Hi, I bought a used computer with WL 6 on it a while back and the burner worked fine until recently. It was a Pioneer DVR 109 from 2005! Anyway, I know that WL is very picky with burners, so wanted to ask it there are modern burners that will run run with WL. How about USB burners, will that work as well?
Also, I’m thinking of getting the Hofa DDP software. Could I run it as a plug in in Wvelab (at the end of the master section?). Or is it better t buy the standalone version?
I would just get an inexpensive LG USB DVD burner, or a Pioneer might be more likely to work (but only assuming the computer has USB2. Depending on the age of the computer, It may only be USB1 which would be useless for burning). I had to put a USB2 card in my old Win XP computer, because the built in USB was USB1, only usable for a keyboard or a mouse, not a CD burner or external hard drive.
No guarantees on the LG, but I don’t think you’re going to get guarantees on any modern burner and Wavelab 6. But I would think it should work if the computer has USB2. Regarding Hofa - get the demo. See if it works as a plugin after your dither plugin, if not then try it standalone. The most efficient way to use it standalone would be to render wav/cue image (it’s in the Render window options) from Wavelab 6 and see if Hofa would work from that wav/cue image. It should. That would transfer all the CD Text, ISRC etc, that wouldn’t be in wav file renders from Wavelab 6.
I was going to suggest replacing the DVR109 with a similar newer internal 5.25 drive, but the DVR109 is IDE, not SATA, so finding anything current is probably not possible. Being IDE, it’s probably a very old computer. I’ve been the whole upgrade route with Pioneer drives from IDE to SATA to external enclosure firewire and USB2 and they all worked fine with Wavelab 6, up to and including the current Pioneer USB Blu-Ray burners I think. But any of the LG and similar should be fine too. Or you could find a refurbished Pioneer IDE burner on NewEgg or TigerDirect or Ebay that would probably work fine for a long time, if you’re willing to replace the internal DVR109.
If the internal USB is USB1 on the computer (you should be able to tell from Device Manager or Computer Properties), an inexpensive USB2 PCI card from Belkin has always worked fine for me, for using any external USB burner.
fwiw, I’ve even used IDE to SATA internal conversion adapters without problem, if you want to get a newer internal SATA burner.