Playstation as CD-player

[AnthonyPT]

Hi
While I have a couple of 1002s
and 5502s I have only modified the
output on one 1002 with a 3.3mf bipolar
bypassed with polystyrenes. One of the 5502 unit
outputs go via a pair of Altronics transformers
600/600ohm and I do like the sound. Trannies are AUD$19 ea
and I plan to put them inside when time permits.
Maybe combine this with Mike F's 1002 output mods
sometime soon with gold contacts on the 5502s.

For me the most effective improvement has been spikey feet!
I use self tapping metal screws and then cover the tops with
felt.The unit then sits on a cork tile and under the
cork tile is a heavy Jarrah wood offcut. Under the offcut
is dimpled foam and under that another Jarrah offcut.
The sound has become more articulate and airflow improves.
I enclose some pictures and URls for Altronics Trannies.

Harza I like your reversable mod approach and maybe use
Polypropelene caps & good resistors optionally followed by
transformers in a small box on the way to your Preamp or amp.
This all using bits of the AV multicord. Perhaps later
putting in gold RCAs and blocking the AV out off all together.

Regards

AnthonyPT

http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=prod&grp=355

http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=C9555
Inline hum and Noise autocoupler (might try too! ! !

http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=M0709
(could be good if shielded?)

 

[Mick_F]

I have been writing this many times in this thread - properly damped placement of the PS1 makes a huge difference.

Read this.



Mick

 

[AnthonyPT]

Hi

Just did some more spikey feet for a friend tonight on another1002.
He has been using just dimpled foam only which
was fair but the Jarrah and other isolation
with the cork will made it much more articulate
and clean up the bass as well. I would be a bit
judicial with white grease and Mike F while I find
your tyre elegant with the cutting board those grub
screws are banned in OZ for some safety reason or
thats what a plumber told me! So Metal self tappers
with Phillips heads do well and lock down nicely.
Hot glue on top of the heads will be tried. Anyone else tried
the cheaper line tranformers? Would like to hear the
Sowter trannies such as the 9055/9762/8347.Then
it all gets a bit pricey! Have we covered balanced line
outputs for the humble 1002/5502s? My main 1002 goes to a
tube preamp with Trimax ex-ABC transformers: it sounds so good!

regards

AnthonyPT

 

[jduffy]

I pulled off the felt feet and put some hard rubber feet I use for all my audio projects. Very nice! Bass sounds tighter.

Simple fix with great results.

 

[rhing]

Instead of tampering with the original feet, I placed two Isonode feet under the front and one under the back for isolation and solid footing. This gave positive results. My five year old son can jump on the hardwood floors to his delight and he cannot cause the Playstation 1 to skip one bit. Additionally, the sound is better defined.

I really enjoy this thread as I have recently joined the ranks of Playstation 1 audiophiles. I would like to add a 15A IEC inlet to replace the stock polarized IEC 2-pole C-8 inlet, so I can use a better power cord without having to use an add-on C-14/C-7 AC power adapter. Has anyone tried this? Or can anyone recommend the connections, especially to ground? Any help here is greatly appreciated. Photos would be awesome! I would imagine that others would want to do the same, if it's possible.

 

[Mick_F]

Changing the power cord will not change the sonic performance of the PS1. It makes no sense to change the inlet in this respect.

 

[JLPAS]

I pulled off the felt feet and put some hard rubber feet I use for all my audio projects. Very nice! Bass sounds tighter.

Simple fix with great results.

I secured the PSI with some kind of Blu-Tack on a 40 mm thick MDF piece and I make it work without the cover .

 

[Hatti]

Hi,

I also listen to a PS1 and I have an other cheap CDP for the CD´s that doesn´t work on the PS1!

Sounds also great; better than the most CDP you can buy!

More information you´ll find on my page:
http://freenet-homepage.de/stratihatti2/page111e196564c.html

nice time, Hatti

 

[rhing]

I have been listening to a PS1 Model SCPH-5501 for some time using the A/V Multi-Out port and an upgraded Sony AV cable (Model No. SCPH-10500, gold plated connectors, OFC wire) with my Melody SP3 MkII vacuum tube integrated amp. I have to say the sound is very impressive from the stock unit. Reading this forum thread, Mick's Web site and www.playfidelity.com, my curiosity about Model SCPH-1001 had been piqued. So I went to a used video game store in the area and picked up Model SCPH-1001 for $25USD. So far, I have only connected it to my Naim Nait 1 solid state integrated amplifier using a Chord Cable RCA-to-DIN interconnect cable, and the sound I am hearing is more impressive than Model SCPH-5501 with the Sony A/V cable. I also have a PS Audio XStream Power Punch IEC C-7 power cord on order. I know some here feel that aftermarket power cords are unnecessary, but I use them with my other equipment because I do hear a subtle improvement between stock and aftermarket cords, especially shielded power cords with digital sources. I am not sure if the difference is due to the different PS1 models and their connectors, the better interconnect cable with the Nait amplifier, or a combination of factors. I will be performing some more listening tests with my tube and solid state integrated amps and some cables. I also plan to make a DIY interconnect cable using a Sony A/V Multi-Out connector and quality RCA connectors, and I will document this in photos. Any recommendations on interconnect cable and connectors is greatly appreciated.

