detail information

As mentioned before the VisionTek Xtasy 48X can write discs at an amazingly high speed of 48x max. What does this mean in real terms? Is this really a lot faster than let's say 40x Z-CLV? Let's find out! To test the write speeds of the VisionTek drive we set-up a basic write process using the latest Nero Burning Rom version 5.5.8.2. We used the DAO (Disc At Once) method for writing the disc. The disc was finalized and set-up as a non-multisession disc. In the screenshot below you can see the burn process completed successfully

The disc was written without problems in only 2 minutes and 39 seconds!. To test the created disc we fired up Nero CD Speed, inserted the back-up disc in the VisionTek drive and started a normal 'Transfer Rate Test' to see if the disc had been written without any errors. In the screenshot below you can see the disc is read without any problems:

The VisionTek Xtasy 48X / Lite-On LTR-48125W had no problems going faster than 48x and even reached a top reading speed of 49.24x.

Comparing:

Next we did some more tests comparing the VisionTek drive to some of our previous reviews. As a comparison we've added write times of both Z-CLV and P-CAV writers. We also added the write times of a Lite-On LTR-48125W (the same drive as the VisionTek Xtasy 48X) but now with firmware VS02. This firmware is older than the version we're using (VS06) but it does have faster write times since with this firmware the drive starts writing at a higher speed:

The VisionTek Xtasy 48X performs very well and as you can see from the table is the fastest drive around. It is however beaten by the same drive, the Lite-On LTR-48125W but now with firmware VS02 instead of version VS06 we're using. Nevertheless the drive is very fast and beats the other drives with ease. As you can also see from the table the drives using the P-CAV write method are a lot faster than drives using the Z-CLV write method.

Conclusion:

So what can we conclude from all of the achieved results? Well the VisionTek Xtasy 48X drive (or we should say Lite-On LTR-48125W) is the fastest writer available today. It beats the fastest Z-CLV writer, the TEAC CD-W540E, with ease and you can clearly see from the write times table that P-CAV is the way to go when achieving faster write times. Compare for instance the Lite-On LTR-40125S with firmware ZS0A (Z-CLV) to the same drive but now with firmware FW ZS0J (P-CAV). The difference in write times is sometimes 18 seconds (700MB disc @ 40x)!

When writing audio the VisionTek Xtasy 48X has no special features like Plextor offers with its 'VariRec' technology or Yamaha with its 'Audio Master Quality Recording'. The VisionTek will just write audio at the same speed as it does data. Of course the quality of the produced disc partially depends on the media you used. When you use proper/certified media you can write audio at full speed without problems. The only problem is that 48x media isn't widely available yet..

Now that we've finished our normal read and write tests, it's time to test the drive for its ability to read copy-protections.