Alea CD Forge III - Hardware Review - Evaluation

In the world of desktop CD production, the term "stand-alone CD duplicator" almost seems an oxymoron these days. How many of these products really stand out from the crowd? Sure, some are more robust than others, some use a Plextor drive here, a Matsushita there. Some have more lights than others, or a couple extra arrows in the membrane. Some work with autoloaders, but that's an add-on feature in any event. Some are more likely than others to shock you when you touch them after crossing the room, or annoy you with a noisy fan. Some have hard drives and analog inputs. But name a few basic features, and I guarantee you that 90% of the time, if two duplicators answered "yes" to questions 1, 2, and 4, and responded similarly to the de rigeuer "how many drives" query, you can expect to have just about the same experience with both of them.

This is because they all do basically the same thing: copy discs at the highest speed available. And though there's a solid argument that you might have a vastly different tech support experience with one vendor than another (particularly when vendor and manufacturer are not one and the same), that's no longer the burning issue with these plug-'em-in and let-'em-rip devices. It's been my experience of late--though certainly not before--that they all essentially do this pretty basic task equally well.

In other words, duplicators that stand apart from the standalone crowd are few and far between. Until one comes along to make you aware of details that might make them differ significantly, it's hard to imagine what those details might be.

In this era of commodity CD copiers, Alea's CD Forge III is just such a standout standalone. You'd hardly guess it from the come-on text on the cover of the extensive user manual: "Copy a CD without a PC!" Fortunately, there's much more to it than that. Fast CD-ROM drives like the UltraPlex 40X are standard equipment on today's duplicators, as are the eight 8X drives (on the review box, TEACs) that ship in the unit. But today's fast drives are becoming tomorrow's throw-aways--and significantly cheaper to replace piecemeal than an entire $5,000+ eight-disc duplicator. All you need is a screwdriver and a steady hand to swap these drives with any SCSI unit you prefer.

Sizeable hard drives, like the one that's an optional component of the CD Forge, are also fairly commonplace in today's duplicators; but here again, Alea stands out by offering a SCSI hard drive, which (via an electronic arbitrating switch) enables users connecting the CD Forge to a PC to use the drive for extra storage, or for staging images constructed on the host computer for recording on the CD Forge (such images can also be burned simultaneously with CD-to-CD copying on the duplicator). This gives you the key advantage of constructing a disc image with your PC that you can make multiple copies of without having to burn a master CD.

Other surprises include a handy CD-R media identifier; CD-to-CD-R bit-by-bit compare; the ability to copy all time stamp and subcode information for audio CDs, by scanning all TOC information before recording to determine and set parameter controls; and expandability to 16 recordable drives with the addition of a second tower. And SCSIMUX III, an updated version of Alea's patented controller, supplies the coup de grace: it enables writing data from up to four CD recorders simultaneously.

do you copy?

The CD Forge III handled all direct copying tasks without difficulty, recording to single discs or multiple discs simultaneously. The user simply indicates the number of copies desired via the membrane keypad and lets the games begin. Many discs of varying lengths and data types were copied without difficulty; the CD Forge III also demonstrated a facility with six different media brands, 80-minute discs included.

The TEAC 8X drives shipped with the unit and the Plextor 40X Ultraplex proved themselves well up to the 8X task, routinely copying full discs in a brisk 12 minutes apiece. Alea's SCSI Pipeline technology also allows any user with a Phillips screwdriver handy to swap in alternate SCSI drive choices at will.

Also easily accomplished is the media identification function; simply insert a CD-R disc, click the up-arrow button, and the CD Forge III will tell you the brand of the disc and its maximum capacity, among other things. Herein are found two nice advantages over many duplicators: given the vast range of disc quality over various brands and a user's natural preference of one over the other based on past experience, it's helpful to know what you're getting into, especially when your discs offer no indication of where they came from. This feature will also allow users who buy in bulk to save a good bit of money, by identifying lower-priced versions of the most popular disc brands.

The CD Forge III identified all discs on which this function was performed, including Philips (Taiyo Yuden), 80-minute Smart and Friendly and Hi-Val (CMC), Kodak (Kodak), and Mitsui (Mitsui). The other disc detecting feature--pinpointing a given disc's capacity at, say, 674,700KB (Hi-Val/ CMC 74) or 719,698KB (Smart and Friendly/CMC 80)--is also a welcome departure from many duplicators, which presume 650MB or 74 minutes even, and cut your disc image off there, even if there's more room on the disc.

One important characteristic of a standalone duplicator is demonstrated robustness, the ability to operate effectively for hours on end without interruption. During testing, the CD Forge performed successive records of one, three, or four discs repeatedly over a three-hour period. The system also performed successfully at its eight-disc maximum capacity.

The CD Forge can also be connected to a PC to serve as an external recorder, and allows recording from the PC and the onboard CD-ROM drive simultaneously to one or more recorders. If you install a multigig SCSI hard drive in the unit, you can also use that drive for additional storage or master-free image-building. Images can also be sent and staged from any client when the CD Forge is connected to a network server. Furthermore, because the host system accesses the hard drive from an electronically switched arbitrating SCSI port, the CD Forge III can be returned to exclusively functioning as a duplicator while still attached to the PC.

Of course, to take advantage of these features, you definitely have to know what you're doing, and these more-complex tasks must suit your needs. But the multi-image writing, availability of a connectable staging drive, and network connectivity will surely be welcomed among business users of CD-R duplication.

a sound forge if ever there was one

What distinguishes the CD Forge among its peers is robust, reliable performance, rock-solid construction, and its versatility of configuration and function. As a straight-up, 8X, eight-disc duplicator, it's hardly peerless; Hoei Sangyo and others also have products that do this job quite well.

But what really sets the CD Forge III apart are the details: the media identification; the multipurpose, onboard hard drive; bit-by-bit verification; data-compare; the easily managed recorder-swapping; and its logical expandability. And with the fluidity of the SCSI Pipeline in its latest firmware version, allowing A-to-A SCSI transfer for high-speed image loading when using the installed SCSI hard drive, CD Forge III offers features that are hardly de rigeuer among the ever- more homogeneous standalone duplication scene. The manual is a little sparse for communicating all these features, and how to implement them, but the ready availability and helpfulness of Alea's tech support is well-known in the industry. The CD Forge would be well-served by a stem-to-stern rewrite of its manual, and significant fleshing out of how to use its advanced features. The refurbished text would be well worth reading.

Alea CD Forge III

synopsis: In this era of commodity CD copiers, Alea's CD Forge III is a rarity: a standout standalone. Fast CD-ROM drives like the UltraPlex 40X are standard equipment on today's duplicators, as are the eight TEAC 8X24 recorders that ship in the unit. But the easy replaceability of the drives is a plus, as is the ability to run slave units via Alea's patented SCSI controller technology. Alea also stands out by offering a SCSI hard drive, which (via an electronic arbitrating switch) enables users connecting the CD Forge to a PC. Other surprises include a handy CD-R media identifier; CD-to-CD-R bit-by-bit compare; and the ability to copy all time stamp and subcode information for audio CDs. The updated SCSIMUX III controller supplies the coup de grace: it enables reading and writing of data from up to four CD recorders simultaneously.

for more information, contact:

Alea Systems, Inc., 9689-A Gerwig Lane, Columbia MD 21046 410/290-8646; Fax 410/290-8658; sales@alea.com; http//www.alea.com

Stephen F. Nathans (stsphenn@onlineinc.com) is Editor of EMedia.

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