For these tests we will use Nero CD-Speed to read various CD’s and DVD’s, including audio discs and DVD-media. As already mentioned in the introduction, this drive supports:

DVD-ROM 16x
CD-ROM 48x

Pressed discs:

For this test we used a pressed CD-ROM disc containing the Roxio Media Creator 7.5 install CD that is close to 75 minutes in length. Below you will see the produced result:

The Lite-On iHAS324 reached 47.06x read speed. Let’s compare it with some other drives below.

Pressed Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
NEC ND-4551A	34.71x	20.01x	45.97x	135ms	145ms	222ms
Philips DVDR1660	35.70x	20.13x	47.29x	106ms	124ms	176ms
Samsung SE-S184M	36.25x	17.36x	48.08x	109ms	115ms	187ms
Pioneer DRV-112	31.25x	18.12x	41.36x	105ms	122ms	198ms
Samsung SH-S203B	35.68x	20.49x	47.24x	100ms	106ms	180ms
HP DVD-1035i	35.85x	21.06x	47.46x	100ms	107ms	162ms
Lite-On LH-20A1L	35.80x	20.67x	47.40x	101ms	110ms	167ms
Pioneer DVR-115D	31.16x	18.21x	40.97x	110ms	126ms	202ms
Optiarc AD-7200A	34.48x	20.16x	45.38x	142ms	167ms	240ms
Pioneer DVR-215	31.11x	18.21x	41.01x	112ms	127ms	203ms
Samsung SH-S223F	35.69x	20.47x	47.24x	92ms	94ms	169ms
Pioneer DVR-116DBK	31.70x	18.26x	41.99x	111ms	135ms	207ms
Lite-On iHAS422	35.55x	20.52x	47.05x	103ms	125ms	192ms
Optiarc AD-7240S	35.19x	20.13x	46.61x	149ms	171ms	256ms
Lite-ON iHAS324	35.55x	20.59x	47.08x	106ms	119ms	178ms

The Lite-On iHAS324 was one of the fastest drives when reading our test CD-ROM media.

CD Recordable discs:

For this test we made a copy of the original Roxio Media Creator 7.5 install CD. The disc we used was a Ricoh 52X certified CD-R disc manufactured by Moser Baer India.

The Lite-On iHAS324 reached 47.38x read speed. Let’s compare it with some other drives below.

CD-R Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
NEC ND-4551A	35.53x	20.67x	46.77x	187ms	146ms	218ms
Philips DVDR1660	36.54x	20.94x	48.27x	104ms	113ms	169ms
Samsung SE-S184M	30.84x	16.51x	40.73x	105ms	108ms	178ms
Pioneer DVR-112	31.95x	18.38x	41.36x	116ms	132ms	199ms
Samsung SH-S203B	30.69x	17.80x	40.50x	98ms	100ms	168ms
HP DVD-1035i	36.20x	21.10x	47.78x	98ms	107ms	157ms
Lite-On LH-20A1L	36.15x	21.14x	47.71x	99ms	109ms	161ms
Pioneer DVR-115D	30.79x	18.27x	40.33x	123ms	138ms	211ms
Optiarc AD-7200A	34.81x	20.61x	45.71x	156ms	161ms	228ms
Pioneer DVR-215	30.77x	18.23x	40.44x	121ms	134ms	215ms
Samsung SH-S223F	30.70x	17.88x	40.52x	86ms	90ms	160ms
Pioneer DVR-116DBK	31.38x	18.30x	41.40x	117ms	134ms	201ms
Lite-On iHAS422	35.89x	21.01x	47.38x	117ms	126ms	191ms
Optiarc AD-7240S	36.41x	20.64x	48.00x	161ms	183ms	260ms
Lite-On iHAS324	35.98x	21.01x	47.38x	104ms	117ms	161ms

The Lite-On iHAS324 was among the fastest drives in terms of speed with our CD-R test disc.

CD Re-writable discs:

Again, we made a copy of the original Roxio Media Creator 7.5 install CD; this time we used a Verbatim Ultra Speed (32X) CD-RW disc made by Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation.

The Lite-On iHAS324 reached 39.83x read speed. Let’s compare it with some other drives below.

CD-RW Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
NEC ND-4551A	30.63x	17.94x	40.08x	171ms	166ms	317ms
Philips DVDR1660	30.75x	17.67x	40.55x	106ms	115ms	170ms
Samsung SE-S184M	31.17x	16.75x	41.15x	102ms	107ms	176ms
Pioneer DVR-112	24.96x	14.61x	32.94x	117ms	131ms	205ms
Samsung SH-S203B	31.03x	18.06x	40.92x	98ms	104ms	166ms
HP DVD-1035i	25.92x	15.35x	34.22x	109ms	125ms	201ms
Lite-On LH-20A1L	25.00x	15.33x	34.13x	110ms	124ms	200ms
Pioneer DVR-115D	24.57x	14.61x	32.39x	123ms	148ms	213ms
Optiarc AD-7200A	30.31x	18.02x	38.90x	144ms	153ms	237ms
Pioneer DVR-215	24.56x	14.59x	32.40x	126ms	144ms	222ms
Samsung SH-S223F	31.04x	18.14x	40.93x	86ms	88ms	159ms
Pioneer DVR-116DBK	24.99x	14,38x	32.95x	120ms	135ms	198ms
Lite-On iHAS422	30.41x	17.89x	40.11x	112ms	122ms	185ms
Optiarc AD-7240S	31.34x	17.86x	40.00x	160ms	180ms	266ms
Lite-On iHAS324	30.21x	17.63x	39.83x	99ms	121ms	178ms

