Choosing a Audio connection for your PS2.
Mar 12 '01
The Bottom Line I really suggest the option I suggest: buying quality may cost but the performance will improve without a doubt.
So you've bought your PS2, well I hope you have one because this is mainly for PlayStation 2 owners only. Any way I know that the PS2 is a fair DVD player which gives similar performance to a £150/$210 priced DVD player, and is also a very, very good CD player at the level of separate CD players costing £100/$140, and of course the best console at the moment.
So what's your setup?
I think it boils down to a few groups;
1) People who own a console and connect to the TV with a AV connection like phono and composite video or SCART.
2) People who own a Hi Fi stereo system and connect their phono outputs to the Hi Fi to have improved sound through huge (in comparison to TV speakers) speakers. And also connect with a form of video connection. [This is my setup]
3) People who have gone out and bought a dedicated AV receiver which amplifies a number of speakers to give surround capability, and connect the video through the receiver and then connect to the TV.
I believe that most people will stick to no. 1, and that’s fine, but if you want to upgrade your sound then read on, I doubt that all the people who fall into no. 3 would benefit from my help.
Connections, Connections, Connections
Before I start I should really mention the connections available to be used for audio, and basically you don’t have a wide range! For one thing the PS2 has a AV out, and a optical digital output. The digital out is only available for use with receivers which cost an arm and a leg, but allow surround sound.
Phono connection is the basic connection for left and right channel audio, and can be a good choice for stereo setups, & is also known as RCA (not the brand!).
Now the PS2 doesn’t have a pair of phono outputs at the back (well duh!), you’d recognize these as two circular sockets, with a hole in the middle for the signal. Now there are two options for you, to connect through phono cable.
1). You can buy a SCART lead which includes a pair of phono cables, and they are fairly cheap, but I recommend the second choice. These types of cables are good for cheap setups but for top class sound quality you can tell the difference with high quality cables.
2). Now this is the option I took, and I can very confidently say, ‘Its 10 times better than those all in one cables for sound quality alone!’. Now before I state what it is, the cost was a little more than my all in one alternative, that’s £19/$26.60 from the £10/£14 of my all in one I used to use. Now what I bought was a pair of 2m phono to phono cables from a electronic store, these were oxygen free and gold plated and cost a respectable £8/$11.2. But wait, I can’t connect these to the PS2, ah but I can. I then went to a computer store which sold a AV adapter, similar to the one included with Time Crisis, but has a new S-Video output. It also has stereo phono outs, and composite video, and all connections were gold plated too. Yes two video outputs for £12.99/$18.18! Okay it was quite expensive over an all in one but it does show.
Once I played some CD’s it was clear the difference in cables, I mean, my Hi Fi is cheap but when hooked to the PS2 with some real hi end cables the detail in music flies through. I could easily hear the drums in my rock music, and cymbals at the same time while listening to voices that were no longer muddled together. Excellent. Now you may think the cables (phono) are the same, but they’re not, the JVC cables were at least 6mm thick, over the 2mm all in one cables, this means that the two signals (positive and negative) are separated more so more detail is achieved, and the gold connection work well too, helping the sound to be softer at high volumes, and not ear painful!
If your after even better quality, you could opt for even better cables, I’ve seen cables ranging from £10/$14 to £200/$280 its mad, but the price does add quality, ask any separate hi fi owner who has changed phono cables before.
Also the AV adapter is a Sony product, and I can’t see any of those third party competitors getting any closer to the well-built box of tricks.
Overall
I definitely recommend buying the second option, especially for CD playback or DVD video playback. Its tremendous to see the details clearer. Also you’ll recognize the details even better with a separate Hi Fi.
But for all you who just play games, the all in one option is a fair way to go, but I mean £9/$12.60 is hardly much extra, is it?
-Please note, all prices are taken from UK prices only, and multiplied by 1.4 to give a rounded US $ price-
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