Sony’s PlayStation consoles have been a great way to watch movies and TV shows on discs, and they even helped popularize the DVD and Blu-ray formats. The PlayStation 5 is carrying on that tradition, with one curious exception: you can’t play an audio CD.
The PlayStation 2 was Sony’s first console with the ability to play DVD discs, and even though its impact on DVD adoption in the United States is up for debate, it was certainly a popular way to use the console at the time. The PlayStation 3 was one of the first mainstream Blu-ray players, which accelerated the defeat of HD-DVD as a competing format. The PS5 can still play media from DVD and Blu-ray discs, as long as you have a model with an optical drive.
However, modern PlayStation consoles cannot use the much older audio CD format. Those discs worked on the PS1, PS2, and PS3. The PS3 could even import music to the system storage, and early models also supported the niche Super Audio CD format. The PS4 and PS5 never supported any audio CD formats, and if you try to put a music disc in a PS5, the console will display a generic disc read error message.
It’s worth noting that all modern Xbox consoles with optical drives can play music CDs, from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox Series X. Credit where credit is due, Microsoft.
Why No CDs?
It’s not hard to guess why newer PlayStation consoles don’t support audio CDs. By the time Sony was working on the PS4’s hardware and software, CD sales were nearing all-time lows as music streaming and digital purchases were becoming mainstream. The PS4 is a game console first, and entertainment system second, so audio CD support would have been remarkably low on the priority list—if it was ever considered at all.
Some optical drives use separate lasers for different media formats (DVD, Blu-ray, CD, etc.), or at least separate potentiometers. The optical drive in the PlayStation 5 might be physically capable of CD playback—I’m not seeing separate laser components in teardown videos, but I’m not a hardware engineer.
Even if the hardware is already there, audio CD playback would probably require license payments to Philips, since the format was co-developed by Sony and Philips and those patents haven’t expired. Those few cents multiplied by the 80+ million PlayStation 5 consoles sold so far would be a lot of money going out of Sony’s doors.
I would personally like to see audio CD playback support in the PS5, and I don’t think I’m the only one. CD sales have slightly increased over the last few years, though not quite as much as vinyl albums. It would definitely be a niche feature, but assuming the optical drive supports it, CD support would be a useful addition.
The Alternatives
Even though the PS4 and PS5 can’t play audio CDs directly, they can still play music files from a USB drive. You can rip a CD with a Windows PC or Mac, then copy the files to a drive for playback on the console.
Sony has some support pages that explain music and video playback from USB drives with all the details. For my PlayStation 5, I just had to create a ‘Music’ folder on a flash drive and move the files there. The songs appear in the Music section of the control center, and I can play them just like music from Spotify or Apple Music.
The PlayStation 4 and 5 both support audio files in FLAC, MP3, and AAC, so most people shouldn’t need to convert anything from their music libraries. I tried a mix of ripped CD music and albums purchased from iTunes/Apple Music, and everything worked as expected.
You also have the option of ripping your music and adding it to a Plex library, which can be played through the Plex app on your PlayStation console. Music playback and photos were removed from the redesigned Plex TV app, but that update hasn’t rolled out for PlayStation devices, and Plex says it will be added back.
There is one big catch to music playback through Plex on a PS5: it can’t continue in the background when you close the app. If you want to enjoy your music while playing games, you have to use audio files on a flash drive, or one of the supported music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.
Hopefully, Sony will bring back audio CD support one day. As long as the optical drive sticks around, music playback would be a great way to make it even more useful, as sales of CDs slowly rebound.
- 4K Capability
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Yes
- What’s Included
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Console, 1 Controller, AC power adapter
- Brand
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Sony
- Storage
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825GB SSD
The PlayStation 5 offers superior memory and graphics when you compare it to the PlayStation 4. Plus, it provides you with access to thousands of games for PS5 and PS4.
