Does a DVD Duplicator perform better with SATA drives as opposed to IDE (ATAPI)?

The simple answer is no.  There are very few advantages to a DVD Duplicator on a SATA bus.

SATA does not add any throughput speed to CD DVD recorders (or “burners”).  The only piece of hardware associated with a DVD Duplicator that takes advantage of SATA speed is the hard drive and that just does not matter ether: for a DVD duplicator

So why all the hype?

When CD Duplicators where first integrated the only bus that could support the drives was SCSI.  As technology developed and the DVD recorder was “born” the faster DVD drives (and CD) went to ATAPI or IDE (now called PATA). IDE has been the standard for many years with no “speed” issue.  The only bottleneck in speed is the media, not the drive (witness the ever increasing speed of drives vs. media which will not follow the path).  Recordable CD and DVD media can disintegrate at high speeds so there is a limit to how fast it can spin.  End of story.

The hype is actually around the hard drive and it’s technology changing from a strictly IDE bus to a SATA bus in a computer motherboard.  SATA is much faster in this configuration and certainly will be the dominate technology as far as hard drives go.  Also with the introduction of recordable Blu-ray drives SATA does increase throughput which the format requires.  As for DVD duplicators it does not add any speed and it costs more money.  Because of economy of scale the IDE versions will be phased out and the consumer will be forced to pay more for the same thing.

The only real advantage of SATA over IDE in a duplicator is the size of the cable (or width) IDE cables are flat and wide, SATA is thick and round.  Air flows better around a SATA cable then it does with a IDE cable.  So if the unit is assembled in a haphazard way in which the cabling blocks air flow then the unit will fail (or the drives will burn up from heat buildup). Of course this is all avoided with a effective cooling system that most high grade duplicators have (both IDE and SATA) so it’s not a real issue.  The cable is not going to make the difference between the unit being sufficiently cooled vs. the fans (and lots of them).  The consumer should be asking how many fans does the unit have (and power supply fan does not count) and not get caught up in the hype.  IDE or ATAPI is still less expensive to produce and thus demands a lower price then a SATA system.  SATA is new but it’s not “better” then ATAPI as far as CD and DVD duplicators go.  As to thinking it provides a upgrade path to Blu-ray recorders the person would be mistaken.  The controller used in Blu-ray is different then the controllers used in CD and DVD duplicators.  You would have to buy a new duplicator (or upgrade the controller and drives for more money then a new tower).

MF Digital Data Ripper 7601DG

One of the great challenges in life is converting a multimedia disc library into files on a hard drive.  Data ripping, Video ripping and DVD ripping provide a means of accomplishing this task.  Typically the most available means of data ripping is using a computer DVD drive and burning software to save the files on the hard drive. You have to choose the file format and name the directories.  This is a laborious task if it involves more then one CD-R or DVD recordable disc at a time and can be very hit or miss with complex file structures.  If you have a sizable collection of video DVDs or data DVDs (or CDs for that matter) you may want to consider an automated DVD ripper.   You simply stack your non-copyrighted content discs (Media Grabber’s video ripping does not circumvent copy protection such as CSS) into the hopper, select the destination you want the files copied to and click “run”.   It’s as simple as that.

MF Digital RipStation 7602

The leader in this DVD ripping technology is MF Digital.  They offer the 7000 series DVD Ripper and Video Ripper – a fully automated solution for extraction of any data media such as DVD Video, DVD Data and CD data.   The 7000 series includes the 7601XD, 7602, 7604 and the high production 7104.

The MF Digital 7601 uses an enclosed robotics system and the 7602, 7604, 7104 use an open robotics system.  The 7601 is PC attached unlike the rest of the series that features a embedded PC.  The RipStations Convert to an ISO image, UDF or file folder structure and convert to Video TS folders at IFO level.  With disc capacity between 80 for the 7601 to 600 on the 7104 Pro your conversion process can go very quickly.  Great for news organizations, Broadcast and  Service Bureaus Digital Asset Management and Data Storage conversion.  The RipStation has an advanced Scripting engine for format conversion and coding to all major file formats (WMV / DIVX / AVI) and flexible naming conventions for data storage.

RipStation Data Ripper will take any data DVD or data CD and create an ISO image or the resulting file structure from the source disc itself, creating a local copy for use in archive or backup applications.

RipStation Media Ripper will copy the contents of the CD or DVD as files and folders to a user defined local or network location. Easily migrate data from disc to high capacity storage platforms such as high density optical disc, storage area networks, or other network attached storage devices.

RipStation CD Ripper offers powerful metadata management and configuration tools to control the exact CD ripping quality. In addition, the RipStation will encode multiple file formats – even simultaneously. All metadata or tag information, including album art, is retrieved from your choice of up to three on-line databases.

RipStation By Model

S = Standard O = Optional No = Not Available

* 7104 Pro Series Hard Drive(s) are 160GB system & 750GB storage.
** KVM means PC is Built-In. User Adds Keyboard, Video Monitor and Mouse
*** Device Support (AudioLoader) includes – iPod, Creative, Sandisk, Nokia, Imerge, XiVA, Crestron, Escient, Request,
Digital Future, Sonos

RipStation Software By Model

A break down by model of the software features.

S = Standard O = Optional

* May Only Be Used With Copyright Holders Permission
* Media Grabber USA – Doesn’t circumvent any copy protection schemes
* Media Grabber – Media Grabber does NOT work with AMX