Gary Indiana
Active Member
A couple of weeks ago I picked up a Philips CD-40 for $4.99 at a local Goodwill. It is a single disc CD player made mostly of plastic in Belgium in 1990. Not knowing exactly what would be inside I had pretty good feelings about it, and I was right.
The player has the coveted TDA1541A DAC chip which has been discontinued for many years but remains so famous and desired that fakes of it are still being made and sold on ebay.
I made a few simple modifications (mods) to the player to squeeze the best of its sound. And it was WELL worth it. The biggest surprise to me was switching the player to non-oversampling (NOS) operation. The sound became MUCH BETTER. Piano on CD now sounds like a piano, ovation sounds like ovation, all the obnoxious "digital" pollution disappeared! I read about NOS mods but wouldn't really know until I heard one with my own ears.
I posted all this in the thrift store mega-thread, but I do not want it to stay buried in there. It is a gem worthy of exposure, and an experience worthy of sharing. The mods are very simple and the results are very DELIGHTFUL.
And so here it is:
The player has the coveted TDA1541A DAC chip which has been discontinued for many years but remains so famous and desired that fakes of it are still being made and sold on ebay.
I made a few simple modifications (mods) to the player to squeeze the best of its sound. And it was WELL worth it. The biggest surprise to me was switching the player to non-oversampling (NOS) operation. The sound became MUCH BETTER. Piano on CD now sounds like a piano, ovation sounds like ovation, all the obnoxious "digital" pollution disappeared! I read about NOS mods but wouldn't really know until I heard one with my own ears.
I posted all this in the thrift store mega-thread, but I do not want it to stay buried in there. It is a gem worthy of exposure, and an experience worthy of sharing. The mods are very simple and the results are very DELIGHTFUL.
And so here it is: