Last-modified: 1997/09/14
Version: 1.11
Many units are repackaged versions of other manufacturer's devices, sometimes with slight changes in the firmware. Value-added retailers have been known to switch to a different manufacturer's drive without notice, so don't assume that everything here is accurate.
All CD-R drives are SCSI unless indicated otherwise. IDE and parallel-port CD-Rs exist, but aren't quite as common as the SCSI models.
Many of the models listed have been discontinued in favor of newer models, and some of them have yet to be released, so you will probably not be able to find all of the models listed here for sale.
An excellent summary of CD-R features can be found about halfway down on http://makecd.core.de/Compatibility.html.
If you're new to SCSI, take a look at the comp.perips.scsi FAQ, http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/scsi-faq/. It covers both novice and advanced questions.
A wealth of information on Enhanced IDE and other storage technologies is available from http://thef-nym.sci.kun.nl/~pieterh/storage.html and http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/pc-hardware-faq/enhanced-IDE/top.html.
These are discussed in the next few sections. See also the (somewhat Adaptec-specific but still useful) "CD RECORDABLE SUPPORT" section from ftp://ftp.adaptec.com/pub/BBS/dos/ezlist.txt. See http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Industry/Mfgrs/RecorderManufacturers.html for company contact information.
The model numbers are important! Sometimes the older or newer models from the same manufacturer aren't as good.
If you have specific needs, you should verify with the manufacturer that the drive will do what you want.
Many of the devices are simply OEM versions of another company's recorder. It's unwise to assume that the units are equivalent, however: in many cases the firmware has been changed, and may not work as well as related models.
External drives are preferred to internal drives because of heat problems, though this is less of a concern for newer models. External models can also be moved between machines, and even between platforms. Most if not all SCSI models will work on both Macs and PCs.
I'm not currently listing stand-alone recorders like the "CD Blaster" or "CD Dupe-It", which are boxes with a CPU, CD-R, and hard drive that can duplicate CDs without tying up a full machine. Most of these low-end CD production boxes are off-the-shelf hardware and software packaged into a single unit, so listing them separately doesn't make much sense. Besides, they're not of much interest to the average user.
Models are the CDR-100 (4x4/512K), CDR-102 (2x4/512K), CDR-200 (2x6/1MB), CDR-400 (4x6/2MB; 'c' is caddy, 't' is tray, 'x' is external), CDR-401 (4x6/2MB;IDE), and CRW-4001 (4x6/2MB;RW@2x). The CDE-100 is just the CDR-100 in a Yamaha external case.
It has been reported that the CDR-102 is the same mechanism as the CDR-100, but with the 4x writing feature disabled. There is no known way to convert it into a 4x writer. Similar speculation has been made about the CDR-200 and CDR-400.
Yamaha CDR-100 and CDR-102 units have problems doing digital audio extraction on some discs. See section (4-19).
Note Yamaha doesn't do customer service. The dealer you purchase the drive from is expected to provide support.
Yamaha CDR-100s with firmware version 1.08 may experience problems when recording audio (e.g. a click at the end of tracks recorded with the "copy prohibit" flag set to "off"). Upgrading to version 1.10 is recommended. Since the CDR-100 and CDR-102 units don't have flash ROM (and apparently the upgrade involves more than just changing a ROM chip), the drive needs to be sent back to the dealer for the upgrade.
The CDR-100 reportedly works best when writing in 4x mode, and may produce poor results when used to write at 2x or 1x.
The current firmware versions for the older Yamaha drives is v1.12 for the CDR-100 and v1.01 for the CDR-102. The change was to "allow mastering in Blue Book specs". If you aren't having problems, don't get the upgrade. The Yamaha CDR-400 is somewhere around 1.0g.
The CDR-400 is flash upgradeable, and supports packet writing. The tray on the CDR-400 has been described as "flimsy".
Models are the CDW-900E (2x2/3MB), Spressa CDU920S (2x2/1MB), Spressa CDU940S (2x4/1MB), CDU926S (2x6/512K), and CDU928E (2x8/512K;IDE).
The CDW-900E has a separate connector that allows multiple "slave" drives to be daisy-chained, allowing multiple CD-Rs to be written in parallel.