The Lite-On iHAS324 about average when reading CD-RW media.

100 minute CD-R:

The Lite-On iHAS324 had no problems reading our 100 minute test CD-R.

Audio – Digital Audio Extraction:

To test the digital audio extraction performance of the Lite-On iHAS324, again we used Nero CD-Speed to measure the transfer rate. The audio disc we used is slightly larger than the disc used for the other tests, to be exact it’s nearly 79 minutes in length (78:53:31).

The Lite-On iHAS324 reached 48.58x when reading our test audio disc. Let’s compare it with some drives below.

Audio Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
NEC ND-4551A	31.30x	17.89x	40.13x	122ms	142ms	222ms
Philips DVDR1660	37.42x	20.09x	49.65x	107ms	125ms	173ms
Samsung SE-S184M	31.46x	17.67x	41.77x	111ms	128ms	192ms
Pioneer DVR-112	31.61X	19.04X	42.44X	132ms	152ms	223ms
Samsung SH-S203B	31.33x	17.71x	41.54x	89ms	106ms	179ms
HP DVD-1035i	36.96x	21.11x	49.03x	95ms	105ms	158ms
Lite-On LH-20A1L	36.90x	21.26x	48.89x	97ms	106ms	160ms
Pioneer DVR-115D	30.24x	18.64x	39.53x	138ms	165ms	236ms
Optiarc AD-7200A	31.27x	17.82x	40.03x	149ms	173ms	246ms
Pioneer DVR-215	29.85x	18.45x	39.41x	139ms	161ms	235ms
Samsung SH-S223F	31.22x	17.67x	41.39x	80ms	92ms	163ms
Pioneer DVR-116DBK	31.46x	18.92x	42,20x	137ms	160ms	229ms
Lite-On iHAS422	36.51x	20.60x	48.41x	112ms	130ms	198ms
Optiarc AD-7240S	31.29x	17.81x	41.48x	152ms	172ms	249ms
Lite-On iHAS324	36.64x	20.73x	48.59x	100ms	124ms	174ms

The Lite-On iHAS324 was one of the fastest drives when reading our test Audio CD.

Advanced audio – DAE quality test:

Before we move on to testing DVD read speeds, we will take a last audio test, and this time we used the “Advanced DAE Quality Test” feature in CD-Speed. For this test we used a CD-R media from RICOH (Thanks to RICOH Europe (BV) for sending us this media).

The extraction quality is excellent and, the Lite-On iHAS324 proved to be a fast audio extracting drive..

DVD reading performance:

Again, we will use Nero CD-Speed to measure the reading performance, this time for various types of DVD discs. The drive should read pressed single layer DVD-discs at 16X.

Pressed DVD Video:

For our DVD reading performance tests we are going to start with Single and Double Layered DVD video discs. While only 1X speed is required to watch DVD movies, it’s useful to be able to read the discs at higher speeds if you’re going to extract (rip) the content of the disc to your hard drive.

DVD Video (single layer)

DVD Video (double layer OTP)

DVD Video (double layer PTP)

The Lite-On iHAS324 is not riplocked and read our single layer disc at 16x and our double layer test discs at 12x

DVD Video	Average Read Speed (SL)	Start Read Speed (SL)	End Read Speed (SL)	Average Read Speed (DL)	Start Read Speed (DL)	End Read Speed (DL)
NEC ND-4551A	11.83x	6.56x	15.77x	8.89x	4.94x	11.82x
Philips DVDR1660	12.00x	6.64x	15.99x	9.05x	5.00x	12.04x
Samsung SE-S184M	12.22x	6.75x	16.29x	6.38x	3.61x	8.29x
Pioneer DVR-112	11.99x	6.74x	16.03x	9.36x	5.31x	12.44x
Samsung SH-S203B	12.14x	6.82x	16.20x	9.10x	5.15x	12.09x
HP DVD-1035i	12.19x	6.78x	16.27x	9.11x	5.12x	12.11x
Lite-On LH-20A1L	12.11x	6.76x	16.24x	9.09x	5.11x	12.08x
Pioneer DVR-115D	11.82x	6.71x	15.79x	9.31x	5.30x	12.36x
Optiarc AD-7200A	11.85x	6.71x	15.74x	8.74x	4.96x	11.63x
Pioneer DVR-215	11.79x	6.71x	15.81x	9.31x	5.30x	12.36x
Samsung SH-S223F	12.14x	6.80x	16.21x	9.08x	5.13x	12.07x
Pioneer DVR-116DBK	12.03x	6.73x	16.01x	9.36x	5.31x	12.45x
Lite-On iHAS422	12.15x	6.84x	16.21x	9.09x	5.15x	12.09x
Optiarc AD-7240S	11.85x	6.63x	15.78x	8.77x	4.93x	11.65x
Lite-On iHAS324	12.11x	6.75x	16.15x	9.07x	5.12x	12.06x

