Sony PS1 X-station install - late model PU-8 board aka. "The Audiophile Playstation"

[@c0rpse1]

for the record the "audiophile" dac was used up until the 5501 possibly later. the "audiophiles" just used to like 1001 because it had RCA audio outs.

[@TheRetroChannel]

What's funny is it's recommended to use the multiout due to the RCA path using cheap opamps. Yet the 550X series with the same DAC but without the RCA connectors (that you shouldn't use anyway) isn't "audiophile" 😄

[@c0rpse1]

good point lol@@TheRetroChannel

[@urbnctrl]

​​@@TheRetroChannelso my 5501 psx is just as *audiophile* as the 1001 version?

[@TheRetroChannel]

@urbnctrl of course not, the 1001 contains magical audiophile stuff. You could try swapping the label in the bottom

[@c0rpse1]

@@urbnctrlit should have the AKM dac everyone loves so yea basically

[@DaveDoc1984]

People call this "Audiophile" but its not considered Audiophile without extensive Modifications to its Audio Amplification circuit.

[@archive3do769]

I'm shocked no one has attempted to argue with you yet over this truth bomb

[@gc4408]

I’ll be your huckleberry……

[@ot4kon]

At least use the AV out. The RCA red white out is passing the audio to a horrible opamp buffer

[@blunderingfool]

The whole audiophile nonsense is absurd anyway, because no, using a PS1 won't make the shitty, compressed tracks on your CD-ROM sound better.

[@Wrublos212]

@@blunderingfool PCM CD-AUDIO 44.1khz/16bit is all you need. Benefits of going higher than that are negligible. That's why any newer audio format never made its way to CD/DVD. I agree that games are using lower quality sounds and nothing will change that.

[@ZacabebOTG]

After 30 years, it's finally possible to play games on the PSX with it facing right side up.

[@HollowRick]

Or flipping it upside down

[@huldu]

Wow I remember that part. There was something with that laser that was trash and we had to flip the console upside down to play games. Since then I've had a dislike for anything using a laser because it'll break eventually and a reason why mods like these are truly amazing.

[@workingmanbh]

😂

[@myztklk3v]

the cd motor in my original PSX actually stopped spinning CD's long before the laser died.

[@vhfgamer]

You know, I've always heard of this joke going around. About having to play the playstation upside down. But out of every single playstation I've ever owned, none of them required that. So is it actually real?

[@blakegriplingph]

This explains why I recall seeing some DJs who operate sound systems in my area use OG PS1s for playing CDs.

[@timrb]

Good to know about the leaky PSX caps. Lots of good info in your vid as usual!

[@RocketRenton]

Xbox are also notorious for bad caps, a lot of hardware in the 90's and 00's were effected, Samsung also had a lot of bad caps in their Plasma TV's and a lawsuit was filed in the U.S.

[@RocketRenton]

I had my 1st PS1 die after 6 months as it had the plastic disc drive, and the next unit I got had the metal disc drive and last for 3 years before failing. My friend had his PS1 hooked up to his TV, he hotwired that to a massive amp and a pair of Jamo speakers, and used his PS1 as a CD disc drive, those speakers were massive and very loud. Brings back memories of the 90's. The current generation consoles probably won't last like these units have done over the years.

[@ryanpeck3377]

Claiming these new consoles wont last is kinda ironic, after starting your statement saying how your ps1 broke after 6 months and the replacement only lasted 3yrs.

[@bald_chicken]

Did this mod 3 weeks ago on one of my PS1s, my very first mod I ever tired, it turned out just fine, just take your time lifting those pins, check and double check them, make sure your tip touches only one pad at a time.

[@ratos74]

a wonderful alignment! perfect soldering!

[@ScottyBrockway]

Gotta have Tomb Raiders, Need For Speed III and onwards, GTAs, Tenchus, Destruction Derby 1 and 2, Nuclear Strike, Soviet Strike, Future Cop, Lunar Silver Star Story, Lunar Eternal Blue, Spyro, Namco Museums , NBA Jams, Pinball Fantasies Deluxe , Road Rash 3D, Dark Forces.

[@Throckmorton.Scribblemonger]

You forgot PaRappa the Rapper.

[@ChadDoebelin]

now that you've made me aware that the caps are already leaking. i've got a pile of fat ps1s that i'm going to have to go through. thanks for showing me how to install the x-station.

[@jandjrandr]

Our PSX was still working when my brothers and I moved on to other tech, but this is one way to make old tech new again. Not the easiest soldering work though. SMD soldering is hard for me with such shaky hands.