The Spressa 9211 is a 920 in an external case, the 9411 is a 940 in an external case, and the 9611 is a 926. The 940S drive is actually a 924S; the 940S designation refers to the complete bundle (software, cables, etc). Looks like each unit can be referenced by three different numbers.
Sony drives have a special "recover" feature, accessible from programs like Easy-CD Pro '95. This allows recovery of the CD-R media after certain classes of failed writes.
All Sony drives can do packet writing.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - CDU926 and CDU928. Believe it or not, the CDU926 and CDU928 don't support disc-at-once recording (see section (2-9) for a description). Instead they use "variable-gap track-at-once", which allows TAO audio recordings with no gaps between tracks. Some popular software packages aren't as useful when disc-at-once isn't available, so people considering these drives should carefully consider how they plan to use them.
Models are the CDR1002 (2x2/1MB, based on the Sony CDU920S), CDR1004 (2x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-102), CDR2004 (2x4/1MB, based on the Sony 940S), CDR2006 "Pro" (2x6/512K, based on the Sony 926S), CDR2006 "Plus" (2x6/1MB, based on the JVC XR-W2020), CDR4000 (4x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-100), and CDR4006 (4x6/2MB, based on the Yamaha CDR-400).
The CDR2004 has replaced the CDR1002, and the CDR4006 has replaced the CDR4000.
Models are the CDD522 (2x2/2MB), CDD2000 (2x4/1MB), CDD2600 (2x6/1MB), and CDD3600 (2x6/1MB;RW). The CDD3610 is a 3600 with an IDE interface. The CDD521 (2x2/256K) is an older model; if you use one, the firmware upgrade is strongly recommended (but increasingly hard to find).
The CDD522 does not support reading of subcode-Q data. The CDD521, CDD522, and Kodak-labeled PCD225 have a sensor that can read the barcode data from the inner ring on a CD.
See the HP section for comments about the CDD2000 firmware. The firmware is kept in flash ROM, so it can be updated with software obtainable over the net. You should be at version 1.25 or later for best results.
Digital audio extraction may not work correctly at higher than 2x on the CDD2600, especially near the end of the disc. Philips has acknowledged that audio CDs and packet-written CDs may not read correctly at 6x, but many users have had problems at 4x as well. It may also suffer from the block offset problem described in section (4-19). The CDD2600 supports packet writing, but is NOT flash upgradeable.
Philips' drives, notably the CDD2600, have been shown to hang on some Amigas if SCSI disconnect is enabled and you try to read the session information from a multisession CD. Philips does not believe this problem happens on PCs, and consequently has refused to investigate further. If you are experiencing hangs when examining multisession CDs, try turning SCSI disconnect off for the CD recorder.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - CDD2000. Some users of Philips CDD2000 and derivitive units (like the HP4020i) have reported that the drives went bad over a short period of time, often 1 to 3 months. While these cases represent the minority of users, reports have been persistent. On the plus side, in every case HP or Philips has been willing to exchange the unit for a new one. If you buy a CDD2000-based unit (of which there are many), be sure the dealer or manufacturer is aware of this problem and is willing to exchange the drive should it arise.
See also section (4-10) on the infamous 50h "write append" error.
Drivers are available for the CDD2000 from: http://www.philips.com/sv/pcaddon/cdr/
Models are the SureStore 4020i (2x4/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2000) (sometimes identified as part number C4324) and 6020 (2x6/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2600; 'i' is internal, 'e' is external, 'p' is parallel; also known as part number C4325).
The 6020ep appears to be the external SCSI drive with a parallel-to-SCSI converter. It's usable as a SCSI device as well.
The HP 4020i got off to a rough start because of buggy firmware and problems with the AdvanSys SCSI controller shipped with the drive. Four firmware upgrades have been made available so far (v1.20, v1.25, v1.26, and v1.27), and most but not all problems with the firmware have been eliminated. HP recommends that users with the v1.20 or later firmware who aren't having problems should NOT get the upgrade. Contact HP tech support for more information.
The comments about digital audio extraction problems and the CDD2600 apply to the 6020i as well. Unlike the CDD2600, the 6020 apparently does not support packet writing. The firmware is not flash upgradeable.
The 6020 with v1.07 firmware also has trouble reading some CD-ROM discs, notably single-track CD-ROMs with less than 27MB of data.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - 4020i. See the notes on the CDD2000 in the previous section. Also, the AdvanSys controller continues to cause problems for some users, which is made worse by HP's refusal to support people who try to use a different card. The best approach seems to be to try the card and stick with it if it works, otherwise buy an Adaptec board (e.g. the 1522A) and use it with that. There may be a newer rev of the AdvanSys board.
A few users have reported that, after getting lots of "-24 - Target aborted" errors with jarnold's software, they successfully resolved their problems by getting a new drive from HP.
An unofficial HP 4020i FAQ maintained by Grek Volk (gvolk@umr.edu) can be found at http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Technology/CD-R/HP-FAQ.html.
Drivers and software upgrades are available from ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/information_storage/surestore/cd-writer/.
Models are the RF4100 (2x2/1MB+, based on the Philips CDD522 but with different firmware), CDR4220 (2x4/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2000), CDR4240 (2x4/1MB, based on the Panasonic CW-7501), CDR-4400 (2x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-100), and CDR480 (4x8/1MB, based on the Panasonic CW-7502). The RF4102 is an RF4100 with more memory.
The RF4100 does not support disc-at-once recording.
Models are the PCD200 (2x/256K), PCD225 (2x2/2MB, based on the Philips CDD522), PCD240 (2x4/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2000), and PCD600 (6x/2MB+).
The Philips CDD522, Kodak PCD225, and Kodak PCD600 will interface with the Kodak Disc Transporter, which supports unattended duplication of up to 75 CD-Rs, making it a useful combo for CD-R production.
Models are the XR-W1001 (1x/64K), XR-W2001 (2x/1MB), XR-W2010 (2x4/1MB), XRS-201 (2x2/1MB), and XR-W2020 (2x6/1MB). The XR-W2010 is sometimes bundled as an XR-W2012, and the XR-W2020 sometimes appears as XR-W2022 or XR-W2626.
The drives come bundled with JVC "Personal Archiver" or "RomMaker" software. The XR-W2010 and XR-W2020 also come with "FloppyCD" packet-writing software.
JVC only provides support for drives purchased directly from them, but firmware updates can be found at ftp://ftp.jvcinfo.com/, in the directory /Pub/Firmware/XR-W2010.
Several users have reported difficulty installing the XR-W2020, but the troubles appear to stem from the SCSI card bundled with the drive rather than the drive itself.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - XR-W2010. Firmware version 1.51 has some serious flaws that can cause problems when using the drive as either a writer or a reader. The v2.05 update fixed most of the problems, but they're not entirely gone. Until these problems are fixed, this drive should only be used with the JVC software, and should not be used as a reader. Power-cycling the unit (i.e. powering it off and back on) immediately before a write may cure some problems. For examples and some tests, see ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/fa/fadden/jvc-prob.txt.
While there are a large number of people who are using these drives without problems, one person affiliated with a CD-R software company referred to the XR-W2010 as their "#1 tech support nightmare".
Models are the RCD-202 (1x, based on the JVC XR-W1001), RCD-1000 (2x, based on the JVC XR-W2001), RCD-5020 (2x2/1MB), RCD-5040 (2x4/1MB, based on the JVC XR-W2010), RCD-4X4 (4x4/1MB, based on the Teac CD-R50S), and RCDW226 (2x6/1MB;RW).
The -1000, -5020, and -5040 models are flash ROM upgradeable.
RCD-1000 units shipped after Sept 1995 can do audio extraction if they have firmware v2.35 or later. An upgrade is available from their BBS.
Pinnacle earned a bad reputation after shipping drives with buggy firmware, a poorly ventilated enclosure, and bad customer support.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - all drives. Pinnacle customer support is reported to be almost nonexistent, except for some recent tech support via e-mail. Many owners of the RCD-5040 are perfectly happy with their drives (see the caveat on the JVC XR-W2010), but most of the stories about Pinnacle's product support are negative.
Models are the RS-9200CD (1x/1.2MB), RO-1060C (2x2/512K), RS-1060C (2x2/512K), RS-1420C (2x4/512K+), and MP-6200 (2x6/1MB;RW). The MP-6200 uses a tray, the MP-6201 uses caddies and has a 2MB buffer, and the 6200I is IDE instead of SCSI.
The RS1060C does not support disc-at-once recording, reading of digital audio, or subcode-Q data. (One user reported that his RO1060C *could* read digital audio, but the drive took a little convincing. Another user says that it has always been supported, but not documented, so it can be done with the right software, e.g. CDDA v1.5.)
The RS-1420C is flash upgradeable (though it can be a little tricky since there are different variants of the drive, and each requires a different ROM image). It does not support packet writing. Most of the commercial versions come with a 2MB buffer (the last digit of the firmware version will be 0, 1, or 2, indicating 512K, 1MB, and 2MB, respectively).
The MP-6200 may have minor problems extracting audio from some CDs. See section (4-19).
Firmware upgrades are available from: http://www.ricoh.co.jp/cd-r/cgi/e-/version.html
Model is the DW-S114X (4x4/1MB). The PDR-05 is an audio CD-R recorder, described in section (5-12).
Does not support disc-at-once recording. Mainly sold in large jukebox systems.
Models are the CDS615E (2x2/1MB, based on the Sony CDU-920S) and CDS620E (2x4/1MB, based on the Sony CDU-924S). The CD-R2 is the CDS615E in an external case. The CD-R2x4 might be the external version of the CDS620E.
Model is the DisKovery 650 CD-R (2x2/1MB, based on the Sony CDU920S).
Models are the CR-2200CS (2x4/4MB, based on the Philips CDD2000 but with different firmware), CD-2201CS (same as CR-2200CS but with 2x4/1MB), CR-2401TS (*also* based on the Philips CDD2000), and CR-2600TE (2x6/1MB;IDE).
The CR-2401TS is flash upgradeable (just use Philips CDD2000 images).
The CR-2600TE does not support disc-at-once recording. Like the recent Sony units, it supports track-at-once without gaps instead.
Models are the CDM200 (2x2/1MB), CDM240J (2x4/512K, based on the JVC XR-W2010), and CDM400 (4x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-100). Older CDM240 units were based on the Yamaha CDR-102. Since the Yamaha CDR-100 is no longer being made, chances are the CDM400 is now a different unit as well.
They also sell the CDM4000, which is a stand-alone CD burner.
Models are the PlayWrite 2000 (2x2/1MB, based on the Sony CDU920S), PlayWrite 2040 (2x4/512K+), and PlayWrite 4000 (4x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-100).
Model is the Express Writer. There's no apparent model numbers. They used to sell the "old one" (2x2/1MB, based on a Pinnacle (i.e. JVC) drive), now they sell the "new one" (2x4/?).
Models are the MasterCD Plus 4x4 (4x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-100) and MasterCD Plus 4x6 (4x6/2MB, based on the Yamaha CDR-400).
Model is the PCDR-4X (4x4/512K, based on the Yamaha CDR-100).
Model is the CDR100IPW (4x2/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2000).
Model is the PlexWriter PX-R24CS (2x4/512K, a cousin of the Ricoh 1420C).
The unit is flash upgradeable.
Models are the CW-7501 (2x4/1MB) and CW-7502 (4x8/1MB). Panasonic is part of Matsushita, so the units may also be sold under the Matsushita label.
The CW-7501 is flash-upgradeable.
Models are the CD-R50S (4x4/1MB) and CD-R55S (4x12/?).
The unit is flash upgradeable, with updates on ftp://nemus.teac.de/cdr_up/. Apparently they need to be at 1.0E or later to do quad-speed writing reliably. Power calibration is done via a lookup table rather than adjusted dynamically, so a flash upgrade may be required before some brands of media will work.
The CD-R50S appears to use the same command set as the JVC XR-W2010.
Models are the CDR-432 (2x4/?), CD-R 622 (2x6/?;IDE), and CD-R 632P (2x6/1MB, based on the Philips CDD2600).
Model is the 2040R (2x4/512K, based on the Ricoh RS-1420C).
Many users have had trouble installing the AdvanSys SCSI card that is bundled with this unit. Most of the problems can be corrected by enabling PnP installation, which is disabled by default.
