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Why does a Sony PlayStation sound good to me?

Okay I bought a couple of the Sony play stations with the rca audio outputs and hooked one up.First impression was not very good. Not detailed like my other CD players but left it on for a couple of days and am really enjoying the sound. It does sound more like an lp to me. I know the highs and lows are rolled off some and the build quality is poor but I like the sound. I now want a better quality more reliable CD player that sounds more like this. Especially for my CDs that are not recorded or transferred to digital as well. I'm happy to use this as an additional CD player but was thinking maybe Rega has a sound similar from some of the threads I have read. Sometimes I think welcome the soul of the music with too much precise details. Any suggestions on a different CD player?
128x128dylanfan
zd542
5,339 posts
 
I know the guy that started the whole Sony Playstation thing. When he asked my for my opinion on it I said, either Sony when designing the PS-1, took in to consideration that it may be used in an audiophile system and engineered the SQ accordingly, or the PS-1 just covers up something most people find disagreeable. To prove it, I went in my closet and got a cheap $40 Behringer plastic EQ and ran a regular CD player through it. I fooled with the EQ settings and got it to sound identical to the PS-1.
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
139 posts
 
I think it covers up everything I Don't like about digital. Solids very much like lps to me when I listen through it. Not revealing but smooth sounding. I'm going to keep it in my stack. Never have been a fan of CD players and keep trying to adjust my system to sound good playing digital music. Tweaking here and there looking for the answer. I think this moves me s lot closer to what I prefer whether right or wrong it sounds good to me. When I switch a/b with another CD player the volume goes way up and it just is way more in your face. I prefer the more laid back sound.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,528 posts
 
I wonder if it's doing something to digitally Doctor up the sound? Equalization, dynamic range processing maybe? Anything is possible with digital and no rule that says a device must target flat accurate response. Often that is underwhelming alone.

Someone stick a spectrum analyzer on one and compare. There must be some special sauce in there somewhere. 🔮
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
139 posts
 
I think it covers up everything I Don't like about digital. Solids very much like lps to me when I listen through it. Not revealing but smooth sounding. I'm going to keep it in my stack. Never have been a fan of CD players and keep trying to adjust my system to sound good playing digital music. Tweaking here and there looking for the answer. I think this moves me s lot closer to what I prefer whether right or wrong it sounds good to me. When I switch a/b with another CD player the volume goes way up and it just is way more in your face. I prefer the more laid back sound.
mikirob
955 posts
 
Dylanfan,
I really like the sound of the original PlayStation 1 (1001) with RCAs. You can improve the sound further without subtracting what you like about it by adding the Furutech power cord and inexpensive Belden 8402 interconnect. I did and love it.

Please read Jeff Day Blog on the PlayStation 1; Day wrote a article on it in Positive Feedback, beside the Blog write-up. These articles might help you with ideas to get the best out of the PlayStation. I've owned mine for a very long time and it is extremely enjoyable. Yes, very analogue like. Best, Rob
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