I have to get a new optical drive. What do you guys recommend to get so I can as perfectly as possible dump all data off of the ps1/ps2 discs? Is it generally a good idea to get a cd-rom and dvd-rom drive or burner or will a dvd drive be fine dumping cds? I have read sites like cdfreaks and such but I get confused on what's the best drive to dump the data I am dumping.

I would like to get a drive if possible to as perfectly dump sega cd, sega saturn and playstation 1 and 2.

Thanks for any help

Three years and still going strong.

Plextor drives are very reliable, for instance the 760a.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have looked into the drive and it looks good but the price I will have to save up for it.

Three years and still going strong.

I have 6 drives. Drives whit big positive displacement(offset) are necessary to do copies from CD with displacement in-647. Drives with displacement close to zero, or with negative displacement are sometimes useful to correct copying last audiotrack. Not write CD drives will badly join with CDRWin and EAC. For example, they give the incorrect information about gaps between audiotracks. DVD-RW drives often have the minimal speed of reading of CD 4x. It is bad for "bad" disks, with scratchs, for example. For bad disks it is better to use drives with the minimal speed of reading of CD 1x. Sometimes the drive cannot  look data in pregap, means not probably to calculate offset of a disk.
My drives:
Sony DVD / CD-RW Combo CRX300 KYS2 - The Best ! Offset +6(EAC). No problem whit bad audio and bad data tracks. CD speed 1x min.
NEC DVD-RW ND-3540A - No Good for bad audio and data tracks. Offset +48(EAC). CD speed 4x min.
AOpen  DVD / CD-RW Combo COM5232-AAH PRO Offset +748(EAC). Best dumping of very bad data tracks. But not precisely copies audio tracks. This drive cannot  look data in pregap sad. So with its help I cannot look "garbage" in pregap. But I can correctly copy 1st audio a track on disks with known offest -647. CD speed min 1x.
NEC CD-3002A. CD speed min 1x. Offset +600(EAC). Good for data. Bad for audio. Is not able to define correctly gaps between audio tracks in EAC. Has got to me for $4. Its unique merit - has helped to calculate write offset in game Time Gal (Sega CD).
Sonu CDU 4800 - My first CD-ROM drive. Offset -1138(EAC) !!! Bad for all smile. Very seldom I use it for copying last audio  track.
As you had time to notice, correctly calculate write offset at disks with offset in-647 I cannot. There is no drive for this purpose smile

I'm sorry I don't understand fully. Does displacement mean the offset? The drive I have now is a LG DVD-ROM GDR8164b I can't get the offset with EAC as I don't have a music cd it can get it off of. Accuraterip gives it an offset of +102. Are we still supposed to -30 to it? If so it would be +72. I would not be able to rip the -542 and -617 correctly right? How would I know if I can copy the audio correctly? How would I know if my drive can copy the data track correctly  because it gives the same md5, etc. with each dump?

Three years and still going strong.

I would not be able to rip the -542 and -617 correctly right? --->
Correct smile
How would I know if I can copy the audio correctly? ---->
If to copy from two drives and to receive the identical checksums.
How would I know if my drive can copy the data track correctly  because it gives the same md5, etc. with each dump? ----->
It is usually enough to get 2 copies of data track and to compare checksums, received in the calculator.

pepsidrinker wrote:

I'm sorry I don't understand fully. Does displacement mean the offset? The drive I have now is a LG DVD-ROM GDR8164b I can't get the offset with EAC as I don't have a music cd it can get it off of. Accuraterip gives it an offset of +102. Are we still supposed to -30 to it? If so it would be +72. I would not be able to rip the -542 and -617 correctly right? How would I know if I can copy the audio correctly? How would I know if my drive can copy the data track correctly  because it gives the same md5, etc. with each dump?

Hi, I have a TSSTcorp TS-L632D, I dont have CD from the EAC internal DB, so I have to use the Accuraterip method gives me a offset of +6, so I enter -24 in the field, also with and LITE-ON SOHW-1633S my entered value is -18 because Accuraterip suggest me +12.
I dumped Grand Theft Auto - Greatest Hits (U) [SLUS-00106GH], and the data track checksum is the identical to http://psxdb.com/disc/523/, but the audio tracks are totally diferent, I checked with the two drives and the results were the same on both for the all the tracks (data and audio).
Could I consider this a good dump and submit it??

offset which needs to be inserted in EAC in case of with GTA:
[Write offset of SLUS-00106: +2 (EAC)] + [+6 (for TS-L632D)] or [+12 (for SOHW-1633S)] = +8 (for TS-L632D) or +14 (for SOHW-1633S).
Accuraterip offsets = EAC Offsets.

9 (edited by pnkiller78 2007-09-22 00:58:46)

p_star wrote:

offset which needs to be inserted in EAC in case of with GTA:
[Write offset of SLUS-00106: +2 (EAC)] + [+6 (for TS-L632D)] or [+12 (for SOHW-1633S)] = +8 (for TS-L632D) or +14 (for SOHW-1633S).
Accuraterip offsets = EAC Offsets.

Oh, I was confused, then I actually had a CD from the AccurateRip database, one from the KEY DISC section at http://www.accuraterip.com/keydiscs.htm, but not from the ones mentioned on http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/eac3.html.
Well, I'm a little bit confused here.. when you say

p_star wrote:

[Write offset of SLUS-00106: +2 (EAC)]

Where did this +2(EAC) come from? Is it the same for all Data/Audio discs? or is it specific to GTA.. How it can be calculated?

p_star wrote:

= +8 (for TS-L632D) or +14 (for SOHW-1633S).

So, this is the value that I should use?? Do I have to substract 30 to this value or leave alone when I try the dump??

Also, I got a problem, any of my two drives shows me data on the sector where the pregap on the second track should being... the two of them show me just zeroes....
I just bought an LG GDR-8164B, it has a bigger offset and it can be used for GC and Wii games.. hope it helps me out with this...
I got some games with audio tracks and I would like to contribute to the database....

I think pnkiller78 have already found answers to the questions as I see dumps with audio tracks in base smile

And nevertheless, it is better to take what optical drive, for the perfect dump audio and data tracks?

on a similar note, does anyone know of a good laptop DVD drive? A USB2 drive would also work...

I'd also prefer if I can hack the firmware to be RPC1, but it's not a requirement.

In my experience, all laptop drives I have tried sucks, at least for dumping CD, If I were you, I would get and external enclosure (firewire or USB interface) a put as many as I can desktop drives on it, connect it and have fun wink

I have reconsidered the attitude to Sony CDU 4800. It is an excellent drive smile As I have no drive which read in Lead Out - CDU 4800 with its huge negative offset this my rescue smile