Originally Posted by jonnywolfet
i think there is a lot of truth to that. as a tinkerer myself, i didn't spend a lot of time with the ps1 stock before i warmed up my soldering iron.
that said, having recently listened to a stock ps1 (not warmed up for 3 days of anything) i found it to be rolled off in the bass, the mids a little smeared, and slightly hard treble. content that my modified unit sounded better i have left it at that for now.
And I didn't mean to imply that it
doesn't sound better...only that better is in the ear of the beholder. You description above, however, is not what I would expect of a cheap audiophile discovery. If anything, I would expect slightly boosted bass and rolled-off treble. Hold the smeared mids. Add it up to equal "Warm and smooth."
But it could work the other way as well, depending on the taste and ears of the beholder. God knows the music companies, juicing the trebles when remastering classic vinyl have simulated clarity and detail enough to catch the ears of millions of cd buyers. Even some very sophisticated listeners can be drawn into the gleam at first, though over time these masters get harder to listen to.
I suspect that since 16-bit technology got good and cheap in the late 90s, the differences between DACs have been small, when audible, and that almost everything we hear that differentiates them from each other is in the tone of the output stage.
Tim