Hi there.

I've looked at the technical details of VariRec on the Plextor website and I understand the wording but not really what it all means in reality. Basically, I have a 24X Plexwriter, and have started backing-up my CD collection to play in the car. This VariRec seems like a good thing (if it reduces this jitter effect) but how do I use it with my drive?

I think I saw something about it being available as part of the new Plextools, but surely VariRec is part of the drive itself (I know it's available with the new 40X Plexwriter) like Burnproof is part of the drive.

Perhaps someone who knows a bit about Audio extraction and has used VariRec with the 24X Plexwriter (if that's possible of course) can tell me what to do. I spent absolutely ages configuring EAC correctly so that I can get as close to perfect rips as possible. I've never burned an Audio CD at greater than 16X, and the cd-r has always sounded fine afterwards. If this VariRec can make it sound even better though, I would like to make use of it.

Sorry if this post is a bit vague and rambling - I don't really know anything about VariRec, other than I like the sound of it. Can I continue to use EAC to rip and burn audio cds, plus have VariRec doing it's stuff in the background somehow, making sure that my copies sound as perfect as possible? Do I even need to use VariRec? I'd appreciate any help.

Thanks a lot.


Bursk

You cannot use VariREC with your 24x Plex simply because the drive doesn't support the feature. With VariREC the user can regulate the laser power to a certain amount. This is handy for audio discs because some car CD-players for example sometimes have problems with CD-R's. Because these CD-players have a 'weaker' lens to read discs they need a CD-R that has been written properly (read: the 'pits' and 'lands' have to be clear(er)). By increasing the laser power the disc can be read better in certain audio players. Only the 40x Plex supports this feature. Read more on VariREC here (if you haven't already).

I see. Well, thanks for the reply.

I've never had any problems playing my copied cds in my car provided I use a good quality cd-r (Verbatim being my cd-r of choice).

I've never had what I thought was a poor quality copy either - I mean, I'm pretty sure my copy sounds as good as the original cd. I haven't recorded at greater than 16X because I want to play safe when I'm burning Audio.

Perhaps I don't even need VariREC then. Am I missing out at all by not having a VariREC drive? I do burn a lot of Audio cds you see, and would hate to think that my fairly new drive (the 24X Plexwriter) is giving me sub-standard Audio copies.

Can anyone comment any further on this?


Bursk

Well since I do not own such a drive (yet? ) I cannot give you more info than what I know by reading... The VariREC feature might help produce better copies for crappy CD-readers but personally I doubt it will give you better discs than normal using proper CD-R's and a lower writing speed. Just my 2 cents ..

Ok thanks again. Regarding burning speed, do you think 16X is too fast to be burning Audio? Have there been any tests done that show a lower speed, e.g. 4X is 'better' than 16X? What's your opinion?