Models are the CDR2000 (2x2/512K, based on the Ricoh RS1060C) and CDR4210 (2x4/1MB, based on the Panasonic CW-7501).
Model is the EW-50 (?/?).
Model is the Memorex CR-622 (2x6/?;IDE, based on the Wearnes CD-R 622).
Model is the Hi-Val CD-R (2x4/512K, based on the JVC XR-W2010).
Most of the drives available weren't meant for mass production; notable exceptions are the Philips CDD 522, Kodak PCD 600, and Sony CDW-900E.
Incidentally, MTBF is not an estimate of how long the drive will last. Rather, it's an estimate of the failure rate of the drives during the expected lifetime of the device... after a year or two, the anticipated failure rate increases. If you have new drives with an MTBF of 25,000 hours, and you run 1000 units for 100 hours, you can expect to see four of them fail. It does NOT mean you can expect them to run for 2.8 years and then all fail at once.
CPU: buy a Pentium, the faster the better. This is true in general, since systems tend to be outdated after a year and obsolete after three or four. A '486 is a *minimum* configuration for a CD-R system; a Pentium gives you some breathing room. PentiumPro is probably overdoing it.
Motherboard: get one with PCI slots. Not only can PCI cards move data more quickly, they're much easier to configure.
SCSI: most CD-R drives are SCSI, not IDE/EIDE, so SCSI is still the most common choice. Whether it's built into the motherboard or on a separate card, make sure the host adapter supports ASPI and ASPI for Windows (see section (5-7)). Don't bother with Wide SCSI unless you're planning to buy a disk array or fancy devices - most 7200rpm drives don't exceed the limits of 8-bit Fast SCSI anyway. Bus mastering SCSI cards are preferred over non-bus-mastering cards.
Some vendors have started shipping parallel-port CD-R drives.
Sound: the Creative Labs SB16 and AWE32 boards are widely supported and very popular, but if you're thinking seriously about recording sound through it, you'll want to consider alternatives. See section (3-12) and (3-13) for other options.
Hard drive: needs to be reasonably fast, and large enough to hold whatever data you plan to put on a CD. IDE hard drives work fine. See section (5-6) for more details.
Video card and monitor: depends on what you want to do. A PCI-based video card is a good idea (though more expensive than an ISA-based card), and a 15" or 17" monitor will work fine for most applications. If you're planning on creating multimedia products, you'll want a PCI video card with 4MB of {D,V,W,SD,SG}RAM and a good 17" or 20" monitor.
CDROM: for a variety of reasons, you'll probably want a SCSI CDROM rather than an IDE CDROM. See section (5-5).
Block-by-block copies are the best way to create discs. If your pre-mastering software has to assemble files and build an ISO filesystem on the fly, you will need a high-end PowerMac. The above hardware may still be suitable for such on-the-fly mastering, but as a general case, building a prototype image to a disk or disk partition will be safer.
Using the "simulated cut" feature available on Toast and other software is also prudent. Make sure you turn off file sharing before you start a burn, or things will fail if it tries to read a file that's already open. You may also have trouble writing from the boot/system volume, since it will always have files open.
(Macintoshes - especially 68K and low-end PowerMacs - have lousy I/O, notably in the filesystem and network. Fortunately, the lack of preemptive multitasking in System 7 and earlier keeps things flowing at a constant rate. As an additional bonus, most internal Mac CDROM drives can do digital audio extraction with the appropriate software.)
The good news for Mac owners is that the hardware and software configuration for CD-R usually goes in typical Mac fashion: without a hitch.
Toshiba and Plextor SCSI models generally work well. The Plextor 6Plex and higher can extract digital audio at high speeds, and come with a set of utilities that are actually useful. The 8Plex, 12Plex, and 12/20 are often recommended. The 12Plex can extract audio at about 9x.
The Panasonic 12x IDE has been recommended several times, as has the Teac CD516S.
The CD-DA FAQ (http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~psyche/cdda/) lists some drives that work well for DAE.
NEC models tend to hog the SCSI bus. Older NEC models (especially the NEC 3x), some Mitsumi models, and some Acer models (e.g. Acer 8x) may have trouble reading CD-Rs.
