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why use modded sony playstation as cd player

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Well, when I bought mine, it was specifically stated in the directions that you could also use it as a CD player. There were different models, but mine has a selectable light show and spectrum analyzer for music CD's.

I have many CD players, but my Sony Playstation doubles as a game station and CD player in my entertainment room!
 
You have to find the ones with the RCA audio outputs, and you have to leave it powered on all the time. For the price they can be picked up for, they are hard to beat. I paid $10 for mine and it sounds better than some of the CDPs I've had.
 
It's popular because some dude in an online review said it stacks up to $6000 players. And this fed the anti-hi-end hype machine into a frenzy even though many who repeated the claim hadn't heard a $6000 player. And it was repeated over and over.
 
I tried the ps1 1001 as a cd player,but I didnt do any of the mods that people have suggested.I didnt really hear any difference,to tell you the truth.
But if you haunt the thrifts,you can find high end cd players that used to run for big bucks new for less than $20.I found a very nice Luxman,and a Sony ES series at $15 each.CD players arent considered desirable anymore,and can be had for a song.
Jimmy
 
Ah...they are fun to play with. I did notice they play very well (the 100X series), can be repurposed into all kinds of configurations and can be bought fairly cheap.
 
The PS1 offers analog outputs only, so the people who use them must really like the sound of it's internal DAC (apparently made by AKM).

It also appears that there were many different versions made, and not all of them have potential as a CD player:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_(console)
The PlayStation went through a number of variants during its production run, each accompanied by a change in the part number. From an external perspective, the most notable change was the gradual reduction in the number of external connectors on the unit. This started very early on—the original Japanese launch units (SCPH-1000) had an S-Video port, which was removed on the next release. This also led to the strange situation where the US and European launch units had the same part number series (SCPH-100x) as the Japanese launch units, but had different hardware (Rev. C silicon and no S-Video port)—they were the same as the Japanese SCPH-3000, so for consistency should have been SCPH-3001 and SCPH-3002 (this numbering was used for the Yaroze machines, which were based on the same hardware and numbered DTL-H3000, DTL-H3001, and DTL-H3002). Also, the first models (DTL-H1000, DTL-H1001, DTL-H1002) had some problems with printf function and developers had to use another function instead. This series of machines had a reputation for CD drive problems—the optical pickup sled was made of thermoplastic, and eventually developed wear spots that moved the laser into a position where it was no longer parallel with the CD surface—a modification was made that replaced the sled with a die-cast one with hard nylon inserts, which corrected the problem.

SCPH-100x models are notable for being sought after and modded by audiophile enthusiasts, because most consoles from this line featured a DAC by Ashahi Kasei Microsystems (AKM) and had RCA output.[18]

With the release of the SCPH-500x series being produced only in Japan, it followed the same exterior design as the Japanese SCPH-300x series, its only differences being that it upgraded some flawed components from previous models and a reduced retail value. This series also contained the SCPH-550x and exclusive PAL SCPH-555x units. A number of changes were made to the SCPH-550x series internally (CD drive relocated, shielding simplified, PSU wiring simplified) and the RCA jacks and RFU power connectors were removed from the rear panel and the printed text on the back was changed to reliefs of the same. Starting with the SCPH-555x series, PAL variants had the "power" and "open" buttons changed from text to symbols.[19]

These were followed by the SCPH-700x and SCPH-750x series—they are externally identical to the SCPH-500x machines, but have internal changes made to reduce manufacturing costs (for example, the system RAM went from 4 chips to 1, and the CD controller went from 3 chips to 1). A slight change of the startup screen was made. The diamond is seen as longer and thinner and the trademark symbol (™) is now placed after "Computer Entertainment" instead of after the diamond, as it was on the earlier models. Also new to the SCPH-7xxx series was the introduction of the "Sound Scope" - light show music visualizations. These were accessible by pressing the Select button while playing any normal audio CD in the system's CD player. While watching these visualizations, players could also add various effects like color cycling or motion blur. These music visualizations were kept in all future PlayStation 1 models.

The final revision to the original PlayStation was the SCPH-900x series—these had the same hardware as the SCPH-750x machines with the exception of the removal of the parallel port and a slight reduction in the size of the PCB. The removal of the parallel port was probably partly because no official add-on had ever been released for it, and partly because it was being used to connect cheat cartridges that could be used to defeat the regional lockouts and copy protection.

The PSone was based on essentially the same hardware as the SCPH-900x, but had the serial port removed, the controller / memory card ports moved to the main PCB and the power supply replaced with an AC/DC converter that was also on the main PCB. Also the overall system menu received a graphical overhaul, along with a surround sound/echo effect being added to the CD player menu.

Earliest series had potentiometers on the board for adjusting the reading mechanism, named BIAS, GAIN and an unknown one. By connecting a voltmeter between the upper-most metering point near the BIAS potentiometer and the chassis, the resulting voltage could be read. The supposed right values are 1.70 V when a CD is spinning at 1x speed and 1.85 V when a CD is spinning at 2x speed. Further tuning was also possible on the unique potentiometer present on the CD drive. Later series featured an automatic laser calibration mechanism.

Another version that was colored blue (as opposed to regular console units that were grey in color) was available to game developers and select press. Later versions of this were colored green—on a technical level, these units were almost identical to the retail units, but had a different CD controller in them that did not require the region code found on all pressed disks, since they were intended to be used with CD-R media for debugging. This also allowed the use of discs from different regions, but this was not officially supported; different debug stations existed for each region. The two different color cases were not cosmetic—the original blue debug station (DTL-H100x, DTL-H110x) contained "Revision B" silicon, the same as the early retail units (these units had silicon errata that needed software workarounds), the green units (DTL-H120x) had Rev. C hardware. As part of the required tests, the user had to test the title on both. Contrary to popular belief, the RAM was the same as the retail units at 2 MB. The firmware was nearly identical—the only significant change was that debug prints got sent to the serial port if the title did not open it for communications—this used a DTL-H3050 serial cable (the same as the one used for the Yaroze).
Click to expand...
 
I just found this thread. Obtained a PS1 (1001 series) and quickly discovered it had a bad laser.

As luck would have it, I had one of the late run models (the itty bitty model) and found that I could remove the laser and use that. I removed the spindle from the bad laser, as the little one was missing it, and planted it upon the good laser.

To my surprise, the damn thing worked. For a second.

After removing some plastic mounting plate and using the original one, it came to life.

After using it next to some really nice gear, all I can say is the sound is engaging. I found much less listener fatigue than with my venerable Pioneer, and while the Yamaha cdx1100u killed it for clarity, I didn't get bored or suffer listener fatigue as I sometimes do with the Yamaha.

I've had more fun repairing and painting and then auditioning this little guy than the 17 bucks I spent should merit.

Big fun. :music::music::D:D:music:
 

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JohnVF said:
It's popular because some dude in an online review said it stacks up to $6000 players. And this fed the anti-hi-end hype machine into a frenzy even though many who repeated the claim hadn't heard a $6000 player. And it was repeated over and over.
Click to expand...

This is so true.
 
at AKfest, in 2008, I was lucky enough to hear a 6k machine.

This is not it. How much of that was the 100,000 bucks worth of amps, 40,000 worth of line array speakers...I dunno. Sure sounded purty.

What I DO know is that for a good portion of our group here, this little device makes a stellar cdp.

Us guys on the lower end of the tax bracket want the best sound we can achieve as well, and should anyone have access to one of the special models, give it a whirl. It's better than most in that price range, methinks.
 
onwardjames said:
I just found this thread. Obtained a PS1 ... I didn't get bored or suffer listener fatigue as I sometimes do with the Yamaha.

I've had more fun repairing and painting and then auditioning this little guy than the 17 bucks I spent should merit.

Big fun. :music::music::D:D:music:
Click to expand...

Well done :)
 
I've had several 1001's with two rca outputs. They sound pretty good but have difficulty tracking CD-R's. It's hard not to buy them at flea markets when they often go for as little as $5.

My amp building friend mods PS1's and sells them on Agon for $100 to $150. He goes all out with top shelf mods, internal remote and case deadening. I recently swapped him several of the 1001's for what he says is the best ever PS1, the 5501. He says it has the better laser and it will play CD-R's. Since it does not have the two RCA's of the 1001 he adds two high quality ones.

To my ears the modded 5501 plays redbook on a level with the Marantz SA8004.
 
Interesting...the article Frank Sol posted says the multiport jack is the way to go, but to my ears, it didn't sound as good as the rca jacks... ???
 
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