Any experiences with Yamaha 4416s?

[JW310]

I am looking into getting a CD-RW drive for my computer, and am wondering if anyone has used the Yamaha 4416s, and what they think about it. I do not mind the fact that it does not come with a SCSI card. I just want to make sure that I am making a wise decision in wanting this drive.

[Lastus]

The SCSI model we have here at work has worked like a charm no problems at all.
I have burned about 10 disks with not a coaster in the bunch. I should note it is hooked up to a nice 450 mhz with 128 Mb RAM. So my good experiences my not translate to a slower machine. Make sure you match the SCSI card type (SCSI, SCSI 2, Ultra double wide big fat SCSI , etc) to the drive and thereby not limit the connection with a slower type SCSI than the drive supports.

[This message has been edited by Lastus (edited 10-05-99).]

[Mntsnow]

JW,

The Yamaha is a great burner! I have one in my work machine. BTW the type of SCSI card you need is a SCSI2 (50 pin narrow). You can get a better card that will handle the newwer spec's such as SCSI3 Ultra wide and use the 50 pin interface that is one it also. (this way when and if you get bigger faster harddrives you have not bought a scsi card that wont handle them!

Enjoy the burner!

Mntsnow

[Bleeding Edge]

Recently, I selected the Yamaha CRW6416sz as my first writer. Similar to Lastus' experiences, I've yet to create a coaster (about 30+ backups/recordings using several different software and the use of the different methods of recording data/audio) with this CD-RW. There was one incidence which the recorded audio-CD had few sporadic audible clicks in it. I narrowed down the cause to either the recording method I was trying at the time or to my regular IDE CD-ROM drive’s less than perfect audio extraction performance. I’m considering replacing the IDE reader with the slower yet more able Plextor UltraPlex40X reader.

Speaking of Plextor, I would highly recommend their CD writers and readers. I would say the first choice is Plextor, then Yamaha, and Teac.

The Yamaha, coupled with the right soft will allow over-burning a disc. It comes with Adaptec’s Easy CD, Direct CD. It also includes an adequate jewel case insert and CD labeling soft. A bit lacking in features, but adequate. The only thing left to get, besides the SCSI card, is a powerful burning soft like GoldenHawk Technology’s CDRWIN for those hard to backup CDs that you may have and for getting into the nitty-gritty of the Art-of-Burning….

So…in accordance with Mntsnow’s enthusiasm, all thumbs are up for Yamaha. The Plextors, I think, should be anyone’s first choice tho. But it is hard to beat the price/compatibility/performance of the Yamahas.

~By the way Mntsnow, I’ve always read your name as M-NT-S-Now! I just realized....it’s MountainSnow isn’t it?


Note:
At BuyComp, the CRW6416sz has been selling for $176 US for the past few weeks. Quite the bargain, that's where I made my purchase. Although this model will not be listed with all the rest of the CD-RW (they took it off the main list after the first week) it is still in stock and for sell at this price. You have to do a 'quick search' for: crw6416sz

It'll come up. www.buy.com/comp/default.asp (http://www.buy.com/comp/default.asp)

[Joel Kleppinger]

I've heard great things about that drive, and also that it supports overburning, a feature I desperately wish at times that my Panasonic SCSI burner could do. I've also heard a rumor that the company that helped Sega do the Dreamcast 900 MB CDs has a patch for that particular model to allow them to burn Dreamcast CDs (of course, I'm not thinking what you're thinking /forum/wink.gif).

Bleeding Edge, as far as ripping goes, have you tried AudioCatalyst? You have the option of using a sync mode (dynamic or a fixed width) transfer that will report when there is any data lost. I've NEVER had a pop since I started doing that. It rips a little slower, but I've found it's worth it so I don't have to listen to each mp3 I make just to ensure it's a perfect copy.

BTW, my 50x Digital Research drive could rip/encode at fixed sync width 1 (the fastest) at 9.5x. That's an mp3 every 30 seconds. /forum/smile.gif However, after installing Win98SE, it now does it at about 4.5x, significantly slower. I'm not sure why, but there must be some sort of change in the ASPI.

[Bleeding Edge]

The reader I have is the Kenwood 40x40. Does closer to 42x. Constant data transfer of 6.5MB~7MB/s. But it definitely has problems (albeit minor) with some audio CDs. It has difficulty recognizing a few. Just now I noticed clicks/cracks playing back a Bach CD. In the Yamaha, the artifact isn’t there. I guess I’ll go for the Plextor tomorrow.

Without much research or thought, I choose MusicMatch’s JukeBox soft for playback/encoding mp3s. It was so easy to buy over the net, you know…? Download the program, credit card authorized in a few seconds and the unlock code given right there and then. It works. I saw AudioCatalyst on the store shelves after the fact. Same price. Xing technology.

I’ve been wondering if it might not better. But after ripping about 300 songs successfully with JukeBox, I lost the urge to find out. Are you familiar with JukeBox? http://www.musicmatch.com/ It is very capable but the locked download version will not allow mp3 rips of over 96Kbps. The unlock program will give full function rips up to 320kbps. AudioCatalyst may still be better over all. I don’t know. If I find myself doing more encoding, I may try it instead. You seem to be keen on it...

Win 98’s (Intel’s) newer busmaster drivers are definitely a bit slower. Not certain with the changes in the ASPI layer.



[This message has been edited by Bleeding Edge (edited 10-06-99).]

