If the laser can read the disc without issues, it's fine. Playing a CD on a console is no different than a stereo.
Its the sound system and the quality of the recording that are gonna get you good sound. That and the right cables/hook-ups.
Sure let's just ignore that the harcore people spend crazy amounts on some of the vintage high end cd players. why not get a cheap or medium value one same results right?
like:
Sony CDP-X777ES / Year: 1991.
Pioneer PD-95 / Year: 1992.
where talking several hundred to over 1000 $ here
no speakers just a cd player.
totally has zero effect after all
You're paying for build-quality and longevity when it comes to a standalone CD-player. A good Sony CD-player vs. knock-off is gonna last you for a good long while and it's not going to be as prone to skipping. All the CD-reader part is doing is reading the information and sending it to your system which then deals with the actual sound.
The sound quality comes from you system (like the equalizer part where everything goes through), your speakers, the audio cables, and quality of the original recording. But most CD players are built into systems, nowadays. So I guess it does matter which one you get in that case. You don't see those big stacks so much like you used to.
Point being, as long as you have a good sound system it's going through, playing an audio CD on your PS4 doesn't affect the sound-quality. I mean, if you're just playing it through your T.V. speakers, that's a different story.
according to the reviews of these sought after vintage cd players it will sound a bit different, a bit warmer than most cd players. eitherway only noticable for the super hardcore I'd say, you'll proably have an easier time with a modern 100$ + cd player most will probably not spot the difference.
so again it does affect sound especially for the people that are willing to spend. it wouldn't be that sought after if all if it would sound the same a a decent quality modern cd player after all. why would you go through the hassle for just build quality, decent priced modern cd players have that aswell.
obviously it's going to be good enough with a medium cd player and speakers but if your going for perfection there is a pretty hardcore community out there that will claim that it does actually sound different and has the money spend. It's not just build quality your better off getting a modern system if that truly was the case.
let alone why not get a high end modern setup instead. wich probably again would have better sound quality than modern medium cd players. aside from the costs wich are sometimes even higher or allot higher than most high end modern variants allot of the better models aren't that easy to find either, let alone no warranty since 2nd hand market. Quite allot of barriers for the same experience in sound you'd be an idiot if that really where the case I'd say
Another example for sound is the cables, while most would claim that 50ish to 100$ is enough for the best quality, you have people who are willing to spend 1000$ on certain cables. and in that scenario the difference is even smaller. a 900$ difference in wich even among the hardcore there are people who cannot spot the difference. so pretty hard to prove if the super high end cables actually have better sound compared to good quality cables of 50 to 100$. after a certain barrier the improvements become smaller and smaller.
Perfection has it's price your paying the most for the cherry on top wich only the most hardcore might appreciate.
I don't get how your denying that the quality of a cd player doesnt affect the sound at all.
Sure speakers and cables are part of it, however the cd player alone also does have an impact on the sound quality.
A low end, medium to high end system will all have a difference in sound. the higher you go, the quality usually goes up. You'll get what you pay for.
eitherway for people who are hardcore in cd's your probably not going to use a console, your going to be using an at least decent quality cd player. for the people that still use cd's it's not really a loss it's probably not going to be that great in the sound department or maybe just comparable to a medium cd player.
Certain ps1 models back in the day where the exception being comparable to pretty good cd players. however those early ps1 models at the time where ridiculously expensive, and later on those audio options where removed.
Still even if you look up in google for current cd players you will have a top 10 of the best
sounding cd players of 2020 for consumers.