The Lite-On iHAS324 was about average when reading our test DVD-Video test discs.

DVD – DVD+R/RW:

For this test we used a Verbatim 16X DVD+R and a RICOH 8X DVD+RW with about 4.4GB of data. Below are the results:

DVD+R

DVD+RW

DVD+R DVD+RW	Average Read Speed (+R)	Start Read Speed (+R)	End Read Speed (+R)	Average Read Speed (+RW)	Start Read Speed (+RW)	End Read Speed (+RW)
NEC ND-4551A	11.95x	6.59x	15.98x	9.79x	5.37x	13.08x
Philips DVDR1660	9.38x	5.13x	12.53x	9.38x	5.13x	12.54x
Samsung SE-S184M	9.12x	5.00x	12.06x	6.23x	3.43x	8.33x
Pioneer DVR-112	9.36x	5.19x	12.23x	6.25x	3.47x	8.35x
Samsung SH-S203B	12.17x	6.71x	16.28x	9.04x	4.99x	12.08x
HP DVD-1035i	12.23x	6.74x	16.36x	9.26x	5.14x	12.38x
Lite-On LH-20A1L	12.18x	6.75x	16.31x	9.25x	5.13x	12.35x
Pioneer DVR-115D	11.81x	6.65x	15.85x	9.94x	5.63x	13.32x
Optiarc AD-7200A	11.84x	6.62x	15.79x	9.64x	5.41x	12.81x
Pioneer DVR-215	11.77x	6.61x	15.45x	9.92x	5.64x	13.22x
Samsung SH-S223F	12.17x	6.71x	16.20x	9.18x	5.06x	12.28x
Pioneer DVR-116DBK	12.05x	6.66x	16.15x	10.15x	5.68x	13.57x
Lite-On iHAS422	12.16x	6.74x	16.27x	9.05x	5.05x	12.10x
Optiarc AD-7240S	12.09x	6.63x	16.17x	9.77x	5.36x	13.06x
Lite-On iHAS324	12.16x	6.72x	16.26x	9.03x	4.99x	12.07x

The Lite-On iHAS324 was well above average when reading our test DVD+R media and about average when reading our test DVD+RW media.

DVD – DVD-R/RW:

For this test we used a Verbatim 16X DVD-R disc and a Verbatim 6X DVD-RW disc filled with about 4.4GB of data. Our test results are found below:

DVD-R

DVD-RW

There are hardly any differences in the speed, compared to reading the DVD+R/RW discs.

DVD-R DVD-RW	Average Read Speed (-R)	Start Read Speed (-R)	End Read Speed (-R)	Average Read Speed (-RW)	Start Read Speed (-RW)	End Read Speed (-RW)
NEC ND-4551A	11.98x	6.56x	15.98x	9.78x	5.37x	13.07x
Philips DVDR1660	9.37x	5.13x	12.53x	9.38x	5.13x	12.53x
Samsung SE-S184M	9.14x	5.03x	12.21x	6.24x	3.44x	8.34x
Pioneer DVR-112	9.36x	5.18x	12.52x	6.23x	3.46x	8.33x
Samsung SH-S203B	12.16x	6.72x	16.26x	9.03x	4.99x	12.07x
HP DVD-1035i	12.21x	6.75x	16.34x	9.23x	5.08x	12.35x
Lite-On LH-20A1L	12.19x	6.68x	16.30x	9.23x	5.12x	12.34x
Pioneer DVR-115D	11.81x	6.67x	15.69x	9.91x	5.60x	13.22x
Optiarc AD-7200A	11.86x	6.65x	15.80x	9.62x	5.39x	12.88x
Pioneer DVR-215	11.76x	6.68x	15.76x	9.91x	5.61x	13.32x
Samsung SH-S223F	12.15x	6.67x	16.26x	9.17x	5.07x	12.26x
Pioneer DVR-116DBK	12.04x	6.71x	16.11x	10.13x	5.63x	13.52x
Lite-On iHAS422	12.15x	6.74x	16.23x	9.03x	5.00x	12.07x
Optiarc AD-7240S	12.05x	6.59x	16.13x	9.77x	5.36x	13.05x
Lite-On iHAS324	12.12x	6.65x	16.22x	9.01x	4.97x	12.03x