[@RetroGamesNow86]

awesome video! I really want to do this myself on my PS1

[@RandomBitzzz]

I wish I could ship my unit to you to re-cap and mod, but I really don't play my PS1 enough to put in the $$ (and you probably don't offer that as a service). You make the soldering look so easy. I always struggled with SMD components. Some of my favorite PS1 games were pretty much any of the Crash Bandicoot or Spyro titles. I also liked Tiger Woods Golf and Tony Hawk Pro Skater. I grabbed Castlevania Symphony of the Night awhile ago and haven't had a chance to play it - but it looks really good.

[@NoobModsAu]

Challenge excepted! Bro was real close to bridging that wire on the board, us moders are such hacks when it comes to soldering but hey as long as the job gets done😂 😂😂

[@g4z-kb7ct]

Back in about 2020 I installed a xStation in my 5502. I also got the optional microSD to SD cable adapter and the really nicely made grey plastic sdcard slot top section that fills in the hole where the laser was. This thing is _super_ nice. I just updated my firmware to the latest because of this vid. For some reason no games were found even though the sdcard was already configured and working. I had to turn on directory browsing then manually go to one dir and then the game showed. Then I added it to the game list manually. Then I went back to refresh games list and it magically found all the games. Weird! heh!

[@alansmith9145]

a game from me to try, that maybe a lot of you have never heard of, Rule of Rose. excellent to play and lots of fun, a bit resident evil style.

[@stevenrun34]

I just installed one of these in my 1000 series PS1, so another one bites the dust. The laser was kind of ok on pressed discs; but my totally legitimate backups were not reading well at all, so I didn’t feel bad about deleting the optical drive.

[@00Skyfox]

Based on your PlayStation videos I opened up my original PS1 to check the capacitors and was happy to find they’re all in perfect condition with no leakage. Same for the slim PS2. (Now I just have to locate my never-used PS1 to check it too. It would be a shame for that to get destroyed from cap leakage without ever having played a game.)

[@davidallen5783]

I just ordered an xstation for my childhood "audiophile" ps1 as well. My disc drive spins but doesn't read unless it's upside down.

[@thecocopopscroc]

i got this model as a kid as a hand me down... still works might need to do this

[@rubberduck4966]

You should add Quake II for the PS1

[@erikt211]

But…. What if you just stored ISOs of music discs on it as well? Would it boot to the CD player and let you play them? Then you would be able to save your CD library too and play it!

[@kyler247]

the "audiophile" qualities of these psx consoles are greatly overstated nowadays, it's a great dac for the time, yes, but nowadays not so much

[@urbnctrl]

Lets just put it this way, for the price of a psx today you get more for your money than alot of the chinese budget cd players people are looking for today. And its got the retro classy vibe playing a cd on an old ass console

[@diwest1737]

At 8:03 it looks like there might be some broken traces.

[@TheRetroChannel]

I did check those, they're intact.

[@sos.gamers]

1001 PS1 needs a cap replacement, i had to do it on my PS1, doing that fixed my ps1 laser problems, it struggled reading games till i changed all the capacitors

[@TheBasementChannel]

Great video! You always give me good ideas on how to modify my own collection of broken junk 😂

[@Talia.777]

🤣🤣

[@AtherisMods]

Nice descriptive install, and great channel. Subbed 👍

[@wimwiddershins]

Edging up on 10k mate, nice!

[@ewrooney]

@TheRetroChannel HI! SCPH-1001(with XStation installed)owner here. You know you can just convert any Audio CD into a supported format and the Xstation will boot into the CD player so technically you haven't "destroyed" the audiofile Playstation. If anything now they can back up those aging physical music CDs. Also fun fact, the later models have a visualizer that can be accessed while playing audio disc but sadly our old launch model cannot do that. 😔

[@TheRetroChannel]

I know, I did look that up before installing the X-Station. But I think the audiophile status is a little overblown for these anyway. I'm working on another audio related mod for these that may make the audio enthusiasts happy

FRom scph 1001 USA to SCPH 3001-2 PAL graphics have still the banding problem that affects only 3D games like Silent hill and Tomb Raider, MGS and a lot of others. Subsequent models wit serial Input are 75001 and 55001, which are arguably the best models: specially scph7501. if you wat look in youtube TR1 banding problem an you0ll see what does backgrounds like.

[@paulb4uk]

I have one of these early ones the laser is faulty and this would be very handy .

[@Jakuzziful]

I‘ve never had an expensive stand alone CD Player other than Boomboxes etc, put I compared the First PS model with two never ones, a PS3 and an Xbox 360 and in this comparison it was a pretty big upgrade. But as you said they need some love in this high age..

[@bitdigital8052]

I put a x-station In my AP model and play CD 💿 images. Still a AP PSX

[@Keepskatin]

Emulation and pc .mods bring new life to old games

[@Documenting_Life_8619]

Owner: you will stop spinning ! Ps1: we’ll see about that! (Few moments later) Owner: powers on ps1 Ps1: omg

[@libroscombustibles2616]

the only issue with this particular model is the graphical banding on 3d games. Scph 300x and up don't suffer from these graphic issue.

[@BeyondEntertainment_]

🔥

[@TRONMAGNUM2099]

Another top notch video.

[@buddyweiz]

Metal Gear Solid, Driver, Alundra, Silent Hill, Wild Arms,

[@00Skyfox]

How does it work with multi-disk games when it tells you to swap disks? Is there a way to get to the disk selection page from within the game?

[@Bonsaiquieker]

Ps2 was in every model backwards compatible to PS1. Only PS3 removed some chips and goes from hardware to software emulation for ps2 games

[@TheRetroChannel]

Late model PS2 slims removed the PS1 hardware and use software emulation

[@Bonsaiquieker]

@@TheRetroChannel my bad .. you are right..

[@MrKillerno1]

Every video i see on internet about working with flux... You guys use a lot of that stuff. Or is it 'the new way' of soldering? (if solder has already flux in it?)

[@nasko8605]

Cool! Next - hdmi mod it !

[@Exitsing]

Where did you get that "Pin with that edge on it" tool? I need something like thatz always when removing pins from SMD's the whole pin broken everytime, because I force it with another tool

[@TheRetroChannel]

It's literally just a pin that I bent the end of with some pliers

[@captain3186]

Ive never once came across leaking Caps on a Fat Model PS1. Depending on how you are removing them, ie (Hot Air) I'd suspect that could cause the smell fishy smell. That's how I'd do it anyway.

[@TheRetroChannel]

I found the total opposite, none of them were really obvious without removing the cap first. And no, I didn't use hot air for this one, that cap juice was old and crusty

[@captain3186]

@@TheRetroChannel that's interesting. Ive been in a lot of 1001's and no leaking.

[@LatitudeSky]

​@captain3186 Likewise, I've worked on dozens and still own a handful. Never seen any bad caps. Plenty of broken disc spindles. A couple bad drive/laser units.

[@Deadly-s-i-n-zyt]

I want to do pi raspberry upgrade on my psp 1000

[@notneb82]

When doing a similar modification to the Dreamcast, it's recommended to either remove the 12v power regulator or input a resistive load on the 12v rail since the optical drive is no longer present, would this be something the PlayStation needs as well? Have you noticed the PSU running hot?

[@TheRetroChannel]

Not that I'm aware of, and I haven't noticed it running any hotter than normal. The Dreamcast thing is interesting. I don't own a DC but I wonder why that happens. If it uses a 7812 it should generate almost no heat without a load, unless it's going into oscillation I guess. If I ever pick up a Dreamcast I'll run some tests

[@bitoxic]

Test with Crash Bandicoot!

[@Nobbie248]

Nice video mate, im worried if I install one of these I will miss putting the games in the console

[@TheRetroChannel]

There's certainly a trade-off. On one hand you can easily play anything. On the other you lose the whole inserting discs feel (and choppy FMVs with scratched ones), it also runs completely silent which is weird at first. But that's what the 2nd PS1 is for, and the 3rd, and 4th, and... I may have a problem

[@djpk]

Could you please tell me where your getting your no clean liquid flux from in Australia pretty please?

[@TheRetroChannel]

I got it from mektronics. It's the MG Chemicals 8351

[@bon9ppetit]

does xstation support SCPH-7500 model (PU-22)? if not, is other ways exist to make ps1 play games on sdcard or usb?

[@TheRetroChannel]

No, you're better off finding a 550X PU-18 or 100X PU-8.

[@Robert-nl3fd]

How much is the chip kit ?

[@ot4kon]

Let me guess. You tested the audio using the RCAs. Common mistake. Sony knew that some user will use cheap cables. So they buffered the signal. But they use low cost. Low power opamps. The signap goes to some opamps and capacitors. The RCA out is considered bad. Use the AV multi out with a sony cable. The signal is not buffered with cheap opamps. Is the better option if you are not gonna mod the console to go direct to the DAC.

[@Keepskatin]

Interesting, but I rather buy a used dac or receiver hifi from goodwill, eBay or Amazon

[@ot4kon]

@@Keepskatin great options. I have some old CDs and I love electronics. Modding was easy for me and I got a ps1 model 1001 for 5dlls. There is something weird with that old 1bit DAC, many believe it was a happy mistake. The sound is not linear. Is colored somehow, reminence to the loss of frecuencies on vinyl. Making the sound more warm.

[@kghhgkgk6322]

Just finished installing an xstation and tested it before I screwed the console back together and it worked fine. So I closed the console back up and screwed it all together and now it just boots to a black screen. Any ideas?

