Subject: REVIEW: Pioneer DR-U10X CD-ROM drive unit
From: [email-masked] (Pascal Eeftinck)
Date: 12 Dec 1996 22:53:52 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME

	Pioneer DR-U10X CD-ROM drive unit

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	A 10-speed, internal SCSI-2 compliant CD-ROM unit.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		Pioneer Electronics Service, Inc.
	Address:	Customer Support Division
			P.O. Box 1760
			Long Beach
			CA 90801-1760
			USA

COMPONENTS SUPPLIED

	Pioneer DR-U10X internal CD-ROM unit
	Software device drive disk (for MS-DOS/Windows 3.xx)
	Audio cable (supposed to go to a soundcard)
	Short-circuit sockets (jumpers, 4 pieces)
	Mounting screws (4 pieces)
	Installation instructions
	Operating instructions
	Correction to the Operating Instructions

LIST PRICE

	Unknown. I purchased it at a sale for dfl. 420, which roughly
	amounts to $250 (US).

DEMO VERSION

	None.

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	HARDWARE

	         SCSI controller required

	SOFTWARE

	         A CD-ROM filesystem. The CDFileSystem as shipped with
	         AmigaDOS 3.x will work, but others are available from
	         various sources.

COPY PROTECTION

	None.

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	Amiga 500+, CSA Derringer 68030/25 + 68882/25
	16MB 32-bit RAM, 4MB 16-bit RAM, 2MB Chip RAM
	GVP A500HD8+ Series-II SCSI controller  (gvpscsi.device 3.15),
	  Quantum Fireball 2GB, Quantum ProDrive LPS240S,
	  Iomega ZIP drive
	AmigaDOS 3.1 (Kickstart 40.63, Workbench 40.42)

INSTALLATION

	  This is an internal device which has to be connected to your
	SCSI bus with a 50-pin flatcable. It also needs power from a
	`PC standard' power supply, and PC-users can connect the drive
	to their soundcard. The operating instructions explain the
	installation well, even though it is directed towards PC and
	Macintosh usage. Hardware configuration is simple, but the
	jumpers at the back of the drive are small and a bit hard to
	get out.

	  The Amiga needs some software to be able to talk to the drive
	and the software supplied with the drive is usable with PC's
	only. Users of AmigaDOS 3.x have the CDFileSystem in their L:
	directory, but other (better) filesystems such as AsimCDFS
	and AmiCDFS are available. The operating instructions mentions
	the following formats to be supported by the drive:
	  Red Book (CD Audio (CDDA)),
	  Yellow Book (ISO 9660, High Sierra, Rock Ridge, CD-ROM XA
	    (Mode 2, Form 1 and 2))
	  Orange Book (CD-Recordable)
	ISO 9660 is supported by the CDFileSystem which comes with
	AmigaDOS 3.x, High Sierra and Rock Ridge might be supported
	as well (I'm not sure). The others are not as far as I know,
	so a filesystem other than the CDFileSystem which comes with
	the operating system is highly recommended.

HOOKING UP THE DRIVE

	  In my Amiga there is not enough room to house all the
	hardware, I have a 1 meter flatcable leading from my
	controller to an external case (an old PC) which serves as
	the power supply and housing for my SCSI drives.
	  In my setup the ZIP drive is at one end of the SCSI chain and
	has the termination enabled, and at the other end is the CD-ROM
	drive for which I had to remove a jumper to enable termination.
	I set the SCSI ID at 4 for the CD-ROM drive with the supplied
	jumpers and plugged in a cable from the power supply to the
	CD-ROM drive. The audio cable can't be used, but perhaps it's
	possible to feed the signal to an amplifier. After installing
	the drive, the system booted without a hitch.

	  From other sources I've read that it's wise to put the
	CD-ROM drive at an ID higher than any of your harddisks, or
	the booting will stop for a while since the drive has to be
	polled. My ZIP drive is at ID 6, the CD at 4 and the two
	harddisks at 0 and 1. I haven't had this same problem with
	my setup.

	  As for the software side of things, a CD-ROM filesystem has
	to be mounted. Users of Workbench 3.0 and up have this already
	through SYS:Storage/CD0. All it took was setting gvpscsi.device
	and unit 4 in the icon information. Then after double-clicking
	the CD0 icon any CD popped into the drive will be recognized.
	I had the problem that I couldn't eject the disc anymore after
	mounting it, so I went to look for another filesystem. On one
	of my CD's I found AmiCDFS 2.37 which is uncrippled shareware.
	After copying a few files to install AmiCDFS my discs can be
	ejected again. The SCSI-activity LED on my controller keeps
	flickering every few seconds since it is polling the drive to
	see if a disc has been inserted, but I don't consider that a
	problem.

	  I have tried booting off a CD-ROM, but so far have been
	unable to. I think that it is impossible, since no filesystem
	is present at boottime. But anyone who has more information on
	this subject, please feel free to write me.