[Mntsnow]

/forum/biggrin.gif Bleeding Edge! Ahh yes! if you had checked my "profile" you would see that I live in Utah and Utah has some great Mountains and one of my hobbies is SNOWmobiling. so I just shortened it up a touch and wahla! I personally have in my machine at home the PLEXTOR setup which consists of the 8x plexwriter and a 40x ultraplex cd. which btw is capable of upto 17x digital audio extraction! (along with a few other scsi add-ons!) and I will say it is the BEST of the burning world! (I also have used the Plextor CDRESq software and it has come in handy)

JW, As I said before the Yamaha is a great unit but if you can afford a few more dollars you surely wont be disapointed with a PLEXTOR system. (I thought you had decided on the Yamaha and was only looking for reinforcement on the decision to buy it!)

Mntsnow /forum/biggrin.gif



[This message has been edited by Mntsnow (edited 10-05-99).]

[JW310]

Well, I'm really just looking for suggestions/reviews on the better SCSI CD-RW drives, so I can help persuade my parents why one drive would be better to get than the other for the money. I figure the more input I can get from people that have used the drive (or other drives, for that matter) will help influence my parent's decision. So thanks, all, so far with the information! Looking forward to hearing more!

Of course, I won't find out if I will actually get the drive or not until December 25th! But I can always hope, right /forum/smile.gif!

~edit:
Just checked the buy.com website (Thanks, Bleeding Edge!) and was a little surprised to see that the 6416sz is $10 less than the 4416sz! Doesn't seem to make much sense, but I guess that's supply and demand at its best!

[This message has been edited by JW310 (edited 10-06-99).]

[Joel Kleppinger]

JW: Check out the UserReview section on this if you haven't already: http://www.sysopt.com/userreviews/products.cgi?cdrecord

As far as my 50x drive goes, it can rip 17x on the inside and 27x on the outer half of a CD if in buffered burst mode. I'm content to do the sync width + concurrent mp3 encoding thing because it offers the fastest CD to mp3 transition without worry of pops, skips, or other anomolies.

I have used Jukebox, but just a little. I've probably made something like 4 or 5 mp3s from it before just dumping it. The interface didn't really flow well with my brain. At the time I checked it out, the registered version didn't even offer variable bit rate encoding (a requirement for any serious listener). So I picked up AudioCatalyst and still never cease to be impressed with it.

I insert a CD. Audiocatalyst detects it and kills the auto-insert notification which I have on all the time. I then hit CDDB to download the track list. I highlight the tracks I want, verify that the mp3 box is checked, and hit grab. 6 minutes later, I have all perfect variable bit rate(vbr)/high quality (the best quality I've ever heard - indistiguishible to CD to my hearing) mp3s (at least that was what it was when I could rip/encode at a combined 9.5x).

I love vbr/hight quality. It adjusts the encoding of the mp3 for the more or less complex portions of the song, giving more space to the complex sounds and cutting back when it isn't needed. It's the best way to get high-quality sound without sacrificing much space. Most mp3s are 50-60% bigger when doing vbr/high quality vs. 128kbps, but I'd never go back. I don't download mp3s anyway so that's not a big deal.

Anyway... enough rambling. /forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Joel Kleppinger (edited 10-06-99).]

[JW310]

Joel,
Yep, I've already checked out the reviews on the User Reviews section! That's where I first heard/read about the drive (and sparked my interest).

Thanks for the tips with the MP3s... one of the reasons I'm looking to get a CD-R/RW drive is so I can take my fave songs off of my fave CDs and compile them into 1 or 2 CDs!

[Bleeding Edge]

Jukebox made some improvements since you first checked it out. Has VBR, CBR, WMA, drag and drop it recording... Encode mp3s directly from a turntable, cassette player, mini disc player, etc., using the line-in on the soundcard.

But, yeah. Something doesn't quite sit right with me. Can't put a finger on it tho. I guess I'll go ahead and try Catalyst. Thing is, got a nagging suspicion, as far as sound quality and perfomance, it'll end up being the same as JukeBox. Plus I got more than enough soft for the recorder...now I'm rambling...

[This message has been edited by Bleeding Edge (edited 10-06-99).]

[JW310]

Update:
With all of the information I received from here and other online reviews, I was finally able to talk my parents into getting me the Yamaha 6416S drive, with an Adaptec 2906 SCSI card. Ordered them on the 8th, received them on the 11th! Only thing is, I can't use them until Christmas /forum/frown.gif I'll be able to wait, though (it'll be darn tough, but I'll do it).

Thanks all for the information and help in convincing my parents to make the right decision!

JW

[BBA]

Funny you talk about ripping, sync mode and the 4416.

I took one (Yamaha 4416SX) home from work because it had problems with NT and DirectCD, so I played with it and flashed it's bios. After that this was the best CD-RW I have ever used.

As for Ripping, I use my Toshiba 1202 DVD, with sync and DMA turned on and using EZ CD creators Spin Doctor, I pull perfect extractions at 32X, very quickly might I add.

After I started using DVD drives, I saw no use for CD-Roms any more!

BBA

[Petros]

I just gotta plug Yamaha. I've had a 4416s for about 5 months or so, burned about 30 cds and never had a coaster! It does a great job, and the price is really good too ($169 for an oem drive on pricewatch).

[JW310]

Petros,
Thanks for that info! Now I know what to expect from my Yamaha 6416 drive, once I get it installed! I payed $188 for it, after a $10 coupon from buy.com and before shipping (that's for the retail package).

JW