The PS1 can sound quite good (but not necessary great).
My "most heavily modified" PS1001 can rival my modified Sony X555ES, but mods on that PS1 are rather involved: external linear power supply for 3.6V/7.6V, battery power for analog section of dac chip, external DC blocking capacitor box with FT3 Teflon caps. The sonic result is rather satisfactory.
My take on using the PS1 as CD player:
-it is a well-built, well-designed and reliable player.
-Base cost is low. $10~$30. Maybe $50 for a mint mint condition unit.
-Parts are widely available. Actually, it is easier to just buy another one and take parts out of it.
-Easy to work on. Open the case and everything is right there, modifications can be done easily.
-Easy to add a remote.
-- the final sound quality can be good enough for daily listening.
At a certain point any CD player will start to have laser problems. With the PS1 it is easy to solve, just drop in another transport and maybe adjust the trim pots a little, very simple operations. The same can not be said about my reference player, the Sony X555ES, replacement laser is impossible to find now, once it craps out I will be out of luck.
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analog power on the board goes through L401 (right side of Dac chip, marked "100") and a 10 ohm resistor below C406, marked "100") before reaching the DAC chip. Removing these two parts will separate the chip's analog V+ pin from the board. You can then add your battery power + to the top pad of L401. Four rechargeable batteries will give 4.8~5.3V, within the voltage requirement for the DAC chip.
Try it, and I am sure you will like it.
Try it, and I am sure you will like it.
Hi Audiocats!
Have you ever tried somehow to raise the output voltage to be more than 2.3 Veff.
Some say the sound get even better that way?!
Thank you.
Hi Audiocats!
Have you ever tried somehow to raise the output voltage to be more than 2.3 Veff.
Some say the sound get even better that way?!
Thank you.
Have you ever heard of clipping? Lateley i went back to 2volts output, which should be cd player standard.
I use a fully modded playstation scph 1000 with external psu and massive over 20.000uF, burr brown op amp 2134 and dc/dcconverter5/15v.
The sound is absolutly clear and the orchester seems to play in the room. Really clear and also smooth.
it doesen't cost a fortune to build this jewel
Attachments
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Hi pg2005!
I just wanted to hear other members with more than 2,x Veff how they like it!
Yes i know what clipping is and i m atm at 4,0 Veff
External power supply for 7,6v 3,6v & 15v (also 18v for my burson discrete HD opamp's) and with more than 100k uF etc etc...
and "the orchestral seems to play in the room" you can not achieve even with high end stuff
but ps1 has indeed great potential.
I just wanted to hear other members with more than 2,x Veff how they like it!
Yes i know what clipping is and i m atm at 4,0 Veff
External power supply for 7,6v 3,6v & 15v (also 18v for my burson discrete HD opamp's) and with more than 100k uF etc etc...
and "the orchestral seems to play in the room" you can not achieve even with high end stuff
but ps1 has indeed great potential.Attachments
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I have a PS-3. I have used it as a cd transport and it is not bad. You can use it via the optical out or by using the plug in converter that comes with it. I think that by using the converter you use the internal dac in the unit and that would allow you to listen to sa-cd. But...all of the above needs to be controlled through the video screen for the settings. Also...the unit has a pretty loud fan.
I have also used the HDMI out for cd but you are then playing the cd through your amp that accepts HDMI.I like using the stereo converter and the internal sony dac.
I have also used the HDMI out for cd but you are then playing the cd through your amp that accepts HDMI.I like using the stereo converter and the internal sony dac.
I have modified and sold hundreds of PS-1, mostly 5501 as they are much better than 1001. While the sound quality is good the PS-1 is still crappy piece of plastic that will not last a year of constant use. Laser assembly is the worst I've seen.
CD format is dead as is most of physical disc based formats - save your money for decent external HDD or server and DAC, put all your music in FLAC format and start enjoying high resolution audio.
CD format is dead as is most of physical disc based formats - save your money for decent external HDD or server and DAC, put all your music in FLAC format and start enjoying high resolution audio.
PS1 Future
As a ex-modifier of PS1 machines, I have to agree with you. The sound quality, after modification is excellent but the laser is a delicate piece of equipment and seems to need frequent resetting. The construction of the machine, whilst not in the Krell class, is nevertheless very sturdy. If you want drama and flashing lights, the PS1 is not for you. It is a very plain and dull grey plastic box.
CD as a format is dead or nearly so. Moving onto a format like FLAC via a mirrored (or better) delivery system is a better way to go. Right now that I what I am listening to. My PS1 with all the mods, including preamplifier built in and more, sits virtually unused. Every once in awhile I fire it up and it still sounds great.. terrific value for money and all that... but sadly obsolete
As a ex-modifier of PS1 machines, I have to agree with you. The sound quality, after modification is excellent but the laser is a delicate piece of equipment and seems to need frequent resetting. The construction of the machine, whilst not in the Krell class, is nevertheless very sturdy. If you want drama and flashing lights, the PS1 is not for you. It is a very plain and dull grey plastic box.
