Sony CDP-MS1

Very rare integrated CD player with a sort of end-of-decade design, the CDP-MS1 is a super-charged version of the well known CDP-X5000.
It even uses the same KSS-274A laser block : a near first for Sony to have two of its top CD players using the same KSS !

The MS1 also inherited from the 24-bit VC24 filter of the CDP-X3000 and thus allows four frequency response curves to be selected - sometimes useful, often pleasurable... if not really "audiophile" :)

The CDP-MS1 however adds one intriguing feature to justify its beefier pricetag : three-way 6dB parametric equalization !
Bass is adjustable between 50Hz and 560Hz, the all-important mids between 90Hz and 10Khz and highs between 1,4Khz and 14Khz.
The mid frequency also has a three-position Q (slope) selector but I don't know what their values are besides 'narrow, 'mid and 'wide...

The output level is also adjustable between -9dB and +3dB and all of these parameters (VC24 filter, parametric eq, mid Q slope and output level) are remote-controllable !

The same R-Core transformer as that of the X5000 powers everybody but the output isn't FET-charged - a strange absence given the price jump between the 120,000¥ of the X5000 and the 220,000¥ of the MS1...
The outputs are the same, though : RCA analogue and AES-EBU XLR + coaxial + TOS optical for digital with the same individual switches.

Componentry is all-Sony but for a Motorola 24-bit DSP which is delegated to the equalization duties.

Two other unusual features :
the headphones' plug is relegated to the back (but with a three-position load impedance selector - yes) and all three digital outputs can convey (or not) the parametric EQ settings !

The slightly beefier enclosure is made of extruded aluminium and is said to avoid structural resonances and standing waves thanks to its tilted and internally assymetric shape.

The total production run was set at 300 per month... but I doubt there were 18,000 made : more like a slow six-month production run, making a 1800 total run (tops).


Surprisingly, Sony's original annoucement page is still online.
A strange version can be seen here - either pre-production sample or ?
Real-life CDP-MS1s can be seen here and here.


This page is made with a big november 1999 japanese catalog which gathered for the first time CD, DAT, MD and cassette products from the top, mid and low lineups.
Of course, in 1999, DAT and cassette were more than on their way out...