Hey everybody. I recently bought a Japanese PSX, the very first model SCHP-1000 with direct S-Video out ports and the rca ports. I want to make this my main system for PS1 games, but since it's a Japanese model, I'll need a modchip or some kind of parallel port device to play games from the us. What modchip works best for this model? What equipment do I need to make my own modchip, as there aren't many decent places left to buy them from. Also, I want to know about the audio of the SCPH-1000, many people claim the very first PSXs have superior audio compared to the later models. I've also heard that the sound coming from the rca direct out is not as good as the audio that goes to the A/V multi out. I've also seen people replace the capacitors in the audio out section of the board. Like this: http://dogbreath.de/PS1/output/output.html Is any of this true? Is it worth it to mod it like that guy did? Thank you.
only useful if you're an audiophile with a HELL of a great amp speakers etc... problem is sound is totally subjective. what sounds great to one, may sound like shit to another, i wouldn't bother hacking up the system when you can get the "better" audio from the A/V port. Mod Chips are Readily available right here on the site, i'm sure someone can whip up a chip for you with the right stuff for it.
Don't waste your time with that stupid site and audiophile story.... On that old model you can install only a classic and old 4 wire modchip, and you can't play import games even with modchip. You need also swap the bios P.S. That modelis the worst in terms of affidability and laser wear, so go easy with that long gameplay...
Okay. I wouldn't mind learning how to make my own, I've seen the computer part used to program the chips. Where can I learn more about it? I've heard of people modding the SCPH-1000 with the PU-7 boards to play imports with out having to switch the bios. I thought the Japanese PU-8 (SCPH-3000) boards were when they started not allowing imports at all. I have a back-up laser assembly for future problems. What are the classic or 4 wire modchips, exactly? I tried buying this: http://www.eurasia.nu/shop/product_info.php?cPath=52&products_id=277 But my package was lost in the mail. Would that have worked?
The laser isn't the problem with these early units, it's the plastic optical pick-up part surrounding it. It is easily replaced with the much more reliable PSOne (SCPH-101) optical pick-up. Y/C (Luma/Chroma) S-Video isn't the best video connection for the PS1 so don't use it. Use RGBS or OzOnE's Universal HDMI mod (when it's released in December or January; much better than analog video) instead. You'll need an RGB SCART to HDMI converter if you go with analog RGBS and a RGB SCART cable with sync on Luma. If you want even better sound quality, do the PS1 TOSLINK mod and use a sound system. Not sure about the modchip parts though.
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/tutorial-making-your-own-ps1-modchips.55904/ As was pointed out, the 1000 series will not work with a handful of "stealth" games (unless the game is patched). S-video, while not RGB, is certainly a much alternative compared to the yellow plug which looks awful. If you don't feel like modding it for HDMI output or similar, stick with S-video. As for the "audiophile" part, I've read in many places that it has superior audio, and other places say "this isn't the 90's anymore" as in it's not the best CD player like it may have been when it came out.
Most SCPH-1000s will boot imports with no problem - it's only the last production batches that have the revised BIOS in them that are restricted to Japanese discs. The only strange thing is that the boot ROM only displays the black license screen when you boot a Japanese disc - if you put in an imported disc, it goes directly from the white Sony logo screen to the games boot screen. These early machines (I.E. the ones where the CD player swap worked) also only have a single wobble check, so it would be in theory very easy to get a stealth modchip working on them - just start the stream up a couple of seconds after power up or door close and terminate it the first time the drive switches to 2x speed (to read the license sector). Getting it working on the later boot ROM or PU-8s is more of a challenge because they have 2 wobble checks and no obvious signal to use to gate the data off. There are some titles on the PSX that I actually prefer to play using composite - Silent Hill is one that comes to mind, since it's using full-screen dither and the limited bandwidth of composite helps to smooth it out.
This is very helpful. Thanks everyone. I'm going to make a stealth 2.8 modchip and see if it works. The serial number on mine begins with 607, do you know if this is an early, or later model? I've seem some with numbers higher and lower than this.
You can use mm 2.x series it's newer that stealth approach if i'm not wrong, but full stealth ATM on this model it isn't possible. With that mm3 you can only use the classic 4 wire mode, so no stealth... At least you can patch the games to bypass the modchip check rotine
That only applies if his receiver has a better DAC than the PS1. If not, then the sound quality will be worse. The whole thing about the PS1 being a great CD player has been discussed here before. I can only repeat myself in saying that it runs leagues around my 92' Denon DCD-920. And I still use mine to this day. Is it the best sounding CD-player of all time? No of course not. But for the amount of money you'll spend on this mod you'll have a hard time finding something that sounds better. But don't use that dogbreath guide. While the sound quality is really nice, and you'll hear amazing detail and clarity (again compared to my Denon), it will lack pretty much all the bass. Use this guide instead: http://deutschermanfred.de/en/erste-schritte/#.VirHrYSriS4 It's a little more comprehensive but the clarity is just as good, but with the bass still intact For the record I use a Yamaha RX-A1010 receiver and JBL L80 speakers. If you are going to hook this up to your TV's speakers or an entry level Logitech surround sound system, don't even bother. You probably won't be able to hear any of the finer details regardless of doing the mod.
That should be one of the early ones with the original boot ROM. One of the machines I have here with the original boot ROM has a 624 serial prefix, although the others are earlier than yours. The quickest way to check is to see if the CD-player swap works: 1) Turn on the machine with no disc in it 2) Go to the CD player 3) Put an original Japanese game disc into the machine 4) Jam down the door button 5) Wait for the machine to read the ToC and stop the disc 6) Keeping the door button down, swap the CD for a copy or import 7) Exit from the CD player If the disc boots, you have the original boot ROM.
Wow. That looks like a really fun project. Oh, the irony of wanting to do that when you are also planning on doing a S/PDIF mod...
I have a partially stealthed SCHP-1001 (apparently Spyro doesn't boot, I haven't tried, but I got wiring diagram for my PU-8 motherboard here.) The problem with these early model consoles is when you chip them it makes them very unreliable, it makes FMVs and audio stutter on some games even if you recalibrate the laser. Retail or personal back ups. It goes away once you uninstall the modchip. It's a shame really because bypassing scart audio is very nice, much less noise if you're using a cheaper scart cable. I also modded mine to output csync on the composite jack. Although once the PSIO is finished none this will be an issue on the 1000/1001
Thanks everyone for your help. I ended up leaving it unmodded and I just bought a US playstation for US games. I also bought IS: Internal Selection, it's a really great game. What other Japan-only PS1 games do you guys recommend?
'70's Robot Anime Geppy-X is a great Japanese exclusive. It comes on 4 discs and it is quite tough once you get to disc 2 or 3. Played it at the Florida Anime Experience earlier this year and it was really fun. Tried it in an emulator too but the dumped image files were bad and the game didn't play properly after a certain amount of levels. While I recommend it, the price will throw you off. It's also quite rare with only a couple copies popping up on eBay every now and then for $90+.
Ore No Ryouri is a great import but does require the analogue sticks. Pepsi Man another classic if you can find it cheap. Fist Of The NorthStar very solid beat me up with plenty of gore. Also get Japanese version of Resident Evil (biohazard) Gun survivor as it supports gun con.
70's Robot Anime Geppy-X looks fantastic. Too bad it's around $100, haha. I'm not sure Ore No Ryouri is quite my style. It looks like cooking mama. Is that what it's like? Loop Cube Lup Salad looks interesting. Has anyone here played it? What exactly is the object of the game? I really want LSD: Dream Emulator, but damn, the price for that one is too much for me right now.
That's strange, because it really shouldn't cause any problem - the points the chip are wired to are either power, logic level signals or the tracking error comparator, which is isolated from the actual tracking error signal by an opamp buffer. The only thing you have to watch for is wire placement - if you run any of the digital signals near the optical pickup connector or the RF amp chip you can interfere with the recovered signal - but as long as you keep them away it should boot exactly as if there was no chip installed.
