24x from a CDRW drive! Yes!

US Learn to play the cello with all that saved time! 03/08/00

Yamaha - in the US at least - is now shipping the CRW8824EZ internal E-IDE (ATAPI) model ReWritable CD recorder. Designed as part of a new generation of high-speed CD recorders from Yamaha, CRW8824EZ is the world's first recorder to rewrite CD-RW discs at 8x speed, doubling the current standard of 4x and cutting the required time to rewrite a CD-RW disc in half. In addition to 8x rewrite capabilities, the CRW8824EZ lets users rip audio CDs at 24x, up to three times faster than conventional CD-RW recorders in the marketplace. (Ripping is the process of converting CD music tracks to WAV and MP3 files for creating music CDs on a PC. Then flogging them to your buddies and bringing the whole structure of royalty payments, and therefore the music industry, to its knees.) 'The CRW8824EZ can rip CDs faster than the fastest conventional CD-RW recorder in the market today, as well as standard CD-ROM and/or DVD-ROM drives. Ripping audio CDs at 24x can save many hours of valuable time for users who convert audio files from CDs into MP3 or WAV files and vice versa," notes Henio Arcangeli, Jr., vice president/general manager, Consumer Products Division, Yamaha Cor of America, as he leans over a large pile of Madonna and Metallica MP3-stuffed CDs in his garage. Note to Yamaha's lawyers: we're *joking* about the last bit.

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