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

[vvs_75]

Here is picture of my first try. I was using #26AWG OFC Mogami wires. They are more flexible then #24 Cardas. The pads broke off so easy that I though that it was bad join. Then I filed off corner of the chip and soldered directly to the legs – same story. The wires too stiff and heavy.
But I want you to look at the ribbon cable receptacle.
The G (red dot) is were you connect the ground wire. It’s the first pin on the bottom right side. The only other place were I found analog ground were pins 29,30 on the dock connector.

The H (red dot) – hold switch pin. It’s the first pin on the top right and marked with small v. The problem is when you disconnect the ribbon cable from the main board it will lock the ipod. Apparently Apple designed it that way. So to overcome the problem and keep the ipod in unlocked position you need to make bridge between those pins. I just carefully melted plastic until the pads were cleared. The bridge is necessary because I cleared the phone jack board from all parts so the hold switch was no longer working.
You can keep the ribbon cable but then you have to glue capacitors in the corner like Red Wine did it. Here is the picture.




Next you need to cut the male receptacle from the ribbon cable and glue the same size piece of cooper board to the top of it. This “bridge” will serve as a transitional point between soft cable from the DAC chip ( I used cable from my $50 died Sony IEM ) and wire that will go to the phone jack ( I used #26AWG Mogami) . See picture below.

[IMG]


Then I drilled holes in cleaned from parts PCB and mounted the capacitors and resistors with point to point soldering. Be sure to use wire tubes on capacitors legs that goes through holes because the board are multilayered and even if you don’t see the tiny traces on surface they could touch them internally! Just to be safe. I used 100 ohm resistors in series and 47Kohm to the analog ground for each channel. You could skip at list series resistors and solder BG legs to the phone jacks legs directly. Plastic tray that supports the board has holes in it. If you use wires you can solder them through the holes. To make it easier you can just file the whole thing down as I did.




Very important! Don’t forget to glue ribbon cable receptacles together.

Also be sure that the "EQ" and "sound check" settings on your ipod OFF.

Happy Soldering!

[joneeboi]

So you went RWA's way and soldered the BGs straight to the HP jack, eh? Elegant stuff, vvs. I just can't believe you went ahead and destroyed part of your chip just like that. I imagine it would be a matter of microns between the chip's life and death. Seeing how both you and RWA were able to keep the caps indoors makes me want to do the same. Then I remember that I don't have a suitably portable amp at the moment, so I still want to have the option of the headphone jack. Even when I do get said amp (I'm thinking Mini3 so far), I'm not sure I'll listen solely exclusively via the amp, so the HP jack and rocket pack is here to stay unless I can figure something else out. But I'm glad you found a solution that works for you. Thanks for the photos.

BTW, what the heck is that circle in all of your photos? I can't imagine a lens doing that kind of work to an image.

I just found out I'll be getting another broken 4G click wheel, so once I fix that mother up, maybe I'll try the "clean" way.

[vvs_75]

[QUOTE=joneeboi;3452134]
BTW, what the heck is that circle in all of your photos? I can't imagine a lens doing that kind of work to an image.QUOTE]

in order to get close picture I used 4X eye loop lense in front of my camera

[oicdn]

That's INTENSE....what would you charge fo that to be done to a Nano?

[vvs_75]

Originally Posted by oicdn

That's INTENSE....what would you charge fo that to be done to a Nano?

The Nano have huge pads! So you can do direct soldering with no trics!

Just wait a week or so and I will post my nano mod! It will be easy, cheap and killer!
You will like it!

[joneeboi]

Originally Posted by oicdn

That's INTENSE....what would you charge fo that to be done to a Nano?

Like vvs said, if you have ever soldered anything, you can pull off this mod. It's probably one of the easiest soldering jobs out there. The only really intimidating part, if you already know how to solder, is how to open the iPod without damaging anything. It's not as bad as it seems with the nano. The iPod video is another story. I slipped a couple times trying to slip the pry tool in between the cracks and ended up slicing some skin off my knuckles. The nano was much easier than the video was.

[oicdn]

So then, why did RWA not want to offer it? Is it because it's cramped to fit caps in there? If we're talking external caps, it kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a nano.

[drp]

^ See post #46 of this thread

[aluren]

how about modding the 6 gen?

[oicdn]

Originally Posted by drp

^ See post #46 of this thread

I read that (again) and now see why, but still, why hasn't anybody tried to keep it all internal? Is it solely space constraints?

[drp]

Originally Posted by oicdn

I read that (again) and now see why, but still, why hasn't anybody tried to keep it all internal? Is it solely space constraints?

More like a part size constraint. The diameter of the BG caps is => larger than the thickness of the Nano. I suspect you’d need to go to an SMD cap to fit them in the Nano (arguably giving up sq) and you’re then giving up the headphone socket.

Plus, you’d then need a mini-to-mini cable, would stick out the bottom and make for a larger footprint. This is assuming there’s room in the Nano to run the new lines to the headphone socket. Perhaps the trailblazers in this thread can comment.

I still think a pigtail and a still-operable headphone socket the best combination. Small, compact, and with a Pico or Tomahawk, fit in a tiny case for protection.

.02

[wgr73]

Originally Posted by joneeboi

The only really intimidating part, if you already know how to solder, is how to open the iPod without damaging anything. It's not as bad as it seems with the nano. The iPod video is another story. I slipped a couple times trying to slip the pry tool in between the cracks and ended up slicing some skin off my knuckles. The nano was much easier than the video was.

Lol, this is so true!! Except I had huge problems getting the nano open, the video was cake for me! I got the caps from electronics shop, i should have an diyMod nano soon!

[joneeboi]

drp nailed it. The nano is just too small to fit even the tiny NX HI-Q BGs.

Here's the thread with the RWA iMod nano:

iMod Nano (56k warning)



The issue I'd imagine coming up with that kind of configuration is that some people would want to swap out the male mini plug for their own Eichmann Bullets, Cardas and what not, so RWA would have had to personalize every iMod nano. Then some people might object to having the pigtail stick out of their pockets, wires breaking in the pigtail from the drilled hole, they want silver instead of copper and vice versa, etc. Personally I don't believe in spending that much money on both wires and connectors as there are countless amounts of other audio offenders in any setup that could only be removed or improved with prohibitively expensive upgrades. That may seem contradictory in a thread about the iMod, where removing cheap components is the goal. But we can't forget that there are limits to how much an upgrade will cost and how much sound improvement, not necessarily sound difference, there really is. This mod was extremely cheap for me in comparison to RWA's offering, making it worth the $20 in caps, Tic-Tac box, cheap mini stereo jack, electric tape and hookup wire, if even $20. I'm all for upgrades that are obviously improvements that aren't restrictively pricey, but after a point you end up paying as much as, say, a much better power supply when you're only exchanging a connector, whose sound upgrade is immediately extinguished by the other crappy components in whatever box comes after it. I'm not saying there's no sound difference or improvement with the $11/pair Cardas female RCA jacks, I'm just saying there are better investments you could be making.

Nevertheless, maybe someone can come up with an interesting layout for this design. vvs_75 went RWA's completely internal way, but still pulled it off in his own unique way. My way is pretty unique too =D You could pore over it night and day and discover a great method, but I think that time might be better spent elsewhere, like cooking up your own Cardas Myrtle Wood blocks. If someone did do it however, future generations would benefit from it and I guess that would be your payoff, much like I couldn't have done the diyMod without RWA's entrepreneurship.

[joneeboi]

Originally Posted by wgr73

Lol, this is so true!! Except I had huge problems getting the nano open, the video was cake for me! I got the caps from electronics shop, i should have an diyMod nano soon!

I'm glad to hear that. Opening the nano was much easier than either the 4G click wheel or the 5G video, I found. Glad to hear that you got through that (huge) hurdle. What kind of configuration are you going to go with for the diyMod nano? Pigtail? Tic Tac box? Altoids box?

I don't suppose anyone in the meantime has pulled off a digital output diyMod.

[wgr73]

Thanks! I think im gonna use your tic tac box setup...it looks like a good one. I have a whole electronics lab to myself up at the college, so they may have some fabrication parts. But yeah, your idea was a good one.