Bringing a classic Sony PS-X75 record player to life with Arduino
Bringing a classic Sony PS-X75 record player to life with Arduino
Arduino Team — July 6, 2022
In 1979, Sony launched the PS-X75 turntable. It quickly gained popularity due to its high fidelity sound output and ease of use. It was easy to use because it was fully automated – a common feature today, but something quite exciting back then. To accomplish this automation, the PS-X75 contained an integrated circuit that detected the size of the record, dropped the needle, and so on. But this CI was prone to failure. To revive their Sony PS-X75 board, MKB-1 used an Arduino Mega to replace the original circuit.
Unlike older turntable designs, which were often entirely electromechanical, the PS-X75's integrated circuit controls almost all turntable functions digitally. This means that when the IC fails, the turntable becomes unusable. Replacement ICs are almost impossible to find and have not been manufactured for many years. For most people, that means the PS-X75 becomes electronic waste when this IC bites the dust. But MKB-1 has reverse engineering skills and was able to save its PS-X75 by replacing the original IC with an Arduino Mega.
MKB-1 was able to achieve this impressive feat by carefully studying the original PS-X75 service manual, which included detailed diagrams and details of the electrical operation of each function. With this information, they replicated the original 42 IC connections on an Arduino Mega 2560 development board. They chose the Mega because it had enough I/O pins to handle all of these connections. Their custom sketch handles all the stock functionality, from playback to button presses to lowering the tonearm. If you own a PS-X75, MKB-1's detailed Instructables tutorial will show you how to upgrade.
Arduino Team — July 6, 2022
In 1979, Sony launched the PS-X75 turntable. It quickly gained popularity due to its high fidelity sound output and ease of use. It was easy to use because it was fully automated – a common feature today, but something quite exciting back then. To accomplish this automation, the PS-X75 contained an integrated circuit that detected the size of the record, dropped the needle, and so on. But this CI was prone to failure. To revive their Sony PS-X75 board, MKB-1 used an Arduino Mega to replace the original circuit.
Unlike older turntable designs, which were often entirely electromechanical, the PS-X75's integrated circuit controls almost all turntable functions digitally. This means that when the IC fails, the turntable becomes unusable. Replacement ICs are almost impossible to find and have not been manufactured for many years. For most people, that means the PS-X75 becomes electronic waste when this IC bites the dust. But MKB-1 has reverse engineering skills and was able to save its PS-X75 by replacing the original IC with an Arduino Mega.
MKB-1 was able to achieve this impressive feat by carefully studying the original PS-X75 service manual, which included detailed diagrams and details of the electrical operation of each function. With this information, they replicated the original 42 IC connections on an Arduino Mega 2560 development board. They chose the Mega because it had enough I/O pins to handle all of these connections. Their custom sketch handles all the stock functionality, from playback to button presses to lowering the tonearm. If you own a PS-X75, MKB-1's detailed Instructables tutorial will show you how to upgrade.
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