The Apple diyMod: My Take on the Famous iMod [56k killer] Featuring 3G, 4G, 5G and nano 1G!

[qusp]

Originally Posted by RinksCustoms

BTW, Taking suggestions which ipod worked best with this mod, will consider buying a nice one if my nano 4GB doesn't wake back up.

the 5.5G ipod video is the best for this mod; its the most modern ipod that we have a definite process for. and it sounds great; quite a nice DAC

[XXII]

Originally Posted by qusp

across the ground and signal rings. ground is the first ring while left channel is the tip and right is the middle. put your meter in DC voltage mode and set it to the appropriate range. if you measure across the ground and left channel for instance you should get no more than ~20mV. so put one end (usually the black probe '-' or common) on the ground and one on the left channel (red '+'). hmmmm. nah you'll be ok I hope

Turns out my multimeter doesn't do millivolts so I need to get another one! Thanks for your help.

[qusp]

Originally Posted by XXII

Turns out my multimeter doesn't do millivolts so I need to get another one! Thanks for your help.

no problem

[joneeboi]

Originally Posted by RinksCustoms

See attached pics, hope this helps someone out trying this... They say education costs money.

BTW, Taking suggestions which ipod worked best with this mod, will consider buying a nice one if my nano 4GB doesn't wake back up.

That's excellent work, RinksCustoms. Of course, my heart goes out to you for your late iPod nano, but thank you for taking the first step on this one. You've found the elements that actually carry sound on them, so I'm going to have to change the front page. Thanks for your work, and again, sorry to hear about your iPod.

On that note, it depends on what you're looking for in your iPod/future diyMod. I have always liked the nano 1G. Then again, we don't have a diyMod nano 2G yet, so... I echo what qusp said though. I like the 5.5G for being the last iPod to have survived Apple's crippleware. (I thank God my girlfriend went from a nano 2G 4GB to a 5G 60GB instead of the 7G 120GB, on my advice of course. I'm so lucky to have her.) Plus, it has expandable memory, rather, a replaceable hard drive. Look around head-fi and the general interweb for plenty of hard drive swaps taking place in the 5G/5.5G. There's the CF mod, 100GB and 120GB drives, and even the theoretical 240GB hard drive you can try on if you like. Or if you want to kick it old school, the iPod photo has a nice look and feel to it. The world is your oyster.

[Hayduke]

Originally Posted by Seaningtime

awesome!
Ok, now since there needs to be a capacitor, does it really matter where it is as long as it is between the ipod and the source?
I.E. could I just cut the cable in my car and put a capacitor in halfway? Seems much easier than fitting it into the ipod connector, and since it is always in my car it won't be an eyesore
Thanks for the help orange!

That would work, but I would question how much of an effect this mod would have when you connect it to a car stereo. I suppose you could hear the difference on a very high fidelity system, but IMHO this mod's improvement is subtle enough that it requires careful scrutiny via headphones.

Now if you want to use the line out with the car AND an amp, then adding caps to the car's interconnect is a great idea. I play my iPod through my Camry's aux port, but I just made a male/female IC and use the same short capped LOD that I use with portable amps.

Originally Posted by XXII

I do have a multimeter....but I don't know exactly where to connect it to the 3.5mm plug. If someone could advise...Sorry for my utter ignorance!

Just like Qusp said. The tip is left, the ring is right, and the sleeve is ground. FYI, these are called TRS connectors for tip, ring, sleeve. I find it easy to remember by thinking of the sleeve as the base or ground. It seems intuitive to me since it is near the housing of the connector. I dunno why, but that seems to me like the place the ground should be :P Ring and right both have R's, so that one is easy. Which just leave the tip, so that must be left.

Connect your meter from the ground to each channel and measure the offsets on both. Again ~20mV is as much as you want to see. If you see more, those caps probably aren't wired correctly. Even if you see less then 20mV, it doesn't mean they are wired correctly, but it does mean you're unlikely to damage any equipment. They probably ARE wired correctly, but it's usually better safe then sorry Still, if you open it back up again, take a lot of pictures and show them here. Someone will be able to tell if it is done correctly.

Originally Posted by RinksCustoms

Allow me to elab. Following the picture in the first post for the short & wide Nano where you thought the LOUT/ROUT would be, i attached very small Magnet wire (radioshack), to the DAC side of the caps, ran them to the dock connector, which i then ended up solider bridging about five of the pins, but that's another story. I would love to tell you how well the mod went for me, and how much better the sound output is on my 2.2kW car stereo, but this isn't the case. I think i bricked it pokin around with my O-scope looking for audio near your suspected DAC. And i did find audio, on both sides of the board. I believe i accidentally shorted two pins on the memory chip while the ipod was apart and running, but that was my fault. Read through most of the thread, (149 pages guys?!), and didn't come across any relevant info, so here are at least a few conclusions of where the audio actually is on the board...

See attached pics, hope this helps someone out trying this... They say education costs money.

BTW, Taking suggestions which ipod worked best with this mod, will consider buying a nice one if my nano 4GB doesn't wake back up.

