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

[joneeboi]

Okay, now I understand more. You should be hearing the DAC + Sonicaps. Makes me wonder if I should try out the Solens I have lying around. BGs are nice, but I wonder what the sound would be like with a true film cap. Argh! I'm running out of enclosures! Maybe I should build a docking station now. *walks off to ponder*

[CAvanessia]

I'm in the process of building a beefier dock like ALO. Basically I want a slot for the iPod with a plug at the bottom of the slot. It should be able to charge, transfer data, and enclose some big caps.

I'm trying to think of a cheap way to accomplish all this. Jon, maybe we can brainstorm for a dock for a complete diyMod solution =D

[pcyl]

so guy i bought a USB ipod charging adapter rip open
of course using back the pin which i pull out solder wires to them before putting back to pin 2,3,4 slot ,then fllow with hot glue gun to
hold pin in place,well the problem lies as using 47uf 6.3v kind of hard to close up the dock shoild i use 100uf 6.3v which is way much smaller ,it is recomend to use 100 uf 6.3 V

i did much hook 47uf and it sound bright cause not burn in yet
is that what you get guys?
i also hook up 100uf sound not much diff from 47uf?

any answer to it? 47uf or 100 uf?

Peter
Singapore

[KerryKing]

Here comes some pics







The leads are a little bit to long, but i have no cable stripper so i did not dare to make to short as it is not the easiest size of leads to strip

Also seen on Erik's and Sven's DIY page

[KoKoKrunch]

Originally Posted by pcyl

so guy i bought a USB ipod charging adapter rip open
of course using back the pin which i pull out solder wires to them before putting back to pin 2,3,4 slot ,then fllow with hot glue gun to
hold pin in place,well the problem lies as using 47uf 6.3v kind of hard to close up the dock shoild i use 100uf 6.3v which is way much smaller ,it is recomend to use 100 uf 6.3 V

i did much hook 47uf and it sound bright cause not burn in yet
is that what you get guys?
i also hook up 100uf sound not much diff from 47uf?

any answer to it? 47uf or 100 uf?

Peter
Singapore

Well, as already mentioned and tested... changing a few caps won't make audible differences unless your set up is really good for monitoring or whatever. Really, I even compared normal iPod to iMod, with an average setup, you'll never know if I modded it or not. (Note: tested with 4G iPod) My verdict bout the iMod is just a simple mod which does nothing huge but with truckloads of hype. It may be my ears, but if there are differences I can hear it. Bleh, nothing against our DIYMod committee here, I've done the mod myself and I'm just thinking out loud. =) Smile everyone

And KerryKing seems to have a fetish for hotglue! That's a hell lot man! You sure you're able to close it?

[KerryKing]

Originally Posted by KoKoKrunch

And KerryKing seems to have a fetish for hotglue! That's a hell lot man! You sure you're able to close it?

We all have our fetishes
Well i didnt know it was such a tight fit when i glued it and after i didnt dare to take it away. But anyways it is closed and it works
It was just wery tight

Also i think it might look like more then it is as i used a hobby knife to paste it out, so it is more wide than high.

Its a good thing that the blue stuff on the hdd is not to compact

/Erik

[powertoold]

So here's my version. The dock cable