Sony Playstation 1.

[combwork]

Has anyone here tried using these as a CD player? I first read about it on AudioKarma; a US based site primarily concerned with 'vintage' Hi-Fi. It's something to do with the DACs used on specific models so it's important to get serial numbers within a certain range but if you do, the sound is outstanding, at least to my 59 year old ears...................

[Mike]

It's mentioned on another thread somewhere on here....

General consensus was it's pretty poor.

[Mike]

Here you go:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...ht=playstation

[Marco]

Been there, done it, and it's cack (unless your standards are very low).

Marco.

[combwork]

Been there, done it, and it's cack (unless your standards are very low).

Marco.

Hmmmmm. My standards are quite high. I repair antique musical boxes for a living and this involves quite a bit of tuning. Realistically, not high frequency stuff; the highest note you're likely to find on any musical box is equivalent to the top note on a piano but to me, it's whether something sounds musical that counts. I have to admit I've not been using a dedicated CD player, just a Panasonic DVD/VCR unit but comparing that with the PS1, the PS wins hands down. More detail in the music, more depth in the music. Not necessarily noticeable on all CDs but not all CDs are equal. I've a couple of giveaway CDs that came with Hi-Fi world. Confusingly they bear the NAIM name (I thought NAIM just made amplifiers?) but the sound is so good......In a way it's annoying; I can't sit and read a book with the music in the background; I end up putting the book down and just listening to the music. I don't know whether it's relevant but my system is SONY PS1 > NAD3020B > QUAD ESL57s. I'm using 'nothing special' speaker cables and a rather nicely made lead for the Playstation. This lead (bought off Ebay) has three RCA plugs on the output end and is a heavy lead. My playstation is serial number SCPH5502. The last 2 digits designate region coding, but apparently have no relevance to the audio side of things. It was thought that the one to go for would have been 500(?) but apparently Sony used the same 'good' DAC in the 550 series. So what's to believe? My ears tell me the Playstation sounds better than the DVD/VCR but I've not tried it against a good quality dedicated CD player...............Oh, one other point. Various posters on AudioKarma have really gone into this thing in depth, and apparently the one to go for is not the model with RCA sockets on the back, it's the one with the multi out. This is because of the way the internal wiring is routed on the model with RCA sockets...........Oh Well. It's what pleases MY ears that matters most to me

[Marco]

Hi Combwork,

I don't doubt your experiences. I'm also sure you'll appreciate that a DVD/VCR is not the best frame of reference. I'm talking about in comparison to hi-end CDPs, but if you're happy, you're happy.

I know what I heard when a Playstation (the 'best' one) was used as a CD source in a top-notch system, and it was very poor indeed compared to what I'm used to with my Sony X777ES/DAS-R1. In fact even mentioning them in the same sentence is laughable.

I guess it just depends on what you're used to. Your last sentence is bang on

Marco.

[Phil Bishop]

This all reminds me of my little experiment recently which was the subject of another post on the importance of CD transports. I deliberately sought out the cheapest DVD/CD player I could find, a £15 Asda jobbie, and put it thru the well received Beresford DAC and into an Audiolab/Epos system. I found it difficult discerning the difference between this and a £500 Arcam transport. I then thought OK, lets have a laugh and bypass the DAC and use the analogue output sockets from the Asda player through my system. Blow me down, it did not sound too bad! A bit one dimensional maybe, but really not too bad at all.

Similar to an experience a few years ago when I used a £100 Cambridge Audio CD player from Richer Sounds - could not differentiate it from my £1K plus Arcam combo of the time!

I am now thinking that the old arguement about spending a lot on the "source" components were digital is concerned may be misguided - amps and speakers make a bigger improvement for the money?

[Marco]

Yes they do, but remember also the discussion we had recently about transports

There are many variables to consider.

Marco.

[alb]

Also i think the Beresford is very much an entry level DAC. Despite the enthusiastic reception it got, it's only one small step up from most cheap built in DACs. Which is probably why you didn't hear a great deal of difference.
I've noticed a few owners selling theirs.
To get a real improvement it might be necessary to spend a bit more or have a go at DIY to keep the costs down.
Having said that even small improvements sometimes cost a lot of money.

If you start buying better amps and speakers you enter a vicious circle, because you will probably be able to hear the shortcomings in a cheap source.

[leo]

I personally would not touch anything that uses a PCM1716, very poor performing dac chip IMHO.