For retro builds I try to stick to slower Speeds as well. I find that faster drives tend to give errors at times reading cd roms that slow drives wont error out on. I think my 486 is 8X which is 4 times faster than my original drive on my original 486

asdf53 wrote on 2026-06-15, 19:25:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-06-15, 18:30:

Sorry, I totally forgot you mentioned that. I've slept since. :p But yeah, that would be awesome. Thank you! For the DVD, I doubt I would need to slow that down. It's going to be for the Tex Murphy DVD version than anything else and the faster it can read the disc/videos, the better.

If you want it, just let me know. I mentioned it because I saw you contemplating an 8x Mitsumi for £89 above. That's insane, why pay that if I want to get rid of mine? It's just not very quiet for an 8x because of the seeking noises, some find it charming but I'm not one of them. I could make a video for you to see how it sounds first.

Regarding the DVD, weren't you looking for a 16x or slower for it to be quieter? But now you just said the faster, the better, I'm confused.

Sure. A video would be great. Hopefully the sound of it will be fine. 😀

But yeah, I can't even remember what I said about the DVD drive. I probably did want one that's slower initially. Something a bit more period correct and slower like the Mitsumi. But then after troubleshooting Overseer, it appears the videos load quicker if the DVD drive is faster. At least, that's the result I was getting with 86Box. On my main retro rig, there's like a 7 second delay between videos, which is too slow.

Sorry, it took a bit longer to make the video. Had to move my test rig to the kitchen because there's a construction site across the street.

I tested three drives: Mitsumi 4x, Mitsumi 8x and DVS DSR-1600H (DVD).

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iXk6q … 4yq?usp=sharing

Verdict: The Mitsumi 4x wins by a mile. It has a unique seeking noise that fits a retro PC, not quiet but also not bad. What makes it stand out is that it has virtually zero motor noise and vibration. You can barely tell that it's on unless it's seeking.

The Mitsumi 8x was horrible. The seeking is objectively quieter than the 4x, but it has an unpleasant pitch and every motion is accompanied by a loud motor noise. It also vibrates a lot for an 8x drive, and after it spun up, it keeps spinning and vibrating for a very long time even if not doing anything. It also feels cheaper than the 4x.

The DVS is speed-adjustable, I believe I had set it to 6x or 4x. It has the quietest seeking mechanism, but also sounds a bit... futuristic, not very fitting for a retro PC. It also had the quietest motor, but oddly, a ton of vibration. It doesn't really come across in the video, but it made the whole table vibrate. It's only going to be worse screwed into an older case so I can't recommend it, but I'll see if it performs any better at 1x or 2x. It's a great looking drive though, which was the reason why I got it.

After this test, I would rather not send you the Mitsumi 8x unless you insist, because it's just terrible and not even worth the shipping cost. The Mitsumi 4x is currently in my 486 PC so I can't part with it yet unless I find a replacement. The other Mitsumi 4x from the classifieds site would have been perfect, but it's been sold since. I'd say keep looking and I'll send you a message if I find something good.

asdf53 wrote on 2026-06-19, 14:56:

Sorry, it took a bit longer to make the video. Had to move my test rig to the kitchen because there's a construction site across […]
Show full quote

Sorry, it took a bit longer to make the video. Had to move my test rig to the kitchen because there's a construction site across the street.

I tested three drives: Mitsumi 4x, Mitsumi 8x and DVS DSR-1600H (DVD).

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iXk6q … 4yq?usp=sharing

Verdict: The Mitsumi 4x wins by a mile. It has a unique seeking noise that fits a retro PC, not quiet but also not bad. What makes it stand out is that it has virtually zero motor noise and vibration. You can barely tell that it's on unless it's seeking.

The Mitsumi 8x was horrible. The seeking is objectively quieter than the 4x, but it has an unpleasant pitch and every motion is accompanied by a loud motor noise. It also vibrates a lot for an 8x drive, and after it spun up, it keeps spinning and vibrating for a very long time even if not doing anything. It also feels cheaper than the 4x.

The DVS is speed-adjustable, I believe I had set it to 6x or 4x. It has the quietest seeking mechanism, but also sounds a bit... futuristic, not very fitting for a retro PC. It also had the quietest motor, but oddly, a ton of vibration. It doesn't really come across in the video, but it made the whole table vibrate. It's only going to be worse screwed into an older case so I can't recommend it, but I'll see if it performs any better at 1x or 2x. It's a great looking drive though, which was the reason why I got it.

After this test, I would rather not send you the Mitsumi 8x unless you insist, because it's just terrible and not even worth the shipping cost. The Mitsumi 4x is currently in my 486 PC so I can't part with it yet unless I find a replacement. The other Mitsumi 4x from the classifieds site would have been perfect, but it's been sold since. I'd say keep looking and I'll send you a message if I find something good.

That's fine. Thanks for the taking the time out to record the videos. It is quite difficult to tell from the videos. The seek sound does sound noisy, but I'm not sure how noisy unless I heard it in person. I'll hold fire for the time being. See if anything comes up or if you manage to find anything else. 😀

Here's something else I found: Some late 90s TEAC 24x-32x CD-ROM drives (CD-532E, CD-532EA, CD-532EB, CD-532S and CD-524EA) can be slowed down in firmware, and even the spin-down time can be adjusted: https://www.firmwarehq.com/download_1105-file … CHG304.EXE.html

These are very common and should be easy to find in good condition. I'll try to find some reviews that talk about noise.

asdf53 wrote on 2026-06-19, 17:13:

Here's something else I found: Some late 90s TEAC 24x-32x CD-ROM drives (CD-532E, CD-532EA, CD-532EB, CD-532S and CD-524EA) can be slowed down in firmware, and even the spin-down time can be adjusted: https://www.firmwarehq.com/download_1105-file … CHG304.EXE.html

These are very common and should be easy to find in good condition. I'll try to find some reviews that talk about noise.

Hmm. Interesting. Thanks for the heads-up. They're not particularly common in the UK by the looks of eBay. They'd have to be imported either from Germany or the States.

Just come across a Samsung SD-606E DVD/CD drive for about 8.99

Turns out I had set the DVS DVD drive to a maximum speed of 20x, here it is again at its minimum speed of 2x: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hEyAu6C0kHKq … ?usp=drive_link

It's really quiet at that setting, a lot better than the Mitsumi 4x even. What's interesting is that reducing the speed not only makes it spin slower, but the seeking mechanism, which is the loudest part of the drive at low rotational speeds, also became slower and quieter.

Found a review of the Teac CD-532E here: https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German- … mode/2up?q=532E

They praised it for being quiet and low-vibration, so together with the speed-limiting firmware, this could be a winner. The firmware tool allows to set it to 4x, 16x and 24x. It's around 25€ on ebay but often 5-10€ on classifieds. I'm really tempted to get one and see how they are.

Thats a lot of money for CD Roms, IMO . I just hit the thrift stores for drives and usually find something for 5 or 6 dollars. I was looking for one last week for a pentium build and got one I am very happy with. I really dont think id be paying 40 dollars or even 30 for one from ebay.

asdf53 wrote on Today, 18:19:

Turns out I had set the DVS DVD drive to a maximum speed of 20x, here it is again at its minimum speed of 2x: https://drive.goog […]
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Turns out I had set the DVS DVD drive to a maximum speed of 20x, here it is again at its minimum speed of 2x: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hEyAu6C0kHKq … ?usp=drive_link

It's really quiet at that setting, a lot better than the Mitsumi 4x even. What's interesting is that reducing the speed not only makes it spin slower, but the seeking mechanism, which is the loudest part of the drive at low rotational speeds, also became slower and quieter.

Found a review of the Teac CD-532E here: https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German- … mode/2up?q=532E

They praised it for being quiet and low-vibration, so together with the speed-limiting firmware, this could be a winner. The firmware tool allows to set it to 4x, 16x and 24x. It's around 25€ on ebay but often 5-10€ on classifieds. I'm really tempted to get one and see how they are.

Oooh. That does sound a lot more promising.