In reading this thread, everyone agrees that modifying the PS1's output improves the sound, but in what way? Does frequency extension, imaging, soundstage, detail and PRaT (pace, rhythm and timing) improve? I know some of these attributes are very subjective, but some further explanation of "sounds better" would be helpful to me to decide whether I want to make the mods or not. For now, I can live with the stock units. The sound is highly musical and sounds more like an analog source than a digital source.

 

[JLPAS]

And what about this for replacing the outpout stage :
http://www.bursonaudio.com/Burson_HDAM_Module.htm

 

[coppa]

psOne battery pack

from what ive read so far it seems that the stock 1001 and the stock 101 mini ps sound the same, but what about using the battery pack for the psOne to run it of the purest dc power?. would that be a good way to get sound thats better than stock 1001 with out having to mod anything?.

 

[Mick_F]

No. The 101 is the worst sounding PS of the first series, while the 1001 is the best sounding. Your information is wrong.

As for the battery pack - just try and report here

 

[sho3773]

Hi everyone,

i am about to mod my PS1 1002 and i was wondering about whether i should change RCA Jacks or keep the originals ( i want to keep the original case). Wich did you use?

While reading the article "Modifiying the output stage..." on Mickes page (thanks for the great webside mick!) i noticed that he used 22k Ohm Resistors, a other german page recommend 2k, what should i use?


Regards
Eric

 

[garbage]

i am about to mod my PS1 1002 and i was wondering about whether i should change RCA Jacks or keep the originals ( i want to keep the original case). Wich did you use?

While reading the article "Modifiying the output stage..." on Mickes page (thanks for the great webside mick!) i noticed that he used 22k Ohm Resistors, a other german page recommend 2k, what should i use?

hi eric

i found it difficult to desolder the rca connectors on my ps1. i kept the originals intact for now as i am not putting it in a new chassis.

for the output stage, mick gave the reason for the choice of resistors. it is dependent on resistance that the following stage will see.

i used 30k kiwame resistors as i had them lying around from a previous project.

cheers
garbage

 

[Mick_F]

While reading the article "Modifiying the output stage..." on Mickes page (thanks for the great webside mick!) i noticed that he used 22k Ohm Resistors, a other german page recommend 2k, what should i use?

The resistor and capacitor value determine the cutoff frequency of the high-pass filter they form. If you choose the resistor value too low, the frequency will be too high and you loose bass. To my experience, the cutoff should be set to some Hz, and the input impedance of the following stage has to be taken into account. See text on my site.

Mick

 

[Mick_F]

Just in order to report some new developments from my side: I am now completely circumventing all output circuitry without any replacement. I lead the signal from the DAC directly to new RCAs, which are located on a small metal plate at the position of the parallel port (which I removed). I will show some pics soon on my site. The output has some DC but this is eliminated by a capacitor before the next stage.

I am doing this because I have, in a recent test, noticed that the sound quality strongly depends on the quality of the output capacitors (a well known thing, indeed). However, the capacitors I considered by far the best (among those I tested) are Intertechnik Audyn-cap plus. These capacitors are enormous and will by no way fit into the case of the PS1. Also, this gives me more versatility concerning the choice of components after the PS1 (in particular, to avoid leading the signal through more capacitors than absolutely necessary).

Mick

 

[Lostcause]

Couldn't agree with you more Mick

 

[coppa]

hey mick could you cut a hole in the plastic box of the psx and mount the capacitors externally?. i think that would look realy awesome!. there is some hardware avaliable for doing this, all my guitar amps have are dome this way.

http://www.amptone.com/images/dsax84fr.jpg

just an example, i did not build that amp just a google image

 

[jives11]

Just in order to report some new developments from my side: I am now completely circumventing all output circuitry without any replacement. I lead the signal from the DAC directly to new RCAs, which are located on a small metal plate at the position of the parallel port (which I removed). I will show some pics soon on my site. The output has some DC but this is eliminated by a capacitor before the next stage.

I am doing this because I have, in a recent test, noticed that the sound quality strongly depends on the quality of the output capacitors (a well known thing, indeed). However, the capacitors I considered by far the best (among those I tested) are Intertechnik Audyn-cap plus. These capacitors are enormous and will by no way fit into the case of the PS1. Also, this gives me more versatility concerning the choice of components after the PS1 (in particular, to avoid leading the signal through more capacitors than absolutely necessary).

Mick

Interesting. My PS1 still has the coupling caps as per your mod. My other interest is in the old Philips CD104, and in this player I replaced the coupling caps with wire links. My preamp has DC blockers in it, so I decided that the CD104 didn't need them. The PS1 may end up in my childrens system sometime so I decided that DC blocking was important for safety.

Maybe the way to solve this space problem is to put the Caps in the amp , not in the CD player ?

 

[Mick_F]

Well, currently I consider to put the caps simply into the cable.

Of course, putting the caps into the amp is the most obvious solution, but in mine there is also no space for these biggies. The ones I have are 65mm long and 35mm in diameter!

Mick