As stated here (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=61165), I've tested my drives with the DAE quality test (http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/index.php/other-projects/dae-quality/) from the EAC homepage.
Further explanations about the test procedure can be found here (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=61165), so here are the facts about the PX-W5224A:
As with the PX-W4824A, I was able to examine the test procedure with c2extract to get the C2 graph.Drive: Plextor PX-W5224A
Firmware:: 1.04
[!--sizeo:3--][span style=\"font-size:12pt;line-height:100%\"][!--/sizeo--]
Test at 40x (EAC)[/size]
Imagehttp://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ost&id=4474 (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=4474)
DAE logErrors total Num : 750024
Errors (Loudness) Num : 20534 - Avg : -67.9 dB(A) - Max : -9.5 dB(A)
Error Muting Num : 13107 - Avg : 2.9 Samples - Max : 255 Samples
Skips Num : 37 - Avg : 6.0 Samples - Max : 6 Samples
Total Test Result : 64.5 points (of 100.0 maximum)
EAC logExact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 3. May 2008, 18:58
Unknown Artist / Unknown Title
Used drive : PLEXTOR CD-R PX-W5224A Adapter: 2 ID: 0
Read mode : Burst
Read offset correction : 30
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : Yes
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Not detected, thus appended to previous track
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0:00.00 | 74:00.00 | 0 | 332999
Track 1
Filename D:\DAE\Plextor PX-W5224A\EAC - 40x\2\Track01.wav
Peak level 83.2 %
Copy CRC 2D61DD20
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [0BF95624], AccurateRip returned [104033BA]
Copy OK
No tracks could be verified as accurate
You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database
No errors occurred
End of status report
[!--sizeo:3--][span style=\"font-size:12pt;line-height:100%\"][!--/sizeo--]
Test at 4x (EAC)[/size]
Imagehttp://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ost&id=4472 (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=4472)
DAE logErrors total Num : 419534
Errors (Loudness) Num : 34867 - Avg : -76.3 dB(A) - Max : -13.0 dB(A)
Error Muting Num : 1838 - Avg : 2.0 Samples - Max : 117 Samples
Skips Num : 5 - Avg : 6.0 Samples - Max : 6 Samples
Total Test Result : 70.2 points (of 100.0 maximum)
EAC logExact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 3. May 2008, 16:19
Unknown Artist / Unknown Title
Used drive : PLEXTOR CD-R PX-W5224A Adapter: 2 ID: 0
Read mode : Burst
Read offset correction : 30
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : Yes
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Not detected, thus appended to previous track
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0:00.00 | 74:00.00 | 0 | 332999
Track 1
Filename D:\DAE\Plextor PX-W5224A\EAC - 4x\1\Track01.wav
Timing problem 0:21:10
Timing problem 0:21:32
Timing problem 0:21:44
Timing problem 0:21:46
Timing problem 0:21:53
Timing problem 0:22:01
Timing problem 0:22:03
Timing problem 0:22:05
Timing problem 0:22:08 - 0:22:10
Timing problem 0:22:14 - 0:22:19
Timing problem 0:22:21
Timing problem 0:22:25
Timing problem 0:22:28 - 0:22:29
Timing problem 0:22:35
Timing problem 0:22:37
Timing problem 0:22:39 - 0:22:43
Timing problem 0:22:46 - 0:22:49
Timing problem 0:22:51 - 0:22:52
Peak level 99.2 %
Copy CRC 9268C912
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [0F97DBBC], AccurateRip returned [104033BA]
Copy finished
No tracks could be verified as accurate
You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database
No errors occurred
End of status report
[!--sizeo:3--][span style=\"font-size:12pt;line-height:100%\"][!--/sizeo--]
Test at 18-40x CAV (c2extract)[/size]
Image (errors)http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ost&id=4470 (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=4470)
Image (C2)http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ost&id=4471 (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=4471)
DAE logErrors total Num : 444857
Errors (Loudness) Num : 33114 - Avg : -75.6 dB(A) - Max : -10.8 dB(A)
Error Muting Num : 2231 - Avg : 2.2 Samples - Max : 111 Samples
Skips Num : 19 - Avg : 7.3 Samples - Max : 30 Samples
Total Test Result : 66.9 points (of 100.0 maximum)
C2 Accuracy : 98.2 %
[!--sizeo:3--][span style=\"font-size:12pt;line-height:100%\"][!--/sizeo--]
Test at 4x CLV (c2extract)[/size]
Image (errors)http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ost&id=4468 (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=4468)
Image (C2)http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ost&id=4469 (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=4469)
DAE logErrors total Num : 342439
Errors (Loudness) Num : 32041 - Avg : -76.9 dB(A) - Max : -17.2 dB(A)
Error Muting Num : 1151 - Avg : 1.6 Samples - Max : 39 Samples
Skips Num : 6 - Avg : 6.0 Samples - Max : 6 Samples
Total Test Result : 70.6 points (of 100.0 maximum)
C2 Accuracy : 99.2 %
[!--sizeo:3--][span style=\"font-size:12pt;line-height:100%\"][!--/sizeo--]
Conclusion[/size]
The Plextor PX-W5224A seemed to have some problems with the used test disc. Often it refused to rip at higher speeds than 4x whatever speed was chosen in EAC/PlexTools. But on some rare occasions, it ripped the disc with the speed which was expected. But quality-wise (based on the "Total Test Results" numbers) the drive reached nearly always the same score, thus I've only provided the most interesting details above.
Compared to the other Plextor drives tested so far, the PX-W5224A couldn't reach high scores at all. Even lowering the speed (automatically or manually) does not result in better results.
PS: Isn't the PX-W5224A the same drive as the Plextor Premium, only without all the special features (GigaRec, SecuRec, etc.)? Anybody knows any details about this?