Playstation audiophile CD player

You may have heard rumors of a Playstation audiophile CD player. That’s a bit of an exaggeration. But early models of the Sony Playstation do happen to be a much-better-than-average CD player. And to some extent, that propped up the value of original Playstations before this 30-year-old console, released in Japan December 3, 1994 and in North America on September 9, 1995, became collectible again.

The Sony Playstation SCPH-1001: the budget audiophile CD player

If you want to find the proverbial Playstation audiophile CD player, look for a Sony Playstation SCPH-1001. This is the earliest model of Playstation, and the most distinctive thing about it is the presence of RCA jacks in the back. Later models omit the RCA jacks, forcing you to use a nonstandard Sony A/V cable to connect it to your stereo, TV, or both.

The distinguishing feature on this model is the RCA jacks, but it’s not the RCA jacks that make this model special. It’s that this model has a better digital audio converter in it than later models had. And that DAC happens to be better than the ones you’ll find in most consumer CD players.

But the RCA jacks are also a matter of convenience, since that lets them use their choice of cables. Their chances of finding the cable they want with the Sony connector on one and and RCA connectors on the other are much lower, and using standard cables saves the hassle of having to make a custom cable.

What about the Sony Playstation SCPH-1002?

The slightly later model Sony Playstation SCPH-1002, released in PAL regions, lacks the RCA jacks but also has a reputation for being a good CD player. When I first heard about this around 2006, some people said they preferred the sound of the SCPH-1002 over the older SCPH-1001. So it goes with audio equipment.

This model lacks the RCA jacks but still has the big parallel I/O connector on the back, opposite the power jack. Newer models omit that I/O connector entirely, and just have serial I/O, A/V, and power connectors on the back.

Today there’s a running joke that you can make any Playstation audiophile quality by modding it for digital output. If you do that, the DAC becomes irrelevant.

Is the Playstation audiophile CD player overblown?

The consensus is that these early Playstations contain a higher quality DAC than you find in most CD players and they do sound better than the CD players you’re likely to find at a big-box consumer electronics store. But the Playstations don’t sound better than true audiophile equipment that costs thousands of dollars. Some people even claim that a Sega Dreamcast sounds better than an early Playstation.

And you can find people who say the Playstation sounds terrible. There are two things you can always count on: the sun rising in the morning, and someone taking a contrarian view on the Internet.

Some people go out of their way to stress the rarity of the SCPH-1001 and/or SCPH-1002 in Ebay listings. They are anything but rare. Sony sold more than 102 million PS1 consoles total, and that included 800,000 units in North America between September and December 1995, all of which would have been SCPH-1001 models. None of the models of the Playstation are especially difficult to find.

But if nothing else, it’s a curiosity and it adds to the mystique of these early Playstation models, kind of like an Atari Heavy Sixer or silver label Commodore 64, but at a lower price.

Selling an SCPH-1001 or SCPH-1002 as an audiophile CD player

I’ve sold a few SCPH-1001 and SCPH-1002s in my day. The initial news of their popularity among audio enthusiasts did seem to increase their asking price for a while, but to be honest, in 2006 their value had nowhere to go but up. The going rate for these consoles for a good while was $30 plus shipping with a working controller, power and A/V cables. In 2024, they sold for closer to $40-$50 in working order with the usual complement of accessories. The pandemic of 2020-2021 increased interest in older game consoles.

If you have one to sell, make sure it works. If it’s broken, mention what the problem is. Someone may buy it for parts, but don’t expect to get more than a few dollars for a parts unit. I would use a title along the lines of Sony Playstation SCPH-1001 Audiophile and then mention in the description that this is the model that audiophiles like to use as CD players.

This will increase the likelihood of it selling, but it’s just as likely to sell to someone who wants to play games on it. Any audiophile who wanted one to use for listening to CDs has had a good 15 years to get one. The audiophile reputation mostly seems to have given this model of the console a bit of added mystique.

As for the later models, they aren’t worthless. They’ll sell to someone who wants to play the old games. They’re just not as valuable as the earlier model, which is sometimes the case with other consoles.

Buying an SCPH-1001 or SCPH-1002

If you’re looking to buy one of these models, as opposed to selling them, both the SCPH-1001 and SCPH-1002 are fairly easy to find on Ebay. Both working units and parts units are still fairly easy to find. Just make sure to read the description for any listing to make sure what you found matches what you’re looking for.

If you’re looking for a project, broken units finally have enough resale value to be worth messing with again, so they’re possible to find. Parts are available too, so it’s more practical to have a go at repairing a Playstation than it was around 2006. If you’re more interested in using it to play games, you can save money by buying unit with a broken optical drive mechanism, such as an Xstation, and replacing it with an emulator that uses solid state media. The experience is less authentic, but far more convenient, since an SD card can hold the entire library of games, and then you don’t have to worry about scratched or misplaced discs anymore.

It’s also possible to buy a Playstation that’s already been modded with an Xstation installed.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.