Playstation as CD-player

I did the same thing with flat black spray paint. I too have few skipping problems, but I'm more likely to credit that to the laser. All I can say is I hear more music (as opposed to more detail, resolution, blah, blah, etc.) from this cheap little player than any other I've had. And it only took me 20 years to find something that delivers close to the enjoyment I got from LPs.
 
Re: MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT BY SIMPLE MOD.

tabarddn said:
Gentlemen, I have just had my first CDR, which has skipped through some tracks. I have read in other pages that painting the inside cover of a CD/DVD player held improve tracking.
WELL GUESS WHAT, I coloured the top and bottom cover in black felt pen. AND BOY oh BOY what a difference it has made.
My problem CDR now plays all the way through, just 3 minor blips are heard, a liitle like a record blip.
But the big difference is in the information retrieval, IT IS MASSIVE. Base has gone lower, sound stage has got bigger and deeper, treble output has increased. There is just MORE,MORE, MORE of everything. I do not know if this simple mod has been posted before. I it has I apolizise,


BUT THIS MOD IS SO BIG & SO SIMPLE, EVERYONE MUST DO IT.

Has anyone else done the same, I coloured my top & bottom cover black, has anyone used a different colour.

Cheers for now :)

Who has a cover anymore? Mine doesn't even have a case, let alone a cover! ;) :D :rolleyes: :cool:
 
depends... some people believe this is true, others don't.
But one thing is for sure: if you just modded your playstation, installing new passive componentes (like capacitors, resistors, etc), then it'll need to "burn in", so it will only start to sound best after, for example, 20 hours of use, or something...
And this is true aswell: most defects and problems in electronic equipment occur during the phase of power-on. So, yes, if you can, avoid switching it on and off more times than needed. But don't leave it on for very extended periods without any use, either (say, several days), as then you might be causing premature wear of it, due to heat. Also it isn't a good idea for your electricity bill ;)
 
thanh1973 said:
Hi there everyone.
Eighty something pages is a lot to read, so please forgive me if the question has already been asked.
Comments have been made around the web (6moons) that this player is equivalent to a $6000 cd player.
So just for confirmation does the Sony playstation beat a Rega Saturn or Cambridge Azur 840c?


:D :D :whazzat: :dead: :confused: :smash:

than were 40$ for a PS1 a sin!

I have heard the Rega Apollo and I think if you invest 300 $ to the PS1, you'll get a nice player but it never reaches the details and perfection of an Apollo nor an Azur. It's a toy that sounds OK! It is ugly and uncomfortable. The transport is poor. The output level too low.

It is simple and cheap so hobbyists love it. If you buy a second hand brand CD or DVD player for 30$ it will beat the PS1 by far. The only advantage is for people that have a very harsh and bright system so the PS1 make it a little bit more harmonic cause of the limited dynamic.

Sorry for this hard words but I invested so much time in this grey case and didn't get the wanted satisfaction. But don't believe me and just believe your own ears!;)
 
Tolu said:


I have heard the Rega Apollo and I think if you invest 300 $ to the PS1, you'll get a nice player but it never reaches the details and perfection of an Apollo nor an Azur. It's a toy that sounds OK! It is ugly and uncomfortable. The transport is poor. The output level too low.

It is simple and cheap so hobbyists love it. If you buy a second hand brand CD or DVD player for 30$ it will beat the PS1 by far. The only advantage is for people that have a very harsh and bright system so the PS1 make it a little bit more harmonic cause of the limited dynamic.

Sorry for this hard words but I invested so much time in this grey case and didn't get the wanted satisfaction. But don't believe me and just believe your own ears!;)

Sorry, but I have to disagree... :rolleyes:

You have to be very lucky to get any 2nd hand CD player (and DVD player: don't even think about it, been there, done that...) for 30$ that will beat the modded PS1... I'd even risk to say that you'll have a hard time to find one for 300$...
Now, sure that for several thousand dollars, you'll easily get a player that beats any modded PS1 ;)

But the thing here is:
the PS1 offers unique possibilites for modding, due to the fact that it has: low jitter, very natural and warm sound and is cheap.
So, if you know what you're doing, then you can make yourself a great player, for little money.
You can believe me or not, but I have a Marantz CD40 (a nice player (TDA1541A), would be one of those affordable 2nd hand players Tolu is talking about), and in it's original state, sounds slightly inferior than the (modded) PS1! Only when modded (I installed new low jitter clock and new output boards/P.S.), it sounds equally well.

Now, the unmodded PS1, sure, it does have low output, and RCA output sounds usually inferior to AV/multiout (because passes cheap OP-amp), also, yes, it is ugly and not a good transport. Also the SPS is a bad idea... But all this can be modded and improved, quite easily, with great results. Just be creative. And take a look at my project, if you want... the link is several times posted in this thread (use search tool). :)
And no, I didn't invest 300$ in mine. Also I modded it totally. Maybe 150$.
 
OK, listening is subjective.

Only one recommendation: Panasonic DVD-S75 (around 2003)!

Bought it new for 200€ and got one now for 25€. Very good CD sound!!! Much better, in my opinion, than any modded PS1. And it has RC, display and plays DVDs and DVD Audio!

One member here has a quote "cheapest is bestest" -> not always!
 
I have found some some ultra low noise filament supply module pair for a decent price. I wonder it this will work instead of the original switching power supply.
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/?q=node/195

Also they got an universal stereo tube output that seems like a good thing to increase the line out voltage of the ps1. My amp barely puts out sound with such low level out. I am thinking of hooking this thingy straight from the dac out to the rca jack. can anyone comment on http://www.diyhifisupply.com/?q=node/399

thanks,

chris
 
The trouble with all this CD player talk is that it just shows to me that a lot of cd players basically sound the same. In my experience, with players up to $8K+ it can be very difficult to pick the difference between them once you have a half decent player in the $1,000 range. Whether by chance or not, I think the PS1 falls into this high performing $1K bunch.

I have heard a small S.E.T amp with a PS1 driving the Hawthorne & Bastanis open baffle speakers, and it sounded very good - not much missing there at all.

In the old days when we had only turntables as the main source, it was a VERY different situation. There are massive differences between turntables with different arms-decks-and-cartridges. Since the advent of cd replay there has been a levelling of the playing field, most cdps sound pretty good and are not prone to the vaguaries of analogue replay (where everything has to be 'just right' to sound good).

I learnt this lesson a few years ago and have stopped hunting for the ultimate in cd replay (I don't think its really out there, unless you spend mega-bucks I suppose??). These days I am quite content to sit with a Sony XA-7ES + Bel Canto DAC-2 which although is still quite expensive at $5K, seems to see off most contenders/pretenders ...

Regards,


Steve M.
 
tabarddn is dead on...

Though the most expensive CD player I've dumped for the PS was $1000, I believe tabarddn hit the nail on the head. It's the approximation of real analog sound that makes the PS stand out. The Stereophile opinion is that the PS gets the sound it does by cloaking some of the inherent problems of CDs, maybe because of 14-bit instead of 16-bit resolution. But who cares? I can't hear those two bits, but I can hear the music.
 
I definitely agree with you people, in that the PS1 produces very natural and "analog" sound.
But I'm pretty sure the reason is not the DAC, because although it's not bad (actually it does have 16 bits, although not in ladder format: it's a 1bit Bitstream DAC), it's nothing fancy either.
My personal opinion (and of some more people I talked to), is that the analog and natural, to not say "warm" sound, is produced thanks to the digital section not having much jitter (it has a very low freq. clock, not much divided, comparing to many CD players)... but of course, that might be totally wrong, one can only guess, unless you have high quality and precise, very expensive measuremente equipmente... an maybe even then, you might not find the real reason ;)

But it could be done to prove or counter-prove what I said: just find a way to hook up digital output of any standard cd player (so which has some extent of jitter) to the PS1's DAC inputs, and you'll easily know if it sounds worse. If yes, then really jitter and digital circuits of PS1 make all the difference. If it sounds the same, then for some weird reason, it's the DAC that sounds special.
 
I too love the sound of the PS, along with my Shigaclone and modified Shanling CD-T80 and Peter Daniel's NOS DAC.

I remember reading a review of the Dynastation (I think it was called) in Hi-Fi World years back. I believe this used the PS One rather than the older mechs recommended in this thread. Their measurements showed the frequency response rolled off VERY early, thereby giving it a very analogue-TYPE feel, despite not being accurate per-se.

I wonder if that's the case here? has anyone meaured the frequency response of the PS?

- John
 
My modded Sony playstation 1

Hi,

now this is a good hobby ... cheap and effective.
I have now modded 2 Playstations.. one was a prototype, meaning I screwed it up.
The second has had some useful changes made. Obviously there is now a direct connection the on-board DAC to the outside world via a high-quality cap. However, the entire unit is embedded in a very solid Musical Fidelity steel chassis ( a slimline integrated amp model) so that the cd player's top just peeks out.
I embedded into this chassis a very high quality line amplifier with balance and volume controls and the output from the amp goes via a relay to external phon plugs (those on the Playstation are not used) so that there are no nasty noises on switch on/off. I arranged extra ventilation for the power supply, which is still the original. There is a remote control to operate the whole thing and a power led and relay-on confirmation LED to brighten the front panel. Sadly, no track screen readout. The device is totally quiet, both electronically and mechanically.
I have just finished a day or so of comparing with my Sony SCD-1, a £2000 cd player.
Without getting too emotional about it, the Playstation has restored the foot-tapping to the music which was lost with the SCD-1. Not only that, track switching is instantaneous as is loading. I am certainly hearing more detail and duets are gaining voice seperation. I could go on, but I need not. In a few weeks my SCD-1 is going onto eBay!
 
Puffin said:
Build the external power supply as detailed on www.dogbreath.de and go to the next level. For about £40 you will not regret it.

www.6moons.com said that you'd have to spend $6,000 to beat it. Mmmmm don't know about that, but it equalls £500 quids worth IMO. My PS1 cost £5 off fleabay!!!


I posted the info on the diyhisupply power supply modules because some of us are beginners and would have a difficult reading schematics. I feel like should probably give it a shot but then again these modules are already built. I was hoping someone would chime in and make a comment on them. An either "go for it" or a "nahh, just build the dogbreath one, it will sound better".

Anyone care comment?
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2004
I have the SCPH-5502 and can confidently say that this is one of the best cd players I have ever heard or had in my house (and I have had a few very expensive ones and re-clocked mid level players).

This thing is still unmodded and running through the crappy AVI output cable:eek: :whazzat:

Why?......why?........why? :confused: