My mom used to listen to her audio cds on my playstation 1. Keep in mind, she never knew anything about it and never played any games. Back then we had no idea about the quality. But now it makes sense since we never complained about it. If connected to some good speakers it would have been even better.
The ps1 has a laser stronger than one of those laser guns from the future ever could have, I have a cd scratched so bad that it looks like it went through a paper shredder and my ps1 can play it with no hesitation or skipping.
To me, having a great laser that can read damaged discs is one of the few use cases for bothering with a PS1. But you should also bear in mind that so do a lot of computer DVD drives. That fact diminishes the value again for a PS1 because once you get media into the digital domain, you then can play it back in any number of ways. The reason why PS1 Playstations with controllers are $20-40 on eBay is that everybody has moved on from CD players. There is no stampede for this cute hack.
I have a PS1 that's on the opposite spectrum where the good discs have some issues, and if it's scratched too bad it skips or does weird stuff with the audio or straight up won't play
That was a fun, and interesting video. To think that back then I bothered to buy a giant Pioneer CD player because I thought there's no way I could rely on that PS1 to do anything but play Final Fantasy 7.
i played all the way up to the midgar zolom on my first playthrough without a memory card! addicted. i had the playstation plugged into a marantz stereo from the 80s and some jbl speakers and the sound was just insane. i remember one time i had a party and showed some of the guys the intro to final fantasy 8 and everyone was just dumbstruck saying 'this is a game?' hahaha i miss golden age squaresoft!!
This was the most informative ever seen on Sony PS-1, finally put my system back together, went with The Wharfedale Linton's spkrs, power by a Quad 306 and Nobsound Passive, had the unit for years with nothing to use to listen to it with. Now, along with Kimber Kables PBJ's inner-connects. Lemme tell ya', it does not disappoint. As a computer/electronic eng. Esp. Appreciated the interview and demo of the modifications. But as is, sounds good! Thank you, 🙏
Noise floor is far too high. Not much higher than vinyl, maybe that's why audiophiles liked it so much. They tend to enjoy things with a high noise floor.
@@imfsresidentotaku9699 again, on paper the specs aren't there. I remember trying to do that back in the day and I've always found the sound inferior to even a Walgreens portable CD player I had at the time.
This video is very well put together, so first of all I want to commend you for that. The real reason for this comment is about the optical drive assembly for all original PSX consoles. Sony used a metal laser on a plastic track, and over time the plastic and grease mix and harden and cause the laser to fall out of alignment. Simply cleaning the rails and bathing it in lithium grease will often fix and allow a PS1 to read and play CDs. Worst case adjusting laser pots helps as well. NEVER TOSS A PS1. They are very easy to fix. It is always repairable unless the laser is burnt out or the ICs on the board are fried.
Most important comment here, by far. I cringed so hard when this dude said he would buy stacks of PS1s on eBay and THROW OUT MOST OF THEM. A piece of me died inside.
i had one for a year ish. updated the psu , new leaser mechanism , painted outer shell and so on . nice fun player indeed. fun project . specifically the intro is good to hear it when u turn it on , and when friends around the intro instantly brings back good memories . The PS2 remote&reciver combo works whit it . just plug it in and u have a remote !!!!! Other than that is ok . Any better quality cd player murders it but its a good fun indeed . Actually I still have it in the attic hmm time to digit up i guess :)
No bigger disappointment when setting up my PS5 then to learn that it doesn’t play CDs. The PS3 came up for Rock Band and Guitar Hero duty and is doubling as the only CD player in my rack. Now I may have to go into the way-back machine and check the serial numbers on the PS1. How do you go from “leave your PS1 powered up for months and it’ll sound better” to “bring it to a show just hours before setting up a demo” and expect the same performance? Is it good “out of the box”?
Out of the box the performance is good. Although, leaving it on for "x" amount of time allows the unit and the components to warm up to temperature providing a warmer, resonant sound (provided you have quality components and accessories). There are no fans in the original PSXs, so they naturally heat up and dissipate heat via small heatsinks. To get the most out of it as the reviewer stated, "...you gotta leave it on for a long time." It may not be the top notch CD player people expect it to be, but it does a very good job if you're willing to keep it on.
People were using the PS1 as a CD player long before 2002-03, myself and my friends included back in 1998-99. The PS1 was released in 1994-5 I imagine folks were using as a cd player from the get go, probably primarily kids without much money to spend on a separate stereo, I know that’s what I did. I haven’t seen a ps1 manual in decades, but I would bet it’s mentioned in the manual that it can be used as a CD player.
yeah my friend had a ps1 he was into his music loved his HIFI stuff I remember CD players were mega expensive he plugged it to his aiwa stereo first time I heard a CD I was gobsmacked around the time emo philips advert sony discman one of my other friends got the discman for christmas he was well angry the batteries in it would last 15 minutes and every 2 steps you would walk it skipped. I remember him trying to take it back to the shop because it skipped when he walked the shop keeper said no he would not change it because it played fine, but what about the advert Emo philips is jumping over chairs vacumcleaning and dancing the man said that just the advert to sell them and refused a refund 😂 But the ps1 was very good sounding in the day
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indeed. Onthe psx an the Psone, Btw in the PSX fat you could play music and use visual filters that where really trippy and change color, densite, modulation. I think is called synth scope
I really enjoy this video, thanks so much. When I initially read the article, I remembered that I bought one PS1 with several games to one of my kids. I went to his room at night and took the unit to check of if " it was the one " , and it was. My kid have around 11yo at that time. Today he is 29 and I just send him this link. He is into audio like me and he remembered the fact that I took his unit. Sure, I bought him another one, but it wasn't the right PS1 😂
If the CD Player in the SCPH 1001 was so great, why didn't Sony employ this in their dedicated CD players? I think it's all in people's heads and the sound of any given thing is so subjective it makes spending thousands of dollars on hifi gear seem pointless.
It doesn’t matter you think because it’s great enough that it’s generally agreed upon, so it can’t all be “in people’s heads.” Why employ this in dedicated CD players when it can be included as a feature on a video game console, thus giving buyers more bang for their buck?
I found that a cheap dvd or even bluray player using the digital out to a good DAC works amazingly well. Certainly better than all of my traditional cd units I have tried using their built in dac to rca outputs. What exactly is the benefit of the ps1 over what I am doing... if any? I think the DAC is the biggest issue, no? Am I missing something? Because other than repurposing an old technology rather than scrapping it... I don't get it. Albeit, getting a ps1 up and running feels less than ideal (letting it warm up and never turning it off, finding one that can play cdr, or recalibrating lasers... huh?).
In J A's own words; "Overall, this is a pretty poor set of measurements. I wonder, therefore, if the "magic" of the PlayStation 1's sound lies not in its technical excellence but in the fact that it smears over and disguises much of what is wrong with typical CD sound quality, to which it adds a touch of low-level compression from the linearity error. Certainly, when I recently listened to a PS1 as the source in a system comprising an inexpensive Cayin tube integrated amplifier driving Definitive Technology Mythos ST speakers, it sounded relaxed and informative in a manner I would not have expected from this measured performance." Is this one of those sayings, " It goes right by going wrong".
While most moddles are just dust and can be fixed by spraying compressed air under the laser lense, the early PS1 SCPH-100X had issues with the CD drive as they used plastic where metal should have been used. Its easy to fix with a shim and superglue. th-cam.com/video/xA3RqoSj2SQ/w-d-xo.html
And the laser is faced towards the PSU, which could fry it, so it's good that it was changed with later models, the laser is faced right instead of left
FYI, regarding the terrible noise introduced by connecting a monitor, you don't need it. If you put a CD in the PS-1 it figures out it's a CD and will work just fine without any monitor connection. It sounds infinitely better when it is only connected audio out via the RCA jacks, nothing else.
I memorized the controls. The lower half of a PS2 remote works on it as well. Thank you again for taking the time to conteibute to the video it was awesome
what a wild ride! very awesome video my friend! I heard some time ago about this and up until I have watched this entire video now had made NOTHING out of that fact about the SCPH 1001 ps1... like, to me it's a video game console that I love and cherish but I would have never thought of it to be superior playing audio cds! lucky me about 2 months ago I got a hold of precisely a SCPH 1001 model, cleaned and regreased the tracks where the laser lens sits and got it back to a working state, sadly the case is completely brittle and I have broken mostly all the posts where the screws go, they just broke while removing the screws. i'm gonna take good care of this SCPH 1001 I got and try out what I just read about hooking up only the white and red rca jacks and experience this so called "superior sound" this video got me super curious now!
Actually, the first PS1s came with a "Developer's Demo CD" that caught my eye as a kid because it was black instead of silvery looking like a regular CD. Another fun fact is that if you chose the CD player option or put that demo in a regular CD player it would play some songs, among them Blind by Korn and Big me by Foo Fighters...if my memory serves me well.
I happen to have a few PS1's (SCPH-5502 PAL and SCPH-7002 PAL) and I listened to both using my Ifi Zen CAN headphone amp and Sennheiser HD660S headphones. Standard AV cable without any video plugged in. I did some A-B testing using an Ifi Zen DAC V2 (with same headphones) on a desktop PC as a reference point. My nutshell summary is that the PS1 can't beat a modern USB DAC but actually it's still remarkably good. It doesn't have enough musical composure or sound stage to give you big goosebumps, although despite that I still enjoyed it. The fact it's even worth comparing a $20 decades-old console to a $150 new DAC is a novelty. If you're willing to tolerate temperamental old cables and gamepads, it's worth keeping an old PS1 around to play some CD's on it. Although I definitely wouldn't invest hundreds of dollars expecting it to be a silver bullet solution.
i have this ps1 model boxed since 2011, it still works! I was looking to play some of my cds and crossed my mind that i once read this console was good at it.
Question: if i'm correct John DeVore mentioned he had to get many of the PS1 SCPH-1001 to find one that had the great sound-is that correct? and if so, if that's correct and they were all the same stock 1001 then why would a person have to go through several of them to find a good one that had the great sound quality? please clarify this because unless i'm wrong i don't understand that point and why? thanks and please clarify... p.s. have really enjoyed your channel and content over the years brother and value your opinion and points of view, Jerry
They made them with two different DACs under the same model number. Also, some didnt work at all because if age. So the process of finding a mint one with the right DAC was a bit of a challenge. However, I have heard that both DACs under that model number both sound great
@@audioarkitekts thanks Mike, i'm VERY intrigued by this and consider myself an audiophile and love listening to different gear and doing side by side comparisons of cd, record and tape deck players and different formats and pressings as well. so how can a person tell if they have one the PS that has the great sounding DAC inside? do you have to take it apart? can you tell from anything on the outside of the PS to discern like certain serial numbers? what is the correct DAC part number that the unit should have that produces the awesome sounding PS? sorry for the questions but i don't know how to search it out or what to look for without asking for the details please.
This was great. I infrequently follow DeVore's channel. Some of his acolytes are kind of rabid so I ceased commenting on any of his posts there but I'm always curious about what he has to say. This interview with him was really informative. It was like sitting around a campfire and listening to my dad and uncles telling stories. Quite a cool slice of history. Thanks, Mike! Thanks John!
I'm thankful I can't hear the differences between decent CD players and DACs. Videos like this are interesting, but the equipment is transparent to my ears unless it is just junk.
Sony's best Hi-Fi gear was from the late 80's/early 90's. If you look at the internals of that gear and compare with the board in the SCPH-1001, it was obviously designed by the same engineers. Later Playstation boards were WAY costed down.
The PS1 and PS2 were quite remarkable for their time and really good value for money. We didnt realise we had it so good compared to nowadays. Lets not forget Sony was making the sound chips for Nintendo, and thats what sparked closer cooperation, which Nintendo turner their back on and made Sony determined to go solo. The PS1 had to sound good, upscaling the compressed audio files on the game discs. They had to be compressed as best as possible to leave enough space for the graphics etc.
Thanks for this! Love to see you follow up with a video on the Magnavox player. I remember getting a call to run to Adray's in Southern California to buy a Magnavox player that were specially priced at around $100. So, at the time Magnavox was a trash name, sort of like what happened to Fisher with all the brand buyouts. So, we wondered what makes this special. Turned out they were rebadged Phillips players. Made in overseas, around 20 lbs each, beautiful die-casting, and superior sonics. Later, a friend of mine told me about an audio shop near San Diego that had a kit to upgrade the unit. New output caps, new Op Amp, and finally some rhodium plated jacks to replace the stock ones. Those required a bit of drilling, which was difficult as the metal was cast and brittle, so not a clean drill. Still, I did the tweak, which cost something like $ 30 for the parts, and used the unit for years. I still have several of them, and hope to try my modified one to compare to a modern one. One problem, which many decks of that era had, is that the lube on the transport tray gearing dries out so the motor can't open and close it properly. The motors tended to burn out under the additional load and torque needed to overcome the additional friction. Later Magnavox players were just standard issue stuff. But that first one, gave the Sony CDP-101 serious competition but at 1/7th the cost.
Try out an older Sony HiFi component CD player from the early 90's. I have a couple, a single disc unit and a 5 disc carousel, and find they have a nice soft, warm sound thats missing from modern day units, like what you describe the PS1 having.
@@audioarkitekts I have a SONY CDP 990 from 1990 with 4 DAC chips (2 per channel) and I can confirm that it sounds as good as a SONY ES model. Not digital at all with excellent detail across the frequency range. I've had it for over 20 years and it's not going anywhere.
@@audioarkitektsI picked up a restored Sony D-700/D-170, it was one of the first miniature CD players from Sony sort of the proto-discman. I was gabsmocked listening to it because it sounds better to me than a lot of my modern expensive DACs.
I thoroughly enjoyed the interview! Great to see where this originated. Excellent job of interviewing and really GREAT questions, I could not have enjoyed that more. A few things stick in my mind. “Bone Stock”, “Battery Power Supply didn’t make it better.” “BONE STOCK!” Then everything that was conveyed in the interview went straight out of the window when you showed you tech guy modifying a “BONE STOCK” PS1. YES measurements matter. YES it’s MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more than 1’s and 0’s that contribute to the sound. By modifying the “BONE STOCK” unicorn PS1 you most likely ruined the sound you were looking for. That noise you got rid of most likely had a positive (yet, subjective) impact on the sound from that PS1. I’m certain you removed some harmonics that most likely needed to be there to achieve the holy grail sound of the PS1. I think of it as a type of Dithering affect. Long story VERY short, you can think of dither as adding noise or signal to reduce noise. As a loose analogy you un-dithered something. ;-). I would love to see a listening test, A/B, against a “BONE STOCK” PS1 and something current.
Hmmm. I am surprised a bit if I have to be honest what did you say about the chip because as far as I know there should be 4309avm instead of 4309abm. I'm now wondering what is the right one.
So, if you were in the market today for a budget friendly CD player (under $400) would you get a stock PS1 or would you rather have something like the NAD C 538, Cambridge AXC35 or Yamaha CD-S303? Thanks a lot for the video.
Just got one yesterday and can confirm that listening to it does not provide a wide or deep soundstage when compared to listening to dsd or vinyl and especially vinyl with a tube preamp. That being said it is very mellow and has a very non-digital sound, which I enjoy a lot. I will not be preferring this over listening to records, but I will be dusting off my cds.
IRONY: SACD players were going for $5,000 or more. I had one, the SONY SCD-1. It was a snake oil component. The audio caps were .15 cent electrolytics. Redbook cd players costing a few hundred bucks sounded better.
@@audioarkitekts Sony has a long sad history of market fraud. Audio, movie reviews, and so on. I feel sad for the partially deaf reviewers that praised the SCD-1 unless those reviews were fake, paid for or magazines wanting ad revenue.
I've had a 1002 for about 1 year now and I did the output stage bypass using wima caps and 18k resistors and have really been enjoying the unit for a while. However I feel it's time to do the PSU. Do you know of any commercially available units rather than making my own ?
It litterally sounds no better than any other cd player of its day. You still have audiophiles demagnetizing their cds to get a better sound and them thinking flat speaker wire and Ethernet hubs giving better sound.
@@audioarkitekts Please, yes! Or... I can do it by myself. I'm also a translator :) . But, I know the SCPH-100x very well. Some terms are hard to translate if you don't know the correct context :)
Well my model is the SCPH-7000 a Japanese Domestic Market model and well it sounded the same as my 90s Sony ZS-D5 Boombox from around that time period while my Boombox played CD-R's my Playstation cannot but their sound signature are identitcal when compared on my JVC Hi-Fi Stereo. albeit i prefer the sound of my Boombox more as it's more louder than the line level output of my PS1.
So, Michael I have a serious question for you. I have an unopened, sealed, mint boxed not a Sony PlayStation 1 but a Sony PlayStation 3. (60gb) It has been in my bedroom closet on a top shelf for a long time. Is it worth anything? Can't remember what I paid for it back in the day. (early 97) I just had completely forgot about it until I recently was uncluttering the closet. Thanks Hot Rod
Really? Yes, Michael you are correct. I have the date wrong. Maybe early 2007. I may have the sales receipt even some place I'm usually pretty good about that stuff. I wonder where one kind of goes about finding it's close to value. Any advice on who or where to find that I would be greatly in your debt. There must be a couple of Sony PlayStation experts out there in the great beyond.... have a good New Years. ..'-)) Hot Rod @@audioarkitekts
My first cd player was a ps1, it really had a great soft analog like sound. It was way better compared to the 90's sea of crap cd players. Nowdays it doesnt hold a candle to the advanced dac chips.
I have a PS5 at home, do you think it's enough in terms of quality? I'm just starting to buy equipment for my home, and I have a CD collection too, I was thinking of buying dedicated equipment but if a PlayStation is enough to go on my speakers that would be fine
@@jasonmoquin Agreed. I don't want to see clutter in my system. By the way, the Fosi K5 Pro is the only DAC that I know of that works with PS5. Others dont.
@@remogaggi82 According to most sources, the AK4309AVM is the good one, which you can also find in SCPH-55XX models. You can have at least three different DACs in the SCPH-100X models: AK4309AVM (most common) AK4309VM (earlier consoles) AK4310VM I also ready about an AK4310 in Japanese SCPH-1000 models. Some people say it sounds even better than US and European 100X models.
Walking into this vid assuming it's about the SCPH-100X, or any PS1 with rca jacks in the back (SCPH-3X0X, SCPH-5000, SCPH-5903) Short answer: No. Longer answer: The SCPH-1001's RCA jacks actually sound noiser than the multi-out due to the preamp sony used. Plus all their lasers are dead or unreliable by now. If you're gonna use any PS1 to play audio CDs, use a 700X or later. Why? No real reason except for these radical visualizers this revision added when you press select on the the CD player menu.. Left/right shifts between them, triangle does effects, square changes color.
I Hate TH-cam's copyright rules. It's a pain in the rear end listening to any of these Hi-Fi channels go on about kit without being able to hear any of the results. I know TH-cam will compress sound and ruin the hi fidelity, but it is still possible to hear some of the differences between kit. Anyway, I am not an Audiophile by any standards, because I can't afford it. But I've been using my PS2 for audio playback for years and it does a great job.
Any competently manufactured CD player sounds exactly like any other competently manufactured CD player if anyone spends thousands on a CD player they have way more money than sense.
@@itsmorphed6416 , indeed. I have over a dozen players from different manufacturers and eras. In my pursuit to get optimal quality from my gear, I started picking up units here and there that had different DACs and decent construction. Each and every one sounds different when hooked to the same receiver and speakers. I even ran A/B comparisons in multiple combinations and the it was clear as day that the DAC makes a huge difference. The funny part is that I ended up choosing a Kenwood DP-R895 5-disc changer as my primary, which I picked up for $15 from a local thrift store. Even though it's not even close to being the highest-end unit I own, the pure beauty of that thing's audio stage and clarity is stellar! Expensive doesn't always mean better.
to the ones and zeros people i wonder if theyd be willing to do a blind ab with their turntables and my bryston bcd 1 they can pick the music. i just reckon the notion that any audiophile cd player from a reputable company in the audiophile game would smoke most turntables and i find it pretty funny people think otherwise.
Ha! I’ve got the player ( model number) and found it sounded good but finicky about the condition of the disk. Never really heard a difference in CD players period.
Funny video, but probably inadvertently. It's a great story though -- Some vinyl enthusiast comes up with a miracle CD player gimmick 20 years ago to troll digital snobs, and, shocker of all shockers, they fall for it and are still falling for it 20 years later. Favorite part: "hey it's noisy, let's design a whole new power supply! Oh that didn't work, what if I unplug the monitor..." PS1 had a good DAC for the era (the drive and other electronics in that thing are not special at all). Good DAC for the era but doesn't hold a candle to modern DACs. As far as readily available cheap CD players go right now, PS1 sucks. Top loading (fills up with dust and crap), no display, slow to spin up, and interface is wired game controller LOL. Only upside is a decent but dated DAC. Folks, be smart. Repurpose an old DVD or bluray player with digital out (plug it in and put in a burned CD to make sure it operates quietly and has a good reader), and run it into a cheap but amazing DAC like Topping E30. For a couple hundred bucks max you've achieved source fidelity that puts you way out beyond the point of diminishing returns. Spend your money on music, concerts, speakers, amps, etc.
I've been very intrigued by this SCPH-1001 phenomenon! And this video has done a great job sharing some of the history behind this! Thank you! John DeVore mentioned that you need to find one that can play CD-R's. If you replace the transport, that's not an issue anymore? I've been scouring used video-game stores and have been asking them to test the SCPH-1001's with a CD-R. So far, no units have been able to play them. They skip or don't play consistently. My question is, should I just buy one off ebay and replace the transport like you did with the KSM-440AEM? Would that be easier than continuing to try and track one that does play CD-R's?
I had one (well, actually several). It was fantastic. Sounded amazing. Unfortunately the CD mechanism became somewhat temperamental, and it became difficult to read CDs.I now run a 1984 Marantz CD54, which is quite superb. I’d say it’s worth a go, because the sound quality is brilliant.
Ok, you heard it here first. An amazing CD player is the Apple USB Superdrive. We did some A/B tests with 500-1000 dollar CD Transports and it sounded better! Mike, since you are down that path, maybe you can have a listen? I came about to it after i bought the 50th Anniversary edition of LA Woman and did not have a CD to compare the vinyl and streaming versions. And to my surprise the CD sounded better than streaming. My buddy then brought 3 CD transports. And the Superdrive sounded better! Have a go if you can, it would be an interesting thing to do.
@@audioarkitekts Don't think so, I bought it a few weeks ago. My thinking of buying it and not a dedicated CD player was what Devore said about Sony engineering. Although the CD player might not be made by Apple, any specifications and integration with the Mac would be optimised by some of the best engineers in the world. I found what you described about the PS1. Sounds more analogue. Look forward to hearing what you think!
Funnily enough my two disc drives are the PS1 and the SuperDrive. The only issue I had with the SuperDrive was it was pretty noisy mechanically until I put some cheap little rubber feet on it and moved the Mac mini it’s plugged into a little further away from my seating position. Does the job and sounds great but the PS1 still gets the most use
I’m sure some did but the internet was still in its infancy, the kind of high level discussions that went on about this stuff was relegated to message boards and of course no audiophile magazine was going to talk about this, if not out of laughing off the idea of a “toy” being better than their expensive equipment but also I imagine the politics of not wanting to upset vendors who advertise in their magazine and wouldn’t want consumers to know this.
Ist funny, back in the days it was the psone which was called audiophile not the psx... the smaller round Version so to say... now its the psx... I do not get it...
This is interesting. More people should watch this. DeVore is very well known in the Industry. It sounds like an eastern egg hidden away in a few consoles. Cool
People sleep on PlayStations. For literally 3 years, the PS3 was by far the best Blu-Ray player on the market. I still use my PS3 as - you guessed it - a cd player!
i never heard a PS1 SCPH 1001, but i have a PSOne (the smaller variant) that i use to play games, and i played some audio CDs on it just to see if gets at least close to something good and, oh my god, what an awful CD player hahaha! it sounds worse than a Philips CD164 that i have, which is a very low end CD player... if the SCPH 1001 actually have a sound that good, then Sony really made a very brutal downgrade with the last PS1 model.
My mom used to listen to her audio cds on my playstation 1. Keep in mind, she never knew anything about it and never played any games. Back then we had no idea about the quality. But now it makes sense since we never complained about it. If connected to some good speakers it would have been even better.
My favorite PS1 trick is ridge racer let you swap the game disk with your music cds. Letting you play your music while you raced.
The ps1 has a laser stronger than one of those laser guns from the future ever could have, I have a cd scratched so bad that it looks like it went through a paper shredder and my ps1 can play it with no hesitation or skipping.
Thx! You answer a question I had.
i actually prefer this than weak lasers
damn its a hassle to recalibrate new lasers
To me, having a great laser that can read damaged discs is one of the few use cases for bothering with a PS1. But you should also bear in mind that so do a lot of computer DVD drives. That fact diminishes the value again for a PS1 because once you get media into the digital domain, you then can play it back in any number of ways. The reason why PS1 Playstations with controllers are $20-40 on eBay is that everybody has moved on from CD players. There is no stampede for this cute hack.
I have a PS1 that's on the opposite spectrum where the good discs have some issues, and if it's scratched too bad it skips or does weird stuff with the audio or straight up won't play
@@battleaxe1985 replace it with part# KSM440BAM
That was a fun, and interesting video. To think that back then I bothered to buy a giant Pioneer CD player because I thought there's no way I could rely on that PS1 to do anything but play Final Fantasy 7.
i played all the way up to the midgar zolom on my first playthrough without a memory card! addicted. i had the playstation plugged into a marantz stereo from the 80s and some jbl speakers and the sound was just insane. i remember one time i had a party and showed some of the guys the intro to final fantasy 8 and everyone was just dumbstruck saying 'this is a game?' hahaha i miss golden age squaresoft!!
This was the most informative ever seen on Sony PS-1, finally put my system back together, went with The Wharfedale Linton's spkrs, power by a Quad 306 and Nobsound Passive, had the unit for years with nothing to use to listen to it with. Now, along with Kimber Kables PBJ's inner-connects. Lemme tell ya', it does not disappoint. As a computer/electronic eng. Esp. Appreciated the interview and demo of the modifications. But as is, sounds good! Thank you, 🙏
Awesome, I am so glad you enjoyed it!
Noise floor is far too high. Not much higher than vinyl, maybe that's why audiophiles liked it so much. They tend to enjoy things with a high noise floor.
Which is precisely why I swapped out the power supply for a nice quiet linear power supply. Made a huge difference.
@@audioarkitekts still probably not much greater than vinyl and certainly less than a dedicated CD player
@@LetsRideIllinois”Certainly” nothing. The audio for CDs on PlayStation is especially crisp and punchy.
@@imfsresidentotaku9699 again, on paper the specs aren't there. I remember trying to do that back in the day and I've always found the sound inferior to even a Walgreens portable CD player I had at the time.
@@LetsRideIllinoisstill better then a vinyl lol
This video is very well put together, so first of all I want to commend you for that. The real reason for this comment is about the optical drive assembly for all original PSX consoles. Sony used a metal laser on a plastic track, and over time the plastic and grease mix and harden and cause the laser to fall out of alignment. Simply cleaning the rails and bathing it in lithium grease will often fix and allow a PS1 to read and play CDs. Worst case adjusting laser pots helps as well. NEVER TOSS A PS1. They are very easy to fix. It is always repairable unless the laser is burnt out or the ICs on the board are fried.
Most important comment here, by far. I cringed so hard when this dude said he would buy stacks of PS1s on eBay and THROW OUT MOST OF THEM. A piece of me died inside.
i had one for a year ish. updated the psu , new leaser mechanism , painted outer shell and so on . nice fun player indeed. fun project . specifically the intro is good to hear it when u turn it on , and when friends around the intro instantly brings back good memories .
The PS2 remote&reciver combo works whit it . just plug it in and u have a remote !!!!!
Other than that is ok . Any better quality cd player murders it but its a good fun indeed .
Actually I still have it in the attic hmm time to digit up i guess :)
No bigger disappointment when setting up my PS5 then to learn that it doesn’t play CDs. The PS3 came up for Rock Band and Guitar Hero duty and is doubling as the only CD player in my rack. Now I may have to go into the way-back machine and check the serial numbers on the PS1.
How do you go from “leave your PS1 powered up for months and it’ll sound better” to “bring it to a show just hours before setting up a demo” and expect the same performance? Is it good “out of the box”?
Out of the box the performance is good. Although, leaving it on for "x" amount of time allows the unit and the components to warm up to temperature providing a warmer, resonant sound (provided you have quality components and accessories). There are no fans in the original PSXs, so they naturally heat up and dissipate heat via small heatsinks. To get the most out of it as the reviewer stated, "...you gotta leave it on for a long time." It may not be the top notch CD player people expect it to be, but it does a very good job if you're willing to keep it on.
People were using the PS1 as a CD player long before 2002-03, myself and my friends included back in 1998-99. The PS1 was released in 1994-5 I imagine folks were using as a cd player from the get go, probably primarily kids without much money to spend on a separate stereo, I know that’s what I did. I haven’t seen a ps1 manual in decades, but I would bet it’s mentioned in the manual that it can be used as a CD player.
yeah my friend had a ps1 he was into his music loved his HIFI stuff I remember CD players were mega expensive he plugged it to his aiwa stereo first time I heard a CD I was gobsmacked around the time emo philips advert sony discman one of my other friends got the discman for christmas he was well angry the batteries in it would last 15 minutes and every 2 steps you would walk it skipped. I remember him trying to take it back to the shop because it skipped when he walked the shop keeper said no he would not change it because it played fine, but what about the advert Emo philips is jumping over chairs vacumcleaning and dancing the man said that just the advert to sell them and refused a refund 😂 But the ps1 was very good sounding in the day
indeed. Onthe psx an the Psone, Btw in the PSX fat you could play music and use visual filters that where really trippy and change color, densite, modulation. I think is called synth scope
I really enjoy this video, thanks so much.
When I initially read the article, I remembered that I bought one PS1 with several games to one of my kids. I went to his room at night and took the unit to check of if " it was the one " , and it was. My kid have around 11yo at that time.
Today he is 29 and I just send him this link. He is into audio like me and he remembered the fact that I took his unit. Sure, I bought him another one, but it wasn't the right PS1 😂
Thats amazing! Now you have an official audiophile quality cd player
If the CD Player in the SCPH 1001 was so great, why didn't Sony employ this in their dedicated CD players?
I think it's all in people's heads and the sound of any given thing is so subjective it makes spending thousands of dollars on hifi gear seem pointless.
It doesn’t matter you think because it’s great enough that it’s generally agreed upon, so it can’t all be “in people’s heads.” Why employ this in dedicated CD players when it can be included as a feature on a video game console, thus giving buyers more bang for their buck?
I found that a cheap dvd or even bluray player using the digital out to a good DAC works amazingly well. Certainly better than all of my traditional cd units I have tried using their built in dac to rca outputs.
What exactly is the benefit of the ps1 over what I am doing... if any? I think the DAC is the biggest issue, no? Am I missing something? Because other than repurposing an old technology rather than scrapping it... I don't get it. Albeit, getting a ps1 up and running feels less than ideal (letting it warm up and never turning it off, finding one that can play cdr, or recalibrating lasers... huh?).
I am wondering If a modded PS3 would be able to spin CDs, SACDs and BD discs. That would be very nice.
That would be interesting
apart from SCPH-1001 model , what about other models of the original PS1, do they sound similar?
In J A's own words; "Overall, this is a pretty poor set of measurements. I wonder, therefore, if the "magic" of the PlayStation 1's sound lies not in its technical excellence but in the fact that it smears over and disguises much of what is wrong with typical CD sound quality, to which it adds a touch of low-level compression from the linearity error. Certainly, when I recently listened to a PS1 as the source in a system comprising an inexpensive Cayin tube integrated amplifier driving Definitive Technology Mythos ST speakers, it sounded relaxed and informative in a manner I would not have expected from this measured performance." Is this one of those sayings, " It goes right by going wrong".
After this video prices for this PlayStation skyrocketed on eBay!
No they were modding them years ago.
While most moddles are just dust and can be fixed by spraying compressed air under the laser lense, the early PS1 SCPH-100X had issues with the CD drive as they used plastic where metal should have been used. Its easy to fix with a shim and superglue.
th-cam.com/video/xA3RqoSj2SQ/w-d-xo.html
Nice, thanks for the info.
@Antonios Ichyros issues
And the laser is faced towards the PSU, which could fry it, so it's good that it was changed with later models, the laser is faced right instead of left
How much are these things now ? It's cheaper to get a good second-hand cd separate.
FYI, regarding the terrible noise introduced by connecting a monitor, you don't need it. If you put a CD in the PS-1 it figures out it's a CD and will work just fine without any monitor connection. It sounds infinitely better when it is only connected audio out via the RCA jacks, nothing else.
I memorized the controls. The lower half of a PS2 remote works on it as well. Thank you again for taking the time to conteibute to the video it was awesome
Vi pk @@audioarkitekts
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what a wild ride! very awesome video my friend! I heard some time ago about this and up until I have watched this entire video now had made NOTHING out of that fact about the SCPH 1001 ps1... like, to me it's a video game console that I love and cherish but I would have never thought of it to be superior playing audio cds!
lucky me about 2 months ago I got a hold of precisely a SCPH 1001 model, cleaned and regreased the tracks where the laser lens sits and got it back to a working state, sadly the case is completely brittle and I have broken mostly all the posts where the screws go, they just broke while removing the screws.
i'm gonna take good care of this SCPH 1001 I got and try out what I just read about hooking up only the white and red rca jacks and experience this so called "superior sound"
this video got me super curious now!
You can get replacement cases online. There are some really nice ones, different colors and such.
Actually, the first PS1s came with a "Developer's Demo CD" that caught my eye as a kid because it was black instead of silvery looking like a regular CD. Another fun fact is that if you chose the CD player option or put that demo in a regular CD player it would play some songs, among them Blind by Korn and Big me by Foo Fighters...if my memory serves me well.
If Art would have had his own TH-cam channel , it would have been a monster. He had a great personality.
My older brother use it as cd player for his dj business parties, back on the day when ps1 just had a few years old.
I happen to have a few PS1's (SCPH-5502 PAL and SCPH-7002 PAL) and I listened to both using my Ifi Zen CAN headphone amp and Sennheiser HD660S headphones. Standard AV cable without any video plugged in. I did some A-B testing using an Ifi Zen DAC V2 (with same headphones) on a desktop PC as a reference point. My nutshell summary is that the PS1 can't beat a modern USB DAC but actually it's still remarkably good. It doesn't have enough musical composure or sound stage to give you big goosebumps, although despite that I still enjoyed it. The fact it's even worth comparing a $20 decades-old console to a $150 new DAC is a novelty. If you're willing to tolerate temperamental old cables and gamepads, it's worth keeping an old PS1 around to play some CD's on it. Although I definitely wouldn't invest hundreds of dollars expecting it to be a silver bullet solution.
does it have to be the version with the red/ white RCA outs?
i have this ps1 model boxed since 2011, it still works! I was looking to play some of my cds and crossed my mind that i once read this console was good at it.
Question: if i'm correct John DeVore mentioned he had to get many of the PS1 SCPH-1001 to find one that had the great sound-is that correct? and if so, if that's correct and they were all the same stock 1001 then why would a person have to go through several of them to find a good one that had the great sound quality? please clarify this because unless i'm wrong i don't understand that point and why? thanks and please clarify... p.s. have really enjoyed your channel and content over the years brother and value your opinion and points of view, Jerry
They made them with two different DACs under the same model number. Also, some didnt work at all because if age. So the process of finding a mint one with the right DAC was a bit of a challenge. However, I have heard that both DACs under that model number both sound great
Thank you for your support as well.
@@audioarkitekts thanks Mike, i'm VERY intrigued by this and consider myself an audiophile and love listening to different gear and doing side by side comparisons of cd, record and tape deck players and different formats and pressings as well. so how can a person tell if they have one the PS that has the great sounding DAC inside? do you have to take it apart? can you tell from anything on the outside of the PS to discern like certain serial numbers? what is the correct DAC part number that the unit should have that produces the awesome sounding PS? sorry for the questions but i don't know how to search it out or what to look for without asking for the details please.
@@jlcougilljrdude tf. They already said you have to test if they can actually play the audio CDs. 😅 You're so anxious chill, its trial and error.
How can I recognize this PS1 model just by the looks?
The specific model number SCPH1001
This was great. I infrequently follow DeVore's channel. Some of his acolytes are kind of rabid so I ceased commenting on any of his posts there but I'm always curious about what he has to say. This interview with him was really informative. It was like sitting around a campfire and listening to my dad and uncles telling stories. Quite a cool slice of history. Thanks, Mike! Thanks John!
Thank you for your support
Hi, what was the Pioneer CD player you mentioned? What model? Thanks
I'm thankful I can't hear the differences between decent CD players and DACs. Videos like this are interesting, but the equipment is transparent to my ears unless it is just junk.
Sony's best Hi-Fi gear was from the late 80's/early 90's. If you look at the internals of that gear and compare with the board in the SCPH-1001, it was obviously designed by the same engineers. Later Playstation boards were WAY costed down.
I love the sound of the PSI and I’ve own some high end CD players.
The PS1 and PS2 were quite remarkable for their time and really good value for money. We didnt realise we had it so good compared to nowadays.
Lets not forget Sony was making the sound chips for Nintendo, and thats what sparked closer cooperation, which Nintendo turner their back on and made Sony determined to go solo. The PS1 had to sound good, upscaling the compressed audio files on the game discs. They had to be compressed as best as possible to leave enough space for the graphics etc.
Thanks for this! Love to see you follow up with a video on the Magnavox player. I remember getting a call to run to Adray's in Southern California to buy a Magnavox player that were specially priced at around $100. So, at the time Magnavox was a trash name, sort of like what happened to Fisher with all the brand buyouts. So, we wondered what makes this special. Turned out they were rebadged Phillips players. Made in overseas, around 20 lbs each, beautiful die-casting, and superior sonics. Later, a friend of mine told me about an audio shop near San Diego that had a kit to upgrade the unit. New output caps, new Op Amp, and finally some rhodium plated jacks to replace the stock ones. Those required a bit of drilling, which was difficult as the metal was cast and brittle, so not a clean drill. Still, I did the tweak, which cost something like $ 30 for the parts, and used the unit for years. I still have several of them, and hope to try my modified one to compare to a modern one. One problem, which many decks of that era had, is that the lube on the transport tray gearing dries out so the motor can't open and close it properly. The motors tended to burn out under the additional load and torque needed to overcome the additional friction. Later Magnavox players were just standard issue stuff. But that first one, gave the Sony CDP-101 serious competition but at 1/7th the cost.
I wish I could get my hands on that kit.
It was a high noise player. Some like the extra noise.also had laser issues.
Try out an older Sony HiFi component CD player from the early 90's. I have a couple, a single disc unit and a 5 disc carousel, and find they have a nice soft, warm sound thats missing from modern day units, like what you describe the PS1 having.
Any particular model numbers you would suggest?
@@audioarkitekts The two I have are the Sony CDP-M42 and the Sony CDP-C315M.
@@audioarkitekts I have a SONY CDP 990 from 1990 with 4 DAC chips (2 per channel) and I can confirm that it sounds as good as a SONY ES model. Not digital at all with excellent detail across the frequency range. I've had it for over 20 years and it's not going anywhere.
@@audioarkitektsI picked up a restored Sony D-700/D-170, it was one of the first miniature CD players from Sony sort of the proto-discman. I was gabsmocked listening to it because it sounds better to me than a lot of my modern expensive DACs.
I played a cd in a us Playstation day 1 of its release on 9/9/95. Sounded fine.
Sound quality aside, the disc drive itself is notoriously unreliable.
I thoroughly enjoyed the interview! Great to see where this originated. Excellent job of interviewing and really GREAT questions, I could not have enjoyed that more. A few things stick in my mind. “Bone Stock”, “Battery Power Supply didn’t make it better.” “BONE STOCK!” Then everything that was conveyed in the interview went straight out of the window when you showed you tech guy modifying a “BONE STOCK” PS1. YES measurements matter. YES it’s MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more than 1’s and 0’s that contribute to the sound. By modifying the “BONE STOCK” unicorn PS1 you most likely ruined the sound you were looking for. That noise you got rid of most likely had a positive (yet, subjective) impact on the sound from that PS1. I’m certain you removed some harmonics that most likely needed to be there to achieve the holy grail sound of the PS1. I think of it as a type of Dithering affect. Long story VERY short, you can think of dither as adding noise or signal to reduce noise. As a loose analogy you un-dithered something. ;-). I would love to see a listening test, A/B, against a “BONE STOCK” PS1 and something current.
You know what that means now don't you Bill? Time to buy another one and compare!!!!
@@audioarkitekts yup
Hmmm.
I am surprised a bit if I have to be honest what did you say about the chip because as far as I know there should be 4309avm instead of 4309abm. I'm now wondering what is the right one.
So, if you were in the market today for a budget friendly CD player (under $400) would you get a stock PS1 or would you rather have something like the NAD C 538, Cambridge AXC35 or Yamaha CD-S303? Thanks a lot for the video.
I would probably go with the newer CD players
Does that PS1 has to be SCPH-1001 or other PS models would worked the same way?
@@seolab-k5nonly that specific model
I have a 303 and use it as a transport. Having digital outs and a good remote are nice features.
I would love to change the Sony PlayStation intro to the Winamp slogan.
Just brought one after watching this, appreciate the depth of information and analysis!
Awesome! You are going to LOVE it!
Just got one yesterday and can confirm that listening to it does not provide a wide or deep soundstage when compared to listening to dsd or vinyl and especially vinyl with a tube preamp. That being said it is very mellow and has a very non-digital sound, which I enjoy a lot. I will not be preferring this over listening to records, but I will be dusting off my cds.
just came across this vid, been using one of these since learning about this over a decade ago. great video
Just now learning about this. I bought one in a lot few years ago and thought someone modded it because I've never seen one.
IRONY: SACD players were going for $5,000 or more. I had one, the SONY SCD-1. It was a snake oil component. The audio caps were .15 cent electrolytics. Redbook cd players costing a few hundred bucks sounded better.
That's unfortunate, I hate when companies do that.
@@audioarkitekts Sony has a long sad history of market fraud. Audio, movie reviews, and so on. I feel sad for the partially deaf reviewers that praised the SCD-1 unless those reviews were fake, paid for or magazines wanting ad revenue.
I've had a 1002 for about 1 year now and I did the output stage bypass using wima caps and 18k resistors and have really been enjoying the unit for a while. However I feel it's time to do the PSU. Do you know of any commercially available units rather than making my own ?
It litterally sounds no better than any other cd player of its day. You still have audiophiles demagnetizing their cds to get a better sound and them thinking flat speaker wire and Ethernet hubs giving better sound.
Yes the Audio World is full of Bullshit!
Thank you so much for this video.
I'm gonna translate this on italian.
-From an technician and PS1 huge lover ❤️!
I can provide Italian subtitles if you like?
@@audioarkitekts Please, yes!
Or... I can do it by myself.
I'm also a translator :) .
But, I know the SCPH-100x very well.
Some terms are hard to translate if you don't know the correct context :)
PS1 players ad noise
To the background, which some people like.
Also they have weak lasers that tend to fail. I have replaced quite a few myself. 😮
What are the numbers or does the PS1 even have a DAC?
Well my model is the SCPH-7000 a Japanese Domestic Market model and well it sounded the same as my 90s Sony ZS-D5 Boombox from around that time period while my Boombox played CD-R's my Playstation cannot but their sound signature are identitcal when compared on my JVC Hi-Fi Stereo. albeit i prefer the sound of my Boombox more as it's more louder than the line level output of my PS1.
So, Michael I have a serious question for you. I have an unopened, sealed, mint boxed not a Sony PlayStation 1 but a Sony PlayStation 3. (60gb) It has been in my bedroom closet on a top shelf for a long time. Is it worth anything? Can't remember what I paid for it back in the day. (early 97) I just had completely forgot about it until I recently was uncluttering the closet. Thanks Hot Rod
PS3 didn’t come out that early double check the model. Whatever it is, from that era, sealed, is worth a lot of money! Thousands for sure 👍
Really? Yes, Michael you are correct. I have the date wrong. Maybe early 2007. I may have the sales receipt even some place I'm usually pretty good about that stuff. I wonder where one kind of goes about finding it's close to value. Any advice on who or where to find that I would be greatly in your debt. There must be a couple of Sony PlayStation experts out there in the great beyond.... have a good New Years. ..'-)) Hot Rod @@audioarkitekts
My first cd player was a ps1, it really had a great soft analog like sound. It was way better compared to the 90's sea of crap cd players. Nowdays it doesnt hold a candle to the advanced dac chips.
I remember them playing scratched cd no sweat
Yes, and I think that is the point. I have the SCPH-9002 model and it sounds great as well! Have no problems with scratchy CDs.
I have a PS5 at home, do you think it's enough in terms of quality?
I'm just starting to buy equipment for my home, and I have a CD collection too, I was thinking of buying dedicated equipment but if a PlayStation is enough to go on my speakers that would be fine
It's fine for now, once you climb down the rabbit hole of hifi it won't be fine.
Just buy a DAC for your PS5 like the Fosi k5 Pro.
@@dieseldust27 Thanks 🙏🏻
@@dieseldust27 , good advice! It'd make a great transport and be WAY cheaper than buying a bunch of new equipment.
@@jasonmoquin Agreed. I don't want to see clutter in my system. By the way, the Fosi K5 Pro is the only DAC that I know of that works with PS5. Others dont.
Maybe i should pull my PS1 out of the basement and start using it again as a cd player!
Not all SCPH-1001 models had the good DAC... The only way to tell is by completely dismantling it and looking at the chip or motherboard model number.
And what are we looking for specifically? What chip is the good one?
@@remogaggi82 According to most sources, the AK4309AVM is the good one, which you can also find in SCPH-55XX models.
You can have at least three different DACs in the SCPH-100X models:
AK4309AVM (most common)
AK4309VM (earlier consoles)
AK4310VM
I also ready about an AK4310 in Japanese SCPH-1000 models. Some people say it sounds even better than US and European 100X models.
What's the good motherboard one?
Just found my own cd player from my childhood and been playing tracks on it ever since!
Walking into this vid assuming it's about the SCPH-100X, or any PS1 with rca jacks in the back (SCPH-3X0X, SCPH-5000, SCPH-5903)
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: The SCPH-1001's RCA jacks actually sound noiser than the multi-out due to the preamp sony used. Plus all their lasers are dead or unreliable by now. If you're gonna use any PS1 to play audio CDs, use a 700X or later. Why? No real reason except for these radical visualizers this revision added when you press select on the the CD player menu.. Left/right shifts between them, triangle does effects, square changes color.
I bought a jvc xl-fz158bk 5 disk CD player from a guy for 10 bucks. I think it came out in about 2001. I wonder how it does versus a PS1.
Fun stuff. Gonna tear apart the basement. There's definitely one hiding down there. Lol
You'll love it!
I Hate TH-cam's copyright rules. It's a pain in the rear end listening to any of these Hi-Fi channels go on about kit without being able to hear any of the results. I know TH-cam will compress sound and ruin the hi fidelity, but it is still possible to hear some of the differences between kit. Anyway, I am not an Audiophile by any standards, because I can't afford it. But I've been using my PS2 for audio playback for years and it does a great job.
Copyright has nothing to do with TH-cam compressing videos and audio
@@Elytriiyou misread the comment
The sony cfd 454 had that kinda sound sertanly best sound i heard yet
Any competently manufactured CD player sounds exactly like any other competently manufactured CD player if anyone spends thousands on a CD player they have way more money than sense.
Wrong . They all sound different.
@@itsmorphed6416 , indeed. I have over a dozen players from different manufacturers and eras. In my pursuit to get optimal quality from my gear, I started picking up units here and there that had different DACs and decent construction. Each and every one sounds different when hooked to the same receiver and speakers. I even ran A/B comparisons in multiple combinations and the it was clear as day that the DAC makes a huge difference. The funny part is that I ended up choosing a Kenwood DP-R895 5-disc changer as my primary, which I picked up for $15 from a local thrift store. Even though it's not even close to being the highest-end unit I own, the pure beauty of that thing's audio stage and clarity is stellar! Expensive doesn't always mean better.
to the ones and zeros people i wonder if theyd be willing to do a blind ab with their turntables and my bryston bcd 1 they can pick the music. i just reckon the notion that any audiophile cd player from a reputable company in the audiophile game would smoke most turntables and i find it pretty funny people think otherwise.
I agree ☝️
Ah and the good old 12c508 gave so much to the PS1
Ha! I’ve got the player ( model number) and found it sounded good but finicky about the condition of the disk. Never really heard a difference in CD players period.
Well idk about PS1, but I use PS3 as a CD player
Ps3 is the SACD player of choice.
So what about the Xbox 360? is that any good? remember with the Xbox 360 you could actually rip cd's on to the hard drive as well.
everything should be powered through a power conditioner from the wall............
GREAT VIDEO. Thanks so much for this. Very interesting. I have one of these and will hookup soon to "see for myself"
Funny video, but probably inadvertently. It's a great story though -- Some vinyl enthusiast comes up with a miracle CD player gimmick 20 years ago to troll digital snobs, and, shocker of all shockers, they fall for it and are still falling for it 20 years later. Favorite part: "hey it's noisy, let's design a whole new power supply! Oh that didn't work, what if I unplug the monitor..." PS1 had a good DAC for the era (the drive and other electronics in that thing are not special at all). Good DAC for the era but doesn't hold a candle to modern DACs. As far as readily available cheap CD players go right now, PS1 sucks. Top loading (fills up with dust and crap), no display, slow to spin up, and interface is wired game controller LOL. Only upside is a decent but dated DAC. Folks, be smart. Repurpose an old DVD or bluray player with digital out (plug it in and put in a burned CD to make sure it operates quietly and has a good reader), and run it into a cheap but amazing DAC like Topping E30. For a couple hundred bucks max you've achieved source fidelity that puts you way out beyond the point of diminishing returns. Spend your money on music, concerts, speakers, amps, etc.
Topping? If I wanted to buy something that dies in a month I’ll buy a 20yo Playstation.
Vinyls are an inferior medium
Hola, yo uso la ps3 como cd transporter y la verdad es que anda bastante bien 👍
This is probably your best video. Excellent work.
The Audio of the PS2 it's better than the PS1 Audio
I've been very intrigued by this SCPH-1001 phenomenon! And this video has done a great job sharing some of the history behind this! Thank you!
John DeVore mentioned that you need to find one that can play CD-R's. If you replace the transport, that's not an issue anymore?
I've been scouring used video-game stores and have been asking them to test the SCPH-1001's with a CD-R. So far, no units have been able to play them. They skip or don't play consistently.
My question is, should I just buy one off ebay and replace the transport like you did with the KSM-440AEM? Would that be easier than continuing to try and track one that does play CD-R's?
Well adjusted it can and will play cd-r
I had one (well, actually several). It was fantastic. Sounded amazing. Unfortunately the CD mechanism became somewhat temperamental, and it became difficult to read CDs.I now run a 1984 Marantz CD54, which is quite superb. I’d say it’s worth a go, because the sound quality is brilliant.
What DAC is in the CD54?
Ok, you heard it here first. An amazing CD player is the Apple USB Superdrive. We did some A/B tests with 500-1000 dollar CD Transports and it sounded better! Mike, since you are down that path, maybe you can have a listen? I came about to it after i bought the 50th Anniversary edition of LA Woman and did not have a CD to compare the vinyl and streaming versions. And to my surprise the CD sounded better than streaming. My buddy then brought 3 CD transports. And the Superdrive sounded better! Have a go if you can, it would be an interesting thing to do.
Challenge accepted!
@@audioarkitekts oh crap!! If it sounds terrible to you, then please forget I said anything... ;)
@@jaytorr6701 is there a specific model number?
@@audioarkitekts Don't think so, I bought it a few weeks ago. My thinking of buying it and not a dedicated CD player was what Devore said about Sony engineering. Although the CD player might not be made by Apple, any specifications and integration with the Mac would be optimised by some of the best engineers in the world. I found what you described about the PS1. Sounds more analogue. Look forward to hearing what you think!
Funnily enough my two disc drives are the PS1 and the SuperDrive. The only issue I had with the SuperDrive was it was pretty noisy mechanically until I put some cheap little rubber feet on it and moved the Mac mini it’s plugged into a little further away from my seating position. Does the job and sounds great but the PS1 still gets the most use
Leaving the PS1 on for a week to "warm up". 🤣
I'm surprised many didn't know about it for that long. I remember as a kid using the ps1 to play music
I’m sure some did but the internet was still in its infancy, the kind of high level discussions that went on about this stuff was relegated to message boards and of course no audiophile magazine was going to talk about this, if not out of laughing off the idea of a “toy” being better than their expensive equipment but also I imagine the politics of not wanting to upset vendors who advertise in their magazine and wouldn’t want consumers to know this.
Ist funny, back in the days it was the psone which was called audiophile not the psx... the smaller round Version so to say... now its the psx... I do not get it...
This is interesting. More people should watch this. DeVore is very well known in the Industry. It sounds like an eastern egg hidden away in a few consoles. Cool
Thanks Tommy
I think it's a lot of hype.
will never take over from cassette or vynal
CD are 16 bit at 44.1 Kb/s. On line streaming is 24 Bit at 38 Kb/s. A good deal better than CD.
People sleep on PlayStations. For literally 3 years, the PS3 was by far the best Blu-Ray player on the market. I still use my PS3 as - you guessed it - a cd player!
That was actually a deciding factor when I bought my PS3. Xbox couldn't play Blu-ray, so PS3 was an easy choice.
Disappointing that the new PSU doesn't fit internally.
Great Vid.
That is crazy that John is the culprit haha
cosa è un cdr?
Thank you thank you
A cassette 😳
VHS audio
i never heard a PS1 SCPH 1001, but i have a PSOne (the smaller variant) that i use to play games, and i played some audio CDs on it just to see if gets at least close to something good and, oh my god, what an awful CD player hahaha! it sounds worse than a Philips CD164 that i have, which is a very low end CD player... if the SCPH 1001 actually have a sound that good, then Sony really made a very brutal downgrade with the last PS1 model.
I had a chance to play with one and besies the beep after every song it wasn't bad to listen to there are alot worse ohh way worse. :)