XBOX is a much better cdp than my Sony SCD-595 changer

gooberdude · « **on:** 29 Nov 2006, 03:42 pm »

Does anyone use their gaming system as a cd player? I've had a cheap Sony 595 5 disc changer for a few years but haven't liked the sound much. been looking at new cdp's & on a whim decided to give the XBOX a spin. It doesn't have the huge low bass power of the Sony, but the XBOX beats the pants off the Sony in every other way. The sonic picture is coherent and fun to listen to - absolutely no digital fatigue w/far superior imaging and layering. Its quite analog in comparison to the Sony, so smoooth and detailed.

have others tried out the XBOX? and do the new generation systems (XBOX 360, PS3, Wii) work even better in this capacity?

One problem though is my XBOX won't read burned CD-R's...maybe a mod can cure this?

Also, the XBOX is noisy....been placing a bath towel over top of it which helps. i may get some mass loaded vinyl or make a cover for it with some absorptive material.

has anyone tried to quiet down an XBOX?

GD

robert1325 · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Nov 2006, 04:00 pm »

hi, I modded my xbox (xecuter 2.6 LITE) and used it for a while as music server with xbmc. It's a very musical box , it's bass is not the best but I was always surprised by it's sound compared to my cambridge 640C . I feel sorry for it collecting dust now, used it to play movies to... it's sound was actually better than my toshiba dvd player ... picture is useless .

The modded squeezebox however is miles ahead.

You can find some guides on modding at www.xbox-scene.com.

Good luck ( softmodding is the easiest way, but I prefer a chip with solderless adapter)

miklorsmith · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Nov 2006, 04:06 pm »

Lots of CDPs that have trouble with CD-Rs actually are alergic to the "track at once" burning option. The same players given a "disc at once" CD-R have no troubles. Go figure. I burn all my discs as continuous .wav files with .cue cutters. This preserves the entire form of the original disc. For instance, mixed dance CDs will play without gaps or pops.

Give it a try!

gooberdude · « **Reply #3 on:** 29 Nov 2006, 04:13 pm »

Hey Robert,

What is softmodding? In the last hour or so i've been researching XBOX mods, sounds like most of the new chips are around $60 or so...not sure how much cash OR effort I want to spend just to get mine to play CD-R's.

the weird thing is that mine plays burned DVD copies just fine, but won't recognize any CD-R i've tried.

thanks for your response and that site.

Hey Miklorsmith, just read your response - very interesting. I'm 99% certain that I only burn CD-R's 'disc at once', but i'll look into that. Can you fill me in on your 4th sentence stating 'continuous .wav with .cue cutters'...i'm not familiar with those terms.

GD

miklorsmith · « **Reply #4 on:** 29 Nov 2006, 04:24 pm »

When you burn CDs with EAC or some other programs, you have the option of either 1) creating individual .wav files for each track or 2) burning the entire CD as one .wav file. With this choice, EAC will create a companion .cue file that recognizes the gaps between songs. The .cue file will "cut" the whole .wav file exactly as the original. I think option 2) has a button called CUE on the left of the burning screen.

Obviously, option 2) doesn't inherently allow song swapping and compilations, but it is the truest way to get an Exact Audio Copy of your CD. Using this option, it would seem difficult for a CDP to distinguish the CD-R from an original.

robert1325 · « **Reply #5 on:** 29 Nov 2006, 04:27 pm »

Hi again

Softmodding is modding your xbox without opening your xbox...

softmodding is quite easy, you need some(ill**al) software , a memory card and the game that suites the software .

when your xbox is modded you can use your computer to get the disc's loaded on your HD and play them over the network or put them on the xbox.

Mine does play cd-r's but that's because I have the samsung drive, you probably have a thompson ...

gooberdude · « **Reply #6 on:** 29 Nov 2006, 04:54 pm »

thanks for the help guys.

one of my friends claims to be an xbox modder, so hopefully he can get it to play CD-r's without much fuss or expense. Mine probably does have the Thompson drive, which sucks since i'd bet my version is the latest one, i bought it new from Best Buy only a year or so ago.

i'm not a gamer at all...once had a straight 38 hr run with Halo but quit when my fingers stopped working. since then its been a terrific dvd player. Performancewise, its much better than the combo dvd/vhs player i picked up at Costco years back. the colors and definition are just superb compared to the old combo unit.

it'd be great if i could use it as my main cdp too, free up a shelf on my rack for other toys.

Offhand, does anyone know if the 2nd drive bay in the xbox can be utilized so i could just pop in a cd drive that'll recognize cd-r's?

gooberdude · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 Nov 2006, 07:20 pm »

According to several xbox sites, in order to get CD-R's to play in my XBOX i have to replace the DVD drive.

i've ordered a modded Samsung SD-616T from the ebay seller 'superseller81'...from
everything i've read replacing the drive is the right way to start.

if i can replace my cdp with the XBOX, i can sell the expensive interconnect - which will more than pay for a new drive and quieter fan for inside the xbox...plus its gonna free up a shelf on my rack.

maybe i can fit some music on it now!

jqp · « **Reply #8 on:** 29 Nov 2006, 07:22 pm »

You need to get Halo 2 and play on XBox Live! You will really get your moneys worth out of the XBox that way! Games only last 8 minutes so you don't have to be on many hours at a stretch....

I may have the Tompson drive too, I will have to check (is there an easy way?), but have not tried CD-Rs. DVD-Rs and DVD+Rs seem to do really well though - they will play on the XBOX more frequently than on my Sony DVD-Recorder.

robert1325 · « **Reply #9 on:** 29 Nov 2006, 07:39 pm »

two small holes in the tray means it's the samsung... that's the best one to have.

Softmodding is very easy, you should try it yourself...

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=215055

As long as you read what you are doing

gooberdude · « **Reply #10 on:** 1 Dec 2006, 03:53 pm »

last night i cut off the male plug on the stock XBOX power cord and put on a cryo'd Wattgate 5266i plug from chris venhaus audio ($15) - the change to the performance & sound of the XBOX is amazing.

From auditioning the XBOX as a cdp this last week or so, my only gripe was a lack of deep bass. I'd get annoyed by it over the long term. Installing this cheap male plug made a beneficial change in the sonic character - much more so than how the plug changed my Sony 595 5 disc changer. definitely fixed the deep bass problem, imaging is scary good now too. The laid back but precise XBOX sound is still there, way better dynamics now though. this set-up will be fun for another year while i build a pc based system off a Mac Mini.

I dig vinyl most of all, but had i heard digital like this prior to owning a tt i doubt i would've been bit by the vinyl bug so hard.

The video improved too - or maybe the sound improved by such a large amount the video just seems to look better.

I know zilch about the XBOX except how to turn it on & off really, but i'm gonna learn how to rip music to its harddrive and use it as a music server. seems like a keyboard to add track names? and maybe get a larger HD? this thought would not have crossed my mind before yesterday. like the XBOX just woke up.

my cable tv box will be receiving a $15 plug soon too...

miklorsmith · « **Reply #11 on:** 1 Dec 2006, 03:57 pm »

Quote from: gooberdude on 1 Dec 2006, 03:53 pm

. . . The laid back but precise XBOX sound is still there . . .

Awesome

Cross-pollenation at its best.

gooberdude · « **Reply #12 on:** 4 Dec 2006, 04:10 pm »

I opened up the XBOX over the weekend. can't find many, if any, good locations to add damping material that won't interfere with air flow...its a pretty tight fit in there. I've left the 6 screws out...this hasn't affected sonics at all and seems to have reduced chassis vibrations a bit.

If you game, you should look into using a degaussing or 'sweep track' on your system prior to use. Playing the Cardas Sweep track once in the dvd drive and again from a copy of the file on the HD makes tremendous benefits to the sound the XBOX proudces. The noise floor drops, 3-D imaging emerges and the bass gets more controlled and deeper. just a guess that this greatly improves the video resolution as well...i'm more concerned with sonics though.

at least 75% of the noise emanating from my XBOX is from the DVD drive. Once i've copied tracks to the HD and remove the CD, the box quiets down a lot. Neither the HD nor the internal fan make much noise at all. Unfortuneatly, the sound from the HD is not as dynamic as the sound from the DVD drive...but the lack of chassis noise when playing files from the HD makes it hard to beat. I may look into swapping in a large HD, if i can find one for cheap. playing music through the harddrive is not fun unless the Sweep Track has been played 1st. No idea why the sweep tones work, but they do.

i'm really enjoying using XBOX as a cdp now, much more than when i 1st reported that it worked well. In the near future, i'd like to try it with a DAC being fed a digital signal.

matt

jqp · « **Reply #13 on:** 4 Dec 2006, 04:54 pm »

Quote from: gooberdude on 4 Dec 2006, 04:10 pm

I opened up the XBOX over the weekend. can't find many, if any, good locations to add damping material that won't interfere with air flow...its a pretty tight fit in there. I've left the 6 screws out...this hasn't affected sonics at all and seems to have reduced chassis vibrations a bit.

If you game, you should look into using a degaussing or 'sweep track' on your system prior to use. Playing the Cardas Sweep track once in the dvd drive and again from a copy of the file on the HD makes tremendous benefits to the sound the XBOX proudces. The noise floor drops, 3-D imaging emerges and the bass gets more controlled and deeper. just a guess that this greatly improves the video resolution as well...i'm more concerned with sonics though.

at least 75% of the noise emanating from my XBOX is from the DVD drive. Once i've copied tracks to the HD and remove the CD, the box quiets down a lot. Neither the HD nor the internal fan make much noise at all. Unfortuneatly, the sound from the HD is not as dynamic as the sound from the DVD drive...but the lack of chassis noise when playing files from the HD makes it hard to beat. I may look into swapping in a large HD, if i can find one for cheap. playing music through the harddrive is not fun unless the Sweep Track has been played 1st. No idea why the sweep tones work, but they do.

i'm really enjoying using XBOX as a cdp now, much more than when i 1st reported that it worked well. In the near future, i'd like to try it with a DAC being fed a digital signal.

matt

I take it you have modded the XBox (other than taking the cover off)? What have you done?

How did you measure the effects you hear? (deeper bass, a dropped noise floor, etc.)

How is it that an LP can be played on an XBox

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Cardas Sweep track is first and foremost for degaussing a phono cartridge? Tell us what you did to play the Sweep track on the XBox...

You seem to be implying that the Sweep Track alters the XBox (software and/or hardware) temporarily. Can you comment further on this? Have you found anything on this topic?

robert1325 · « **Reply #14 on:** 4 Dec 2006, 05:34 pm »

I don't think he's modded his xbox, you can copy tracks from cd's to the HD with the unmodded one...

you should be able to find some guides on xbox-scene , to silence the xbox... But once you get it modded you could play your music stored on your computer... You can only use a bigger HD when your xb is modded to.

Do you use xbox live? if not, you can do the soft - mod. ( you get banned from xblive ) If so, you can only use xblive with a mod chip with on/off switch. ( I chose the latter)

send me a PM if you need help... I know it's a big step to mod ýour xb, but it's very easy and quite safe ... you can make a backup and undo the softmod

gooberdude · « **Reply #15 on:** 4 Dec 2006, 05:51 pm »

hey JQP,

I have not modded the XBOX whatsoever, just tweaked the power cord a bit by stripping off the stock insulation up to the ferrite ring and installed a new male Wattgate plug ($15 plug). a few weeks back i found out the stock XBOX sounded, to me, more musical with less fatigue than my Sony 5 disc changer...since then i've been toying with making the sound better, ie, bringing out the bass.

I made a copy of the Cardas Sweep Track from the LP, sending the analog signal from the VPP-1 phono preamp to a standalone HHB 850 CD burner. this set-up makes amazing cd's of lp's. So far, the ONLY cd-r's that play in my XBOX with the Phillips DVD drive are MAM-A Pro Audio Gold masters. The sweep track cd-r i used was burned at 8x. the HHB burner burns at 1x.

there's a lot of info on the net about degaussing. No clue how it works really, but the change is certainly audible....less noise, sweeter mids and highs, 3-D imaging, more controlled deep bass. its as if playing the track allows gear to operate at full potential & warm up 'rapidly'. This change is only temporary though. If you turn on the unit, play the sweep track, then turn off the unit & turn it back on - the effects disappear 100%. in other words, play the track each time you turn the unit on to get the effects of the Sweep track. if you're gear is left on 24/7, play the track once a week.

i've played this track in every cd/dvd player i own: car, boombox, IPOD, computer, whatever...the effects are always the same & i like them. Initially the effect you hear is less bass, but soon you realize there's a more complete sonic picture that's sweet sounding & allows you to turn up the volume a bit without fatigue. EX: if you're cd player gets loud & annoying at say 12 oclock on the dial, after degaussing you're gonna dig rocking out at 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock... Mainly 'cuz the highs won't be shrilly or piercing and bass will be deep and proper. i can also hear a lot more spatial cues after degaussing, gives me more of the 'i'm at the recording' feeling.

my goal is to use the XBOX as a music server until i can set-up a proper pc based music server, probably gonna get a Mac Mini and a NOS DAC.

In stock form (no sweep tracks employed) cd's through the DVD drive are more fun & dynamic compared to tunes from the HD. When both drives have been 'degaussed' though, HD tunes are about 95% of what they are when a cd is played through the dvd drive.

cd's thru the DVD drive have a bit more bass, but i'm hoping the convenience of having a music server outweighs the small amount of dynamics lost. I play the sweep track once through the DVD drive and ALSO the HD before copying cd's to the HD...both drives benefit from degaussing equally - sucks i have to play the track twice though. the sweep track is about 4 minutes long.

the fact that my XBOX runs nearly silent when playing music from the HD compared to the DVD drive is reason enough to pursue making the HD sonics better.

i think audioquest makes a replacement power cord i could use, but $120 for a 6' XBOX cord seems outrageous. the change that the wattgate plug made versus the stock one was awesome, so i'm gonna stick with my inhouse tweaked cord for a while. Over the weekend I A-B'd the tweaked cord to the stock one on my cable box. The better plug lets more bass flow, and the tweaked cord simply sounds better...more relaxed & dynamic. Both for the XBOX and my cable box!

The Sweep track is killer for MM phono cartridges. I'm always baffled when i play it with the Grado Gold...which is why i figured recording it to CD would be a good thing. Sometime down the road i may buy a degaussing CD, like Ayre's, but the Cardas Sweep Track works great for now.

Does anyone know if its easy to connect an external HD to XBOX? I have a spare 200gb one....it'd be too sweet if i could plug it into XBOX without the need to plug my computer into it also. Otherwise, i may swap out the stock HD for a larger one.

robert1325 · « **Reply #16 on:** 4 Dec 2006, 06:05 pm »

Not possible to connect a bigger HD without modding it

Glad you are enjoying it , I've used it as a music and movie server for 2 years with great results ( it's not very Hi-Fi , but very musicaly engaging and fun to listen to) Upgrading to a cambridge 640C cd player doesn't improve things a lot, do it right with a modded SB . ( the cambridge sounded more extended but it was to enthousiastic, it emphasized to much on certain details in the music)

That's the nice thing about this forum, you can say a cheap device like the xbox sounds good without people getting all skeptical over you !

( don't laugh about my grammar, as I'm dutch and don't enjoy using a dictionary)

gooberdude · « **Reply #17 on:** 4 Dec 2006, 06:24 pm »

I'm american and have never even used a dictionary, no worries Robert!

you're help is appreciated.

How would I go about connecting my pc to the XBOX? I'd need a cable that's 30' in length.

i think this may be the route i'm gonna pursue initially...

glad to hear the Cabridge cdp isn't much of an upgrade, if it all. My guess is I have to spend quite a bit of $ to beat the XBOX as is...

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #18 on:** 5 Dec 2006, 07:22 am »

The Xbox is so noisy I'd think it'd take a lot of Dynomat to make a dent in the sound. Not nearly so bad as the 360, though.

gooberdude · « **Reply #19 on:** 5 Dec 2006, 03:48 pm »

hey Rob,

interestingly, the only noisy part of my XBOX is the DVD drive. Its dead silent (from my listening position) when playing files from the internal HD.

In the future i may look into adding some dynamat, but there's little room inside the case. and, i don't want to interfere with the ventilation.

I addressed the vibes by removing the 6 large case screws and 3 screws that hold down the DVD drive. this has also reduced the amount of ferrous metal inside the case, and hopefully lowered the resonant frequency...the sound has improved. When the case was screwed together, the lid vibrated a lot...that has diminished quite a bit. i still place a bathtowel folded on top of the case though, its not silent by any means.

Last night i had time to try out 3 different aftermarket male AC plugs: cryo'd wattgate 5266i ($20), furutech fi-11m ($40) & Oyaide P-079 ($90).

The furu is a huge upgrade from the wattgate, go figure. its better made and makes music. imaging is far superior, its more enjoyable....however,

the changes that the Oyaide plug made went way beyond my previous experiences with these aftermarket plugs on other equipment.

i have a cryo'd Oyaide SWO-XXX outlet at the wall, and 3 more inside a BPT pure power center power strip - there's obviously some synergy that i have never tapped into. adding the P-079 plug to the XBOX changed its demeanor entirely, XBOX is a raging good cd player now. the separation of the musicians on stage is great, finally trumping the VPP-1 phono preamp, and the bass is insane.

Its a shame Oyaide stuff costs so much yet works so well.

the XBOX sounds decent as a cd player when the power cord is tweaked a bit. i think my AC delivery system is such that most any well designed gear, cheap or expensive, is gonna sound incredible if it has a P-079 male plug.

I did install the p-079 plug on my orig Sony 5 disc changer. it did not relieve the SCD-595 of its shortcomings, most notably harsh HF issues and a noise floor that the XBOX does not have. XBOX is so dynamic, smooth & 3-D in comparison.

matt