PS SCPH-1001/2 audio output opinions please.

Earlier this morning I was flicking through eBay listings for a replacement PS1 and came across the following:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-PlayStation-1-SCPH-1001-w-Warranty-Free-shipping_W0QQitemZ270137679723QQihZ017QQcategoryZ62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I immediately thought “you are having a laugh…”, but I decided to read through the listing, watched the rather poor video on YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5LazL6E_GsA

I actually recall a customer of mine many years ago discussing the audio capabilities of the Sony PS1. As I recall he never seemed to mention any specific model and frankly every time I have hooked up a PS1 to an AV or stereo amplifier it’s been like dragging a cat down a chalkboard.

Up in the attic I had a SCPH-1002, just sitting boxed up and unused so I decided to try the theory. I’m no stranger to audio equipment and the most expensive unit I have personally owned was a Cyrus set up costing silly money. Having worked my way up through 3 or 4 different versions of Cyrus until I found the one I wanted, and being familiar with most other equipment I thought I’d give it a bash.

1) Sony Playstation SCPH-1002
2) 1 x Cambridge Audio RCA/RCA (Atlantic) cable @ 2meters
3) Yamaha DSP AV amplifier
4) 4 x JBL Monitor One speakers
5) 1 x Mission centre
6) 1 x Jamo subwoofer
7) 20meters of half decent speaker cable

The Cambridge RCA is probably the cheapest step-up from the rubbish you are given when you buy a piece of audio equipment. At £15.00 a meter it’s hardly the most expensive cable.

I also decided to test the PS against the following:

1) Sony Playstation 3 (borrowed)
2) Microsoft Xbox 360
3) 1 x 1m optical cable (swapped between the pair)

Result?

Considering I paid £20 for the PS it was a very good sound. The PS3 was awful and the 360 was equally poor with CD play back. Looks like a good investment if you have a PS1 of this type kicking around. Would it beat a $6,000 CD player?

Frankly, no!

By comparison it was a good, clean sound, devoid of some of the distortions other games consoles throw in. I was amazed at the clarity. Top and bottom end sounds superb, a tad woolly in the middle, but nothing to get so worried about. To me it sounded like a very nice entry level high-end unit. It would rival the likes of a Cyrus 1 CD player, which all things considered is remarkable!

Its horses for courses and everyone hears something slightly different. For instance I am not a fan of NAD CD players, but like their amplifiers. I am an all round Mission Cyrus fan and for $6,000 you could get yourself a setup which would blow the PS1 away several times over.

Sony have done a fantastic job, it’s a nice little unit and if it were placed head to head with other CD players it would most definitely hold it’s own. I don't know who initially suggest it could beat a $6,000 CD player, but I'd have thought it would still beat most cheap high street players at around the $250-300mark. It employs some nice DAC technology that frankly most cheap players couldn't begin to beat. It also beats using a DVD player for a CD player, so if anyone out there is doing that - swap now!

I’d go into more detail, but I don’t think it matters. I’d like to hear what other people think though. For one, I’d love to hear this through a straight amp. An AV amp never does audio justice even when switched to straight.

 

I`ve seen a lot of scph 1001 on ebay.com, US sellers trying to get anything from $500-6000. Usually they come with links to this youtube
video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LazL6E_GsA

showing the G4 team reviewing the unit and its capabilities.

I was actually looking into this the other day as i was shocked at the price. I have no idea about cd quality and would be hard pushed to tell the difference between different players using the same amp speaker setup.

 

I should`ve fully read your post, you already included the link to the G4 vid. It will make you think twice about looking at the model numbers next time you see a ps1 at a car boot anyway.

Glad to hear you`ve tested it out properly with decent equipment as i was wondering about the claims that were made. Also it seems like you have tested various AV equipment in the past so would have a very god idea of what different setups can produce sound wise.

 

I remembering there being some talk about this before here.. thought iirc you also had to do some mod to the unit?

 

Well, some of the audiophiles making the claims are shooting themselves in the foot. They claim it is the un-sung hero of the bargain basement, but go on to express their interest in making subtle changes.

Audiophiles by definition (pardon the pun) are a strange breed and well known for pontificating on the smallest details. They are also quite willing to spend vast amounts of money ironing out or enhancing said small detail! The amounts of money involved can be remarkably high.

A cheap unit like the Sony PS1 (SCPH-1001/2) kind of disproves a lot of their theories and is akin to Charles Darwin's origins of species to Creationists! So when they discover it is actually pretty good, of course they make all sorts of wild claims about it. The $500-600 price tag is a direct result of that.

I also had to laugh at some of the set-ups employed by those said Audiophiles as despite everything they were saying I could see mismatches in their equipment lists. The more simple the set-up the better. If it's all singing and all dancing, it is also all nonsense. One aspect of it that does however please me is that several mentioned using the PS1 through a valve amplifier.

Valve amplifiers are rich in tone, generate a beautifully accurate sound, but more importantly are unforgiving. You input shit, it outputs utter shit and highlights everything. If they are happy to use a PS1 through it, then perhaps there is something in their claim. As I said, the fact is I am using it through a mid-range amplifier and it was never built for this level of accuracy.

These days people are more familiar with AV dolby equipment. It really does require someone out there to do a comparison with a valve amp, so I'd love to hear others opinion. I can't imagine a console sounding so shit hot through one though lol.

One thing of note. We British are still well respected for our audio equipment. In fact we make some of the best in the world. It could be a difference in the type of equipment being used in these comparison tests.

 

Does anyone recall whether there was any differences in the DAC and other technology employed in the 1001 / 1002 versions? I can't find anything specific about that.

 

Really? Ah, okay... that might explain things! I'll do another trawl as most seemed to suggest "you get a $6,000 killer straight out the box". If that were the case I am SURE Sony would have somehow grasped the technology and been market leaders in CD technology at that time. If I remember rightly they were developing Super CD at around about that time... oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Not good! :noooo:

 

Just did a search for the post.. unfortantly, the poster is no longer member and before he left he edit a lot of his post.. thought you could allways PM him at his board..

 

Is it the guy from Playstationmuseum?

I am also now doing what I should have done in the first place. Let it warm up! That makes a remarkable difference.

 

edit: Nope was thinking of PA

 

Ah, the old PA. Gotcha!

 

didn't know if you knew about *sally* so I just edited my post ^^

 

There have been some posts on how to tap the analog audio in a SCPH-100x right after the internal DAC - before it reaches the internal output amp.

Another hardware hacker (biTmASTER) has also made some schematics on how to add SPDIF output in the PS1, if that's of interest.

Come to think of it, the SCPH-1001/2 has a PU-8 motherboard. All the DTL-H1x0x Debugging Stations, as well as the Yaroze, have various revisions of the PU-8 motherboard as well, so maybe they are just as good....

 

Hmmmmm, that internal pre-amp bypass sounds interesting and I wonder whether that is the small modification that is required to get the stellar sound?

Conversion of any kind decreases accuracy, clearly. SPDIF might be of interest from a gaming point of view, but not for CD play back. Got links?

 

Yeah, I wasn't around at the time but I've read up! ;-)

 

http://www.dogbreath.de/PS1/output/output.html

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15484873/

Quote "
Before I started my listening tests, Michael had a warning for me: "Plug in the units — turn ‘em on — and don’t turn them off." It seems the PlayStations sound best when left on all the time. Michael was right. You shouldn’t even listen for the first three days. Both units need every second of the break-in period.
"

Also I remember a german guy on ebay selling modified 1001 models but I can't seem to find his listings anymore

Maybe you could let us know if it makes a differance if you keep the playstation on for a few days? ;-)

 

Brilliant! Thanks for passing that on, I'll have a go asap! ;-) Nice to see the guy does a complete job and not some half-assed attempt leading to the possibility of additional unwanted noise.

 

Most amplifiers need to be left on, I've not heard a CD transport requiring power for any reason, so it must be the DAC that is benefiting. I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference on an AV amplifier. It does however make a difference on a straight stereo. Just smooths things out.

Just reading the "...you shouldn't even listen for the first three days..." and had a giggle at that. Typical fecking audiophile! "I SAID 3 DAYS, NOT 2 DAYS, 23HRS AND 58SEC - RUBBISH! SOUNDS LIKE MY MOTHER CLAPPED OUT VOLvo...oh see, now those 2 seconds made all the difference....ahhhhh!"

 

I have never been an audiophile, so here are some newbie questions

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to use a high-end external DAC for audio as well, and just use the PS1 to get a good disc reading?

Are you thinking of jitter issues on the serial link, EMC issues or ... ?