scan. The media is old (approximatively 5 years) which may affect the result. Remarkable: FT/TE Test says this media can be written a maximum speed. Boy was i tempted

PS: Never ever heard of "kdg mediatech AG" as a media manufacturer before. Pity, the media looks fine!

712a FW 1.07
Ritek, Type 7, 700MB, 48x @48x, plain CAV, no slowdown by Powerec.
Sold as TDK METALLIC, Package code listed as recommended by Plextor.

Following are scans for FT/TE, C1/2/U, Beta/Jitter.

Comment: Relatively high radial error (TE) and axial error (FE), super low C1 errors, nice Beta, little Jitter variation.

comparison to my 716a FW 1.07:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.ph...33&postcount=2

comparison to another 712a FW 1.07:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.ph...3&postcount=16

In comparison to a 716a it seems that the 712 has better control over Jitter. Also it's very interesting to see that the 716a and the 712a seem to have a different view on media geometry (FT/TE Test).

one thing to keep in mind also is the drive being used to scan the discs. i've posted previously about the difference between how my 2 716s and Premium scan CD-Rs. take a read through this thread to see what i mean: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=134333

@hwp: How did your jitter on this unit with this media look prior to FW1.07?
(The reason I ask is because 2/4 of the units I've seen have had horrible jitter and I'm wondering if Plextor is trying to correct this via firmware to compensate for "normal" hardware variations)

Plextor 716A 1.06 FW. TLA#0304.
Ritek Unbranded. Type 7, 48x CD-R.
Plextools 2.23
Nero CD-DVD Speed V 3.80

712a FW 1.07
Sony, Type 5, 700MB, 40x, 48x offered and selected burn speed in Plextools, Powerec decided on 32x PCAV.
Sold as Sony.

Following are scans for FT/TE, C1/2/U, Beta/Jitter.

Comment: Rather big radial error (TE) and axial error (FE), test says disc can be written at maximum speed (but done at 32x), super low C1 errors, Beta raises a bit toward the end (should be withing +- 0.08), relatively low Jitter variation.

Compared to my 716a:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.ph...84&postcount=9

Maxell CDRpro 48X 80 min (Sold in USA, Made in Japan, TY media) burned at full 48X (No powerrec slowdown)
PX-716A FW 1.06 TLA0305

Read transfer rate, C1/C2 and Beta/Jitter shown.
Results verified on Benq 1620 (not shown here)
Note that C1/C2 scan was done at highest speed. Lower speed gives even cleaner results.