My 32GB Flash IPod Mini

[manaox2]

Originally Posted by darkswordsman17

Yeah, I think thats where the bad sound quality stuff is coming from. There was a site that had a test between I think 4 different players and the iPod Mini was dead last, but that was through the headphone jack (which I seem to recall has been blamed on poor quality capacitors in the signal path or something).

Oh, anyone have a good recommendation for where to find a replacement battery? $10-20 shipped preferably, but I'd like a quality one that exceeds the stock one in capacity at least. The batteries are just plug in, right? No soldering necessary? Thats what scared me away from doing basically this same thing with the Rio Karma.

Its generally agreed that the mini had undersized capacitors which caused severe bass rolloff by making it unable to perform a square wave when connected to a load such as the iBuds. Find those capacitors and do a cheap upgrade from them while you are in there and you may see a large jump in sound quality.

Maybe you can combine this with the DIY iMod thread. It may not be as good as the full iMod, but it should be one of the best flash players in existance possibly with the right modifications.

Quantifying Bass Performance in Digital Audio Players

[etjeremy]

amazing......but 32GB CF card is very expensive(for me)

[soloz2]

Originally Posted by etjeremy

amazing......but 32GB CF card is very expensive(for me)

get a 16Gb card then.

[Hayduke]

Originally Posted by manaox2

Its generally agreed that the mini had undersized capacitors which caused severe bass rolloff by making it unable to perform a square wave when connected to a load such as the iBuds. Find those capacitors and do a cheap upgrade from them while you are in there and you may see a large jump in sound quality.

Maybe you can combine this with the DIY iMod thread. It may not be as good as the full iMod, but it should be one of the best flash players in existance possibly with the right modifications.

Quantifying Bass Performance in Digital Audio Players

Do you know which capacitors need changing? I worked in SMT manufacturing for many years, so I have complete confidence I can rework the iPod to swap these out.

[oicdn]

So, if I had the opportunity to buy a 30gb video for $110, or get a free mini and have to buy a new battery and flash card, which would you get? If I DID get the mini, I would only be getting the 16gb card...

[antonyfirst]

Usually, a 16gb flash player costs much more than a 30gb HD player. This is my reasoning. So, if SQ is the same (or even better with the Mini), I wouldn't look any further and get it.

[ruZZ.il]

It's smaller and can be modded too

btw, the caps that need to be changed in the mini are documented in the diyMOD thread. The original suggested caps that lead to the headphone out are the 2 big ones just above the DAC (don't use these). C53/C54, which are near the bottom on the opposite side of the DAC are the Line Out caps. (The mini mod came up again on page 90 through 92) there are some inductors and resistors that need to be removed for a proper mod, too, but I didn't follow. I just removed C53/54 and re-routed the signal to unused dock pins(hard to solder warning here, blabla) which leaves me with a fantastic sounding mini when used with my custom dock.
I think the normal mod, removing the caps/resistors/inductors and jumpering them, feeding the signal from the dac directly to the normal line out pins, would be an easier (and sonically equivalent) mod and would also leave it compatible with any iMod dock IIRC.. or a normal LOD with an amp with input DC protection.

(THESE MODS REQUIRE SMD SOLDERING EXPERIENCE! DO NOT ATTEMP IT WITHOUT ANY!)

[Hayduke]

Originally Posted by oicdn

So, if I had the opportunity to buy a 30gb video for $110, or get a free mini and have to buy a new battery and flash card, which would you get? If I DID get the mini, I would only be getting the 16gb card...

Originally Posted by ruZZ.il

It's smaller and can be modded too

btw, the caps that need to be changed in the mini are documented in the diyMOD thread. The original suggested caps that lead to the headphone out are the 2 big ones just above the DAC (don't use these). C53/C54, which are near the bottom on the opposite side of the DAC are the Line Out caps. (The mini mod came up again on page 90 through 92) there are some inductors and resistors that need to be removed for a proper mod, too, but I didn't follow. I just removed C53/54 and re-routed the signal to unused dock pins(hard to solder warning here, blabla) which leaves me with a fantastic sounding mini when used with my custom dock.
I think the normal mod, removing the caps/resistors/inductors and jumpering them, feeding the signal from the dac directly to the normal line out pins, would be an easier (and sonically equivalent) mod and would also leave it compatible with any iMod dock IIRC.. or a normal LOD with an amp with input DC protection.

(THESE MODS REQUIRE SMD SOLDERING EXPERIENCE! DO NOT ATTEMP IT WITHOUT ANY!)

Thanks so much for the info! I have tons of SMD experience so I'm comfortable in that arena

I'll read up on this mod. I didn't realize it was documented. I don't own an amp (yet, thanks head-fi :P) so I'm more interested in changing the caps for the headphone out, but I'll probly modify the line out at the same time in anticipation of getting the amp.

[ruZZ.il]

it's not worth your bother changing the headphone out caps, the sound quality will still be dominated by the characteristics of the internal amplifier, which is the exact thing we're trying to get away from by using external amps and line out docks. As the system is better, there will be more benefit from the mod. Since you've got soldering experience, get into DIY. there are some GREAT DIY amps to build, but from a learning perspective, build a c-moy (found here)to begin with. But you may be able to just skip to a better amp if you understand the basics of op-amps and stuff anyway.. you could build yourself a PIMETA, from that site, or a mini3, from this site. There are really too many directions to go with DIY amps, and if you can, it'll be worth your while to go down that road.. and we look forward to you bringing another MAX to light it will get you!

[Fallingwater]

I managed to score an ipod mini with a dead battery (and, apparently, a working microdrive) for €30 including shipping on eBay.
I don't know which gen it is. Are both compatible with the flash mod? (I know, I know, I shoulda asked before bidding)

I can get a battery easily, but I've no idea where to get compatible CF cards. I'm in Italy, and it's proving incredibly hard to find an A-Data CF around here for non-stupid prices.

I seem to understand transcend cards work, but Rockbox requires a patch to work with them. Where do you get the patch, and how do you apply it? Is functionality affected in any way by this patch?

Are there other alternative cards that will work?

Thanks.

[ruZZ.il]

Both will be compatible with the CF mod.
Maybe look for a PEAK card as per the link to the guy who did it in the OP.
Maybe someone is willing to orde a spare A-Data with their newegg order and ship it off to you.. <shrugs>.
Generally, if the size of the HD is etched on the back of the ipod case, its a second gen.

[Aevum]

hows the transfer speeds on the cards ?

[Hayduke]

Originally Posted by Aevum

hows the transfer speeds on the cards ?

The reports I've read say it's very slow. They say it reads fine for playing the music though.

I wonder if these folks just haven't tried transferring 30GB of music before :P If they were used to their 4GB Mini before, it will take a lot longer to fill 16GB or 32GB hehe

I know it takes forever to fill my 30GB iPod Video :P

[Aevum]

i use to get 15mb/sec write and around 23mb/sec read from the NW-HD5 drive, now, some specs give the newer CF cards up to 20mb/sec read and write speeds, i hope it can sostain them,

[Punnisher]

When I transfered music to my 1g with a 32gb card, it was very fast. Not the very slow times the OP was reporting. Your time may vary though.