NEC multispin question.

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pre65
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#1 NEC multispin question.

Post by pre65 »

My NEC multispin CD rom reader (CDR-602) which I use as my CD player has phono outs (L & R) and digital out.

It also has two other connectors, SCSI I/O BUS A & B.

If I were to use this machine to read CD's using EAC would the SCSI connection be preferrable ?

Or should I use the digital out via my DAC to the soundcard input

Or just use the CD rom drive in my computer (as opposed to the DVD rom drive) ?

There are a few of us to whom this computer audio stuff is a bit daunting. :wink:

I will add that I have used the CD rom in the computer and EAC to copy CD's and have got that part of the process learned, thanks to the EAC instruction sheet that Chris sent me. :lol:
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#2

Post by Neal »

Phil, ripping or DAE is performed over the I/O bus, in your case the SCSI bus (how old is that drive BTW!) So EAC will rip using this.

This is way more preferable than playing the CD.....

If you play a CD then then the audio analogue L and R are used along with the SPDIF output, not the I/O bus....
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#3

Post by Nick »

Its very very old Neal, I have the model before it on my desk :-)

To do what Neil suggests Phil you will need a SCSI interface for your PC, and I think you may have to search for a interface cable that matches that drive. Its narrow SCSI with a centronics connector.

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#4

Post by Neal »

Good grief! That takes me back....at least the connector is not the old 25pin cable that Apple used to use, caused me no end of problems as there wasn't enough pins for all the earths....
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#5

Post by pre65 »

I purchased two a year or so ago and they were new old stock !

Some details

http://positive-feedback.com/Issue3/cdrom.htm
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#6

Post by Nick »

Woops, that shows I should check before posting, the connectors on the back of that are not centronics but the latter ones the likes of HP and DEC used. I think it was SCSI-2
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#7

Post by Neal »

Yep SCSI-2

I had a couple of those drives, used to use them back in the 90's...binned them some time ago, just last week while clearing out the garage I found a whole bunch of SCSI cables and terminators etc all went to the local tip!
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#8

Post by andrew Ivimey »

SCSI2 eh! I bet I still have some terminators somewhere. I used them for Roland and Kurzweil samplers. I think Akai all started it in keyboards and midi music!
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#9

Post by pre65 »

Incidentally, why the comments about the age of my NEC drives ?

We seem to be very keen on OLD valves and OLD record decks so why not OLDish (and very well built) CD roms ? :?
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#10

Post by Neal »

For the sames reasons we no longer use Windows 98 or 330MHz processors anymore. ;)
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#11

Post by pre65 »

Neal wrote:For the sames reasons we no longer use Windows 98 or 330MHz processors anymore. ;)
So, are you suggesting that they no longer do the job that they were designed to do ? (ie accurately read what is on a CD) :wink:

Thats like saying transistors are better than valves because "the world has moved on" and everyone uses transistors (or IC's) these days. :?
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#12

Post by Neal »

No and no it's not, I'm fairly sure they still meet their design specifications :) however, there are faster and more featured drives available today IE ones that can rip faster, record CD and DVD and have a more developed firmware etc.

Incidentally, I didn't mention anywhere that your choice of drive was in any way a negative thing Phil, if you are happy with the drives then that's great, continue to enjoy them!
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#13

Post by pre65 »

Neal wrote:No and no it's not, I'm fairly sure they still meet their design specifications :) however, there are faster and more featured drives available today IE ones that can rip faster, record CD and DVD and have a more developed firmware etc.
I appreciate those facts Neal. I was under the impression that for "quality" ripping a "slow" speed was preferable. In fact when I purchased a CD rom re writable drive for my computer I was dismayed to find the slowest one I could find was 8X.

And for use as a CD playback machine surely anything faster than 1X is unnecessary ?
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#14

Post by Nick »

I appreciate those facts Neal. I was under the impression that for "quality" ripping a "slow" speed was preferable. In fact when I purchased a CD rom re writable drive for my computer I was dismayed to find the slowest one I could find was 8X.
I think thats more a factor for writing. And remember we are talking about CD Rom use, as long as its reads the data correctly then the faster the better.

If coded to do so, a faster drive could read the audio fast enough to buffer all the CD so it could go back and retry any sections its was unsure about. Unlike CD Rom drives, most audio drives read in real time, but even at its most careful EAC will still read at faster than playback rate for all but the most damaged CDs.
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#15

Post by Ray P »

Phil, I would have hated to rip my CD collection in realtime, i.e. 1X. I was able to rip some of mine at 25X, and rarely less than 6X, and still get an accurate (secure) rip with dbpoweramp. I managed to track down and buy the TEAC drive that is recommended on the dbpoweramp site. Ripping disks with errors can hammer the drive so I reserve it for ripping and use the drive integrated in my laptop for everything else.

Ray
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