Is that the new Nano? I don't recall anyone modding one yet, and, yes, I've read this whole thread :P

As to which is best. The 4th gen has room for the caps inside, so that one is popular. The 5th gen can fit them inside too if you replace the HD with a CF card, so that's a plus in it's favor. Those 2 models also contain the Wolfson DAC that is pretty highly regarded. I haven't heard quite as many accolades for some of the DACs Apple has used in more recent models. If I recall correctly, they stopped using Wolfsons after the Videos and 2nd gen Nanos. I'd have to look it up though to be sure.

[RinksCustoms]

Just tried to reboot again... nothing. Need parts ?(less a logic board of course, lol). Had another thought on the "fat" nano, with 4GB, hell even 8GB capacity at lossless bit rates, (which i don't think it supports it anyway), you wouldn't exactly have a whole lotta room for lossless files. Which is what this mod was originally aimed at i believe... I will probably purchase a 5G or a 5.5G, running lines out from the pod doesn't phase me since most of the time it'll reside in my car.

[gueri_fr]

Hi!

Some news about my CF-modded diyMod iPod. It works well. I use it with the Pico headphone amp (very nice little amp). I made my new dock cable with mogami wires. I used a electrical clamp to fix the wires on the dock connector. The connector and the clamp are glued together so the wires are secure. My leather bag is very useful with two inside pockets: one for the amp and one for the ipod ;-) I think the ATH ESW9 will be my next headphone.
DiyMod for life!











gueri

[Lil' Knight]

Use the heat gun. It's far easier than using that tape.

[joneeboi]

Excellent work, gueri_fr! That's what we like to see around here, people sharing their diyMod successes. That's a nice shot of the inside of your dock. I'd show you the inside of my most recent iPod LOD/USB cable, but I'm embarrassed of the sloppiness.

I also use a zip-tie with my docks; that's a nice touch. I personally use either pins 15/16 or 29/30 for ground to help with the neatness and ease of soldering. To prevent pin breakage, I also leave a little more cable in the dock before the zip tie. I've had a few docks stop working on me due pins breaking because they were tugged just a little too hard. Finally, I only use the dock that snaps shut. If I ever need to service it, I like to be able to open it and mess around inside again. Just my two bits for anyone who'll take it.

[krisio06]

Hi!
I have iPod 5,5g with broken headphone output and I decided to made myself DIY iMod..
First- respect for all people who made this and aspecialy joneeboi..
When I saw this article:» DIY iMod iPod
I found out that job is not very difficult to make but I don't understand one major thing..
When the author of the artilce says:
"The goal is, of course, to tap the line out in the dock and run it to those nice shiny capacitors that you just bought."
Yeah I saw in parts list Black Gate but I don't really understand where to solder them..
Could you give me some pictures for help..

Cheers..

[joneeboi]

Typically, one runs the signal from the DAC to the dock as shown in the pictures on post 1 and then puts the Black Gates inside the dock connector. Just take gueri_fr's dock up there and throw the Black Gates inside. You would solder the signal from the dock pin to the positive lead of the capacitor and from the negative lead, you send the signal to the amplifier. However, there are different arrangements. Take gueri_fr again for example. In his diyMod, he swapped out his HDD and put in a compact flash card. That way he could put the capacitors inside the iPod. Ramblingman drilled a hole in his back plate and attached his amp and capacitors to the back of his diyMod. These are only three examples. Do what pleases you best.

[gueri_fr]

Thank you joneeboi

Originally Posted by joneeboi

I also use a zip-tie with my docks; that's a nice touch. I personally use either pins 15/16 or 29/30 for ground to help with the neatness and ease of soldering. To prevent pin breakage, I also leave a little more cable in the dock before the zip tie. I've had a few docks stop working on me due pins breaking because they were tugged just a little too hard. Finally, I only use the dock that snaps shut. If I ever need to service it, I like to be able to open it and mess around inside again. Just my two bits for anyone who'll take it.

Yes, there are several ways to make it. With mine, if it's clamped strongly and glued, the wires are very secure. I had no other dock connector to test another solution.

[joneeboi]

It's all good, gueri. There will always be other LODs, other diyMods. I just ordered another set of dock connectors from Ridax. They have a slim one that's meant for iPhone that snaps shut, so I'm going to see what that's like. I also got his Breakout/Extender board. Checking the voltages and resistances on the pins will be much easier now. Maybe it'll help me figure out how to get rid of that cursed "This accessory is not made to work with iPhone" message. *fingers crossed*

Also, I added a link to a capacitor comparison thread by Jon L on OP. Enjoy.

[krisio06]

I'll buy Black Gate's because they have good value for maney and they are not hard to buy in my location....
I took a look on gueri_fr's dock and it's possible the best way to go but..
Is enough space in this dock to put capacitors in there?
Is that the right dock conector? http://www.qables.com/shop/index.php...shop/index.php
And finally.. Could you reconmend me a not expensive but good cable for dock connector form Qables.com..

[Lil' Knight]

You can fit the blackgates in the square, big dock. The round one is possible but a little bit more difficult.

For first DIY job, I suggest using some cheap but nice wire such as Mogami 2534 or Canare Starquad. They are very easy to work.