THE PERFORMANCE

	  I haven't done any benchmarks with this drive as my system
	isn't really suitable. With the Derringer turboboard the SCSI
	bus has become slow at 900KB/sec. Yet, from working with the
	drive I've noticed it is about as fast as my harddrives, and
	works like a charm. According to the documentation the drive
	is capable of transfering up to 1514KB/sec (10x speed) at the
	outer circumference and 652KB/sec (4.3x speed) at the inner
	circumference. However, there is also a combination mode which
	increases the rotational speed at the inner circumference,
	thereby obtaining 1215KB/sec (8x speed). This combinational
	mode is enabled by default and hasn't given me any problems.

AUDIO (CDDA) FUNCTIONALITY

	  One of the things I've always wanted to be able to do is
	control the playing of CDs through software. A little hunt on
	AmiNet brought me to OptyCDPlayer, a MUI program. This program
	really works well with this drive. Inserting a CDDA (Audio) CD
	will show the tracks and title of the CD if known already, and
	the play and other control functions are responsive. The sound
	through my headphones is good, and the volume can be controlled
	by both a knob on the front of the drive and through software.

	  OptyCDPlayer also allows one to take the audio from the CD
	straight into the computer, if the CD-ROM drive supports it.
	The Pioneer DR-U10X is supported in the SONY/APPLE mode. I took
	a few perfect samples quickly off the audio CDs. The drive is
	resonating quite a bit when performing this reading, but that's
	the only problem I've encountered with it.

READING KODAK PHOTO CDs

	  I haven't been able to test this functionality since I don't
	have any Photo-CDs and I also lack the software for reading
	them. Perhaps needless to say that I wouldn't expect any
	problems in that area with this drive.

DOCUMENTATION

	  The operating instructions are clear and complete, and come
	in English, French, German and Japanese. The English part covers
	21 pages, and I think that nobody will have any problems with
	it. The installation instructions (for Macintosh and Windows)
	come in English and Japanese, but this booklet is probably
	useless to those who use the drive on an Amiga. I haven't read
	it myself.

	  There is no Amiga specific information included with the
	documentation.

LIKES

	  The Pioneer DR-U10X CD-ROM unit performs very well for me.
	It's fast, was not very expensive and is reliable. I have not
	seen any problem with it so far, with a variety of Amiga CD's
	like AmiNet 13 and 14, the Amiga Developer CD v1.1, the Eric
	Schwartz CD Archive and CU Amiga Magazine Super CD-ROMs 4&5.
	I have also succesfully read the files off a PC oriented CD.

	  The audio performance is also very good: one of my audio
	CD's is very scratched - where my normal Pioneer PD-T305 CD
	player skips hence and forth at those scratches the CD-ROM
	drive continues to play albeit with a distored sound. It never
	skipped to another location and never went into a loop playing
	the same sound over and over unlike my normal CD player.

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

	  There's really not much I don't like about this drive. It
	is a pity the audio cable can't be used to get the audio fed
	into the Amiga, but that's probably a problem with all other
	CD-ROM drives which can be hooked up to the Amiga.

	  For me it was no problem that there are no Amiga specific
	instructions and there is no Amiga software included. With
	OS 3.x and a SCSI controller getting the drive the drive to
	work is simple, and obtaining a better CD-ROM filesystem
	shouldn't be too much of a problem. People without OS 3.x
	will have to get a filesystem first.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	  I've never had the pleasure of working with a CD-ROM drive
	for real before, so I can't really comment on it. I did browse
	a CD with pictures on a PC with 4x CD-ROM drive before, and
	this drive is a lot faster than that one.

BUGS

	  The only bugs I've found are probably software related,
	OptyCDPlayer looses track of where an audio CD is playing after
	a while (exiting and restarting the program fixes that) and
	the inability to eject a CD after it's been mounted with the
	AmigaDOS 3.x supplied CDFileSystem.

VENDOR SUPPORT

	  I haven't seen the need to contact Pioneer for support. But
	they have various support sites listed in the manual.

WARRANTY

	  I have one year of warranty through the retailer, which is
	also the warranty given by Pioneer.

CONCLUSIONS

	  This drive performs well, as well as I expected it would
	before I bought it at the fair. It's not expensive, reliable,
	and I'm glad I waited so long in buying a CD-ROM drive since
	I'm now not stuck with a bad and cheap drive but with a fast
	and solid product.

	  If you have a SCSI controller and no CD-ROM drive yet and you
	have the room to fit an internal CD-ROM drive, I can absolutely
	recommend the Pioneer DR-U10X. On a scale from one to five, I
	give this drive an absolute five.

	  The lack of Amiga specific instructions and software is a
	minus, but not one I take highly. Anyone with a connection to
	the Internet or a BBS shouldn't have any problems obtaining a
	decent CD filesystem, and even without that there are many PD
	libraries who can supply it at a low price.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 1996 Pascal Eeftinck <[email-masked]>

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