Quiet DVD-ROM: Sony DDU-1621

RDaneel · Post by **RDaneel** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 5:56 am

Hey -

Because this issue has been raised a number of times, I want to report on my HTPC experience with my new DVD-ROM drive. I wanted a drive that is fairly quiet and colored black, and the Sony seemed to fit the bill. I have heard the Toshiba drives recommended frequently, and the Lite-Ons bashed, but not as much information exists on the Sony.

In short: great drive! While playing a DVD in TheaterTek it is virtually silent, and this is with no acoustic management software or having to use something like Nero to slow the drive down. Pretty cool. For high speed data transfer the drive is still quieter than my old Lite-On 12X DVD-ROM, but has a typical amount of "whooshing" noise.

All in all, I am quite happy with the drive. It was $42 at googlegear. Newegg stocks the DDU-1612 model, which might perform differently (doubt it, though), for a few dollars less.

Thanks to SPCR for all the help designing my new system!

Cheers,
RDaneel

Herb W. · Post by **Herb W.** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 10:56 am

Thanks for the tip, just shopping now for a silent DVD drive - and I am looking for a black fascia too (to match a Sonata case)....

Shuriken · Post by **Shuriken** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:01 am

I cannot agree more with you.

I bought a black Sony DDU-1621 2 month back. And i am really pleased with it. You can hardly hear it. I had to check to see that i was actually working

So anyone looking for a new DVD drive, you cannot go wrong with this baby!

lucienrau · Post by **lucienrau** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:28 am

I have the same drive and it's pretty good. The only complaint I have about it is that it takes forever to spin down.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:53 am

I tested more than 10 drives a year ago and DDU-1621 was the least noisy of all dvd-rom drives I tested. Digit-Life concluded the same in their tests.

However, there is a catch.

DDU-1621 cannot do any kind of dvd disc error correction.

If you get a bad pressing or a scratched disc, this drive will skip easily or even jam.

This finding has been confirmed by me (two DDU-1621 drives), my friend and the German PC Professionel magazine.

Other than that, it's a great drive and I really like it for DAE as well.

regards,
Halcyon

POLIST8 · Post by **POLIST8** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 12:01 pm

I love my LiteOns. Reliable, fast and the DVD ROM is about 1.5 inches shorter than your averave ROM drive, making it wonderful to install with motherboards with capacitors on the outer edge of the PCB.

pingu666 · Post by **pingu666** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 2:06 pm

im lookin forward to me combo drive, found out a cd i did for a m8 was screwed so its gotta be replaced.
can have a dvd in me amd rig tho, which will be nice:)

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Thu Jul 17, 2003 12:12 am

I have to give a warning to silent enthusiasta about LiteOn :)

They are perhaps the nosiest drives out there compared to the competition (yes, there are other very noisy models as well).

The least noisy drives usually come from LG and Samsung, although other manufacturers also succeed in making drives that are very decent in their noise output (i.e. Plextor Premium).

However all LiteOn DVD and CDRW drives I've tried are incredibly noisy by silent PC standards and among the noisiest drives out there.

Yes, I like them due to other things (6S series has good media compatibility), but they are very noisy.

regards,
Halcyon

Schroinx · Post by **Schroinx** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 12:50 am

Thx for the info, since I'm also shopping for a new DVD drive. So far I have had the Pioneer 105 slot, and it's pretty noisy and cannot be slowed down with software, althou later models from Pioneer can. Because I use it for a HTPC I choose to get a new one, with CD-RW. The Plextor Combo CD/RW+DVD is a good choise. When burning and data reading it can be noisy, but not as bad as the beforementioned Pioneer. During DVD or SVCD playback, the drive is way better. When playing CD's you can adjust the speed of the drive from the plextor software, making it almost silent. Playing DVDs it's bot possible, but the drive does not make much noise so it does not matter much.

My 5 cents...

BadReligionPR · Post by **BadReligionPR** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 3:52 pm

The DDU-1621 is supposed to be based on a BTC drive, though it looks the spitting image of a Lite-On (which previous Sony DVD drives were based on, and their CDRW drives still are). I would assume it's based on this BTC drive:

* Good vibration resistance
* Low operation noise

Lite-On 165H is extremely quiet though...don't know what you guys are going on about.....

nan0dog · Post by **nan0dog** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 3:28 am

What is the Sony like using cd's NOT DVD's. I had a Pioneer, LG, and now Samsung. The Samsung is by far the quietest playing DVD's but CD's are still quite noisy. I suppose it is just the difference in speed but
I have a plextor burner in work and it is virtually Silent reading/buring cd's.

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 2:36 pm

nan0dog wrote:What is the Sony like using cd's NOT DVD's. I had a Pioneer, LG, and now Samsung. The Samsung is by far the quietest playing DVD's but CD's are still quite noisy. I suppose it is just the difference in speed but
I have a plextor burner in work and it is virtually Silent reading/buring cd's.

Which LG and Samsung drives were they please?