Some IDE CDROM drives can be used for direct CD-to-CD copies with some programs (e.g. Adaptec CD-Creator 2 and WinOnCD). It's the same story as with digital audio extraction: some drives work, some don't, and the ones that do don't work with all available software. The Teac 8x has been mentioned as working with CD Creator for CD-to-CD copies of data discs.
There is one hard and fast rule for direct CD-to-CD duplication: the source drive must be faster than the target drive (i.e. source 4x if target is 2x, source 6x if target is 4x).
A performance test on some high-end models can be found at: http://www.pcmag.com/features/cdrom/cd-test.htm
Don't bother with most of the 15x/16x drives. For details: http://www.pcworld.com/hardware/cd-rom_drives/articles/feb97/1502p072.html
A quick summary of features for several models can be found at: http://www.fwb.com/software/support/reference/cdt2.0.5_supp_devices.html
The most important issue is thermal recalibration. Your basic hard drive will pause for up to half a second (or even up to a full second, depending on who you believe) every so often to adjust the head positioning to the current operating temperature. For most applications this goes unnoticed, but when recording a CD-R you must write the current track to completion without interruption. AV drives deal with the problem in a way that doesn't disrupt the disk activity.
A drive that does a quick thermal recalibration is acceptable if the system is otherwise fast enough or the buffer in the CD-R unit or in the recording software is large enough (early drives had only 64KB, while current drives have 512KB or 1MB, making it much less of an issue). You need to be sure that the recorder's write buffer won't empty during the recal period, or you'll end up with a buffer underrun.
If your recorder's buffer is less than 512KB, or you're planning to record at 4x or greater, you should seriously consider an AV drive. Otherwise, it probably won't matter. Also, don't believe everything you hear from a salesman -- verify with the manufacturer that the drive model is AV-rated.
What separates a Seagate Barracuda from a Seagate Barracuda AV is that the latter is tuned for AV performance. This is simply a software change that affects cache allocation algorithms, error correction, and other SCSI parameters that may will give better performance for transfers of large blocks of contiguous data. These sorts of optimizations are more important for digital video (which runs at a few MB/sec) than CD recording (which is only 600K/sec at 4x).
If you think AV optimizations will help you, you should take a look at "Dr. SCSI" at http://www.scsitools.com/. It will help you do the same optimizations that the AV drive sellers do, for a price that's about equal to the difference between a standard drive and an AV drive.
It's not necessary to use a SCSI hard drive. In most cases IDE will work just fine.
On a separate but related issue, all reports from people burning CDs from Win95 OSR2 FAT-32 filesystems have been positive.
In general, the faster the better. PCI or VLB is better than ISA, and the board should support (and have enabled) SCSI disconnect. The Adaptec 2940 (PCI) is a popular choice , though some users have reported problems with the Adaptec 2840 (VLB). See the README that comes with Adaptec EZ-SCSI v4.0 and later for some things to try with SCSIBench to make sure that you're going to get enough throughput on a single SCSI bus.
The adapter MUST support the ASPI standard (ASPI provides an interface between software and the SCSI controller) for both DOS and Windows.
If you're having trouble with the 2940UW, go into the configuration menu (hit Ctrl-A while booting) and make sure the drive is set for 10MB/sec with Wide Negotiation disabled. If you're using Win95, make sure that Auto Insert Notification is disabled for all CDROM drives (see section (4-1)).
For some tips on cabling and termination, see Bertel Schmitt's article at ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/fa/fadden/scsi-trm.txt.
The MTBF on CD-R units tends to be low, so it may be wise to use a different drive for general use to preserve the life of the CD-R.
In addition, if you're using Win95, some CD-R devices don't show up as readers without additional drivers, or show up as 8 separate LUNs (Logical UNits, useful for CD jukeboxes). The reason why many don't show up by default is because they're classified as "type 4" SCSI-2 devices, which is used to indicate write-once devices. Standard CDROM drives are "type 5".
HP and Philips supply drivers for their units, Corel supplies several for different devices, and the Sony 920S works as-is. If you have Adaptec Easy-CD Pro 95, you can get a patch from Adaptec at ftp://ftp.adaptec.com/pub/BBS/win95/cdr4up.exe that will allow many type 4 drives, including the Yamaha CD-R 100/102 and JVC XR-W2010, to appear as CDROM drives. (As it happens, the patch works even if you have the free Easy-CD demo, available from the Adaptec web site.)
If you don't have the drivers, you can still get it to work by loading the real-mode drivers like this (example is for an Adaptec 2940):
In Config.sys:
In Autoexec.bat:DEVICEHIGH=C:\SCSI\ASPI8DOS.SYS /D DEVICEHIGH=C:\SCSI\ASPICD.SYS /D:ASPICD0
Incidentally, to *remove* the Adaptec cdr4up driver, you should remove the file "CDR4VSD.VXD" from \Windows\System\Iosubsys, and reboot.LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:ASPICD0 /M:12
The advantage of a tray is convenience. If you want to put a CD in the drive, you can just drop it in, instead of buying a pile of caddies and hunting for a free one.
The advantage of a caddy is durability. CDs are less likely to be scratched if they're put into a caddy and left there (VERY important if you have children), and the internal mechanism is less likely to collect dust. The tray units usually have a worse MTBF rating, because they have more moving parts.
There have been reports that, at 12x and higher, some CDs will cause loud vibrations in tray models, but work fine in caddy models. Not everyone has had this problem though.
It used to be the case that you had to get a caddy drive if you wanted to mount it sideways, but newer tray models have tabs that will hold the CD in place. Having to use the tabs does reduce the convenience normally offered by a tray model.
Which you should choose depends on your needs and circumstances. If you are planning to write to a disc several times (CD-RW or multisession CD-R), you are better off with the disc in a caddy.
One user reported being able to write at 1x from a DAT tape drive using Seagate's Direct Tape Access, but this isn't recommended. Copying the data to a hard drive and doing the burn from there is much more likely to succeed.
There are no known instances of successful CD-R burns using punched card readers as the source device.
Doing a test run is strongly recommended when using any of these devices.
Running OPC goes a step farther by actively monitoring the write process and adjusting the laser power as needed. If the writer encounters dust or fingerprints, the laser power can be increased to burn through the obstacles. This is especially useful for discs that are moved around between recording sessions, such as CD-RW discs or multisession CD-Rs.
There are two classes of audio CD-R, consumer and professional. The units targeted at consumers require special audio blanks, and employ SCMS (Serial Copy Management System) to prevent making copies from a copy. The audio blanks used to be 4x to 5x the cost of computer CD-R blanks and only held 60 minutes of audio, but 74-minute "Consumer Audio" blanks are now available for roughly the same price as regular CD-R blanks.
The "professional" units use regular CD-R blanks and don't obey SCMS, and generally have a wider set of features and input/output connectors.
If you already have a computer, it's probably cheaper to buy a computer CD-R and a good sound card or digital transfer card (see sections (3-12) and (3-13) for more info). The ability to edit the sound on a computer before writing a CD can be very useful. However, there are some advantages to using an audio CD-R (not all features are present on all models):
(Incidentally, the difference in price for the audio CD-R blanks is due to licensing agreements and volume. The manufacturer pays a royalty to a studio consortium under the assumption that everything recorded to an audio CD-R is pirated material. The technology is identical; the "audio" discs just have a mark that says a royalty has been paid.)
Examples of "consumer" audio CD-R units are the Panasonic PDR-04 and
PDR-05 (http://www.pioneerproduct.com/prdsoft/cdr/index.html).
Marantz makes professional-grade CD-R units, e.g. the CDR615 and CDR620. See http://www-us.philips.com/marantz/product/professional/cdrecorder/.
On a PC running Win95, go into the Device Manager (either from the Control Panels or by asking for Properties on My Computer), and find the CDROM drives in the device tree. Select the CD-R drive, hit the "Properties" button, and then click on the "Settings" Tab of the window that opens. Look for "Firmware Revision".
Mac users will need to run SCSI Tools to check the identification string.
There is some debate about whether or not a CD-to-CD copy would be reliable if the source CD-ROM drive and target CD-R drive are both IDE. The concern is that the increased CPU and bus utilization associated with IDE will cause buffer underruns. I'm not aware of any carefully controlled experiments on this issue.
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