CD as a format is dead or nearly so. Moving onto a format like FLAC via a mirrored (or better) delivery system is a better way to go. Right now that I what I am listening to. My PS1 with all the mods, including preamplifier built in and more, sits virtually unused. Every once in awhile I fire it up and it still sounds great.. terrific value for money and all that... but sadly obsolete
As a ex-modifier of PS1 machines, I have to agree with you. The sound quality, after modification is excellent but the laser is a delicate piece of equipment and seems to need frequent resetting. The construction of the machine, whilst not in the Krell class, is nevertheless very sturdy. If you want drama and flashing lights, the PS1 is not for you. It is a very plain and dull grey plastic box.
CD as a format is dead or nearly so. Moving onto a format like FLAC via a mirrored (or better) delivery system is a better way to go. Right now that I what I am listening to. My PS1 with all the mods, including preamplifier built in and more, sits virtually unused. Every once in awhile I fire it up and it still sounds great.. terrific value for money and all that... but sadly obsolete
You can get a new laser unit on ebay for ~ 10 euro, then adjust bias offset (and maybe gain) and that's it BUT as you have modified many PS1 you know that already right?
To all who made the MANFRED mod's i can tell you something, changing a few capacitors in the power supply and adding 4 + 2 chinchs is really NOTHING
compared too what you can really make out of it! That's the same for the sound and in the end it sound MUCH better than some DAC + FLAC (or PC + SOUNDCARD combination). I also have a Asus STX and my PS1 is better in
every way
P.S. The model 5502 sounds not so good compared to the best sounding ntsc scph-1000 model or the pal 1002 with one opamp
PS1 Spares
Hi,
The main spare part that is needed is the laser deck. They are very cheap. However, you can find problems such as poor plastic fit.. the tolerances are quite close. More than once I have had to cut and file a new deck to fit the case. Also vibration problems (often fixed with Blu Tack on the damping support). The adjustments are easy but picky.. you need pointy fingers and a meter.
Adding a display is helpful so that you can see what is going on but all you get are track numbers, no titles or anything extra. The remote controls are clunky and easily confused.
The PS1 looks very sad in its grey case and provides little feedback as to what it is doing (apart from playing music of course).
Having said all that the quality of sound is still great. I hope to continue with this quality by building a DAC using the big brother AKM chip of that used in the PS1. My all bells and whistles PS1 is probably headed for the resting place in sky as soon as the new DAC is tested.
Things move on
George
Hi,
The main spare part that is needed is the laser deck. They are very cheap. However, you can find problems such as poor plastic fit.. the tolerances are quite close. More than once I have had to cut and file a new deck to fit the case. Also vibration problems (often fixed with Blu Tack on the damping support). The adjustments are easy but picky.. you need pointy fingers and a meter.
Adding a display is helpful so that you can see what is going on but all you get are track numbers, no titles or anything extra. The remote controls are clunky and easily confused.
The PS1 looks very sad in its grey case and provides little feedback as to what it is doing (apart from playing music of course).
Having said all that the quality of sound is still great. I hope to continue with this quality by building a DAC using the big brother AKM chip of that used in the PS1. My all bells and whistles PS1 is probably headed for the resting place in sky as soon as the new DAC is tested.
Things move on
George
Hi. I have problem with my modded PSX. I made all mods from Sony PlayStation 1 SCPH-1002 as High End CD player Playstation 1 SCPH-1002 High End CD Player deutschermanfred.de . The outputs resistor I have 22k. But when I play CD, I must have 75% on the amplifier if I would like to hear something. After month, I delete the 22k resistors, but without the resistors is too loud. Which value of resistor should I use?
I've also recently retired my CD player and now use a Cambridge audio Stream Magic 6 and a NAS server. All my CD's are now ingested to the server. Audio quality is a quantum leap better. For any one considering going this way I've settled on DB Power Amp software for ripping CD,s. or converting WAV to FLAC. I thoroughly recommend it. Works a treat and supports metadata for FLAC etc. No looking back. (Sorry a bit off topic)
I still listen to CDs.
And lots of folks I know still do too. I have a dozen or so SCHP-1002s kicking around. I've thought of ripping a circuit board apart.
Don't get too swayed by the newer and higher rate formats. Sometimes the implementations are better, sometimes not. There are some good arguments against DCD, etc.
And lots of folks I know still do too. I have a dozen or so SCHP-1002s kicking around. I've thought of ripping a circuit board apart.
Don't get too swayed by the newer and higher rate formats. Sometimes the implementations are better, sometimes not. There are some good arguments against DCD, etc.