[@TheRetroChannel]

Double check the flat flex didn't get pinched by part of the case. It could also be a poor solder joint that was just hanging on, and putting the screws in has flexed the board just enough to break the connection. I've had that with something else and without screws it worked, put screws in and it didn't. Took a while to track it down, but a bad joint on a QFP was the cause. What a nightmare

[@kghhgkgk6322]

@@TheRetroChannel thank you I'll check that. It's such a bummer. I felt so good about having it work on my first try. I also tried updating the firmware when I first ran it but because it said I needed to have the lid closed, I just turned it off. Is it possible I blocked it?

[@TheRetroChannel]

@kghhgkgk6322 I doubt it would be the firmware update. If it wouldn't let you proceed then the original firmware should still be intact

[@ShaknunicPT-BR]

What about games that requires 2 CDs or more? How do you run them?

[@TheRetroChannel]

You can select multiple "discs" in the X-Station menu before starting the game. Then when the game asks for the next disc, you just open and close the lid

[@rwdplz1]

If you have an original Playstation SCPH-100x with a bad laser, replace the laser and sell it to a collector. Use the profits to buy another later revision Playstation, the X-station, and capacitors.

[@themadmallard]

Is your video title referring to the playstation? if so, wouldn't it be 'early model?'

[@TheRetroChannel]

It refers to the board revision, there is an early model PU-8 and a late model

[@themadmallard]

@@TheRetroChannel thanks for clarifying... Was trying to sort that, having not aware of nomenclature

[@tspawn35]

This is why I paid someone else to do this mod. I do not trust myself to do this without damaging anything.

[@vhfgamer]

If you want a good game for the PS1, why not try Worms Armageddon? It's my favorite game on the system.

[@95Comics]

Can this play other systems with an emulator?

[@TheRetroChannel]

No, it's only emulating the optical drive, it doesn't have any further control over the system

[@LetsRideIllinois]

I don't know why people like using this as a CD Player, the noise floor is WAY too high

[@Wolfstanus]

Its hilarious that audiophiles still beleive this myth that the original ps1 had superior sound quality like that. Then again they also believe flat wires produce better sound.

[@Throckmorton.Scribblemonger]

I sold my first gen PS1 to an audiophool.

[@beanwithbacon]

Really? You couldn't have picked up a later model PS1 off of eBay for this? It's utter blasphemy to use a launch model for this mod...

[@wussup12345]

This mod only works with certain, earlier models

[@beanwithbacon]

@@wussup12345 I know I've it myself but not with a launch model with the RCA, what he did here was blasphemy.

[@djmhyde]

interesting that pepole that complain about ps1 being a good CD player are pepole that listen spotify in earbuds...

[@Casp3r.aka.Droid.]

Yeah, but the thing is PlayStation still looks like shit on modern TV's dark station is the way to go anymore because you can clean up the resolution. Get rid of all that blocky bullshit and that wobble. And it actually looks really clean and modern. You can read everything you can actually see their faces in detail and they're close. You can see what things are in the distance instead of just a bunch of blocky pixels. I'm sorry I like real hardware but PlayStation just didn't age very well. Neither did PlayStation 2 to be honest. They both look amazing through emulation especially duck station 0 Or ether f s x

[@johnbillings5260]

Remember how people would claim leaving that model on would make CDs sound better? 😂

[@blunderingfool]

That's a new level of audiophilic nonsense, explain that one to me, please! XD

[@johnbillings5260]

@@blunderingfool From what I remember they claimed the capacitors would need to warm up to their peak performance after running for dozens of hours.

[@PROSTO4Tabal]

I don't think xstation is ideal option for people wants to feel ps1 in full its glory. It's much of like taking the soul of of the body. You know you collect games, you hear disk read that all charm etc. If someone wants compact reliable solution emulation might be an option, you already use windows based machine that's a power house you can emulate all consoles possible lol

[@tejay9416]

Audiophile quality is a stretch lol

[@johnsabilla5897]

My 3D printer is a piece of shit as well.

[@shangrilai1990]

🍪

[@TheRetroChannel]

✖️💿💩🎶

[@andrewmagro7703]

💯@@TheRetroChannel

[@xvdifug]

Pee Yew Ate

[@waderyun.war00034]

No fucking way i would ever pay that much for xstation what a ripoff there arent $10 worth of components on that board. jlcpcp and make my own for less than $20. Why does everyone that makes stuff like this think they should make $100 profit on each unit. Crazy.

[@TheRetroChannel]

Oh wow really? Hey, do you reckon you can make one for the PS2? You'll provide documentation for how to install and use it right? Also, how will I purchase one? I'm really not keen on just paying some random so maybe you'll need to find some resellers to stock them. What will compatibility be like? I guess it doesn't matter as you'll continue to work on it and release updates for years to come right. Alright, you've sold me. I mean for $20 bucks it sounds too good to be true! Thank you sir, you truly are an asshat to the community.

[@V081WLBlue]

But why??? Raspberry Pi and retropie and you can play any PS1 game you want at better quality and third of the price with no soldering etc etc etc!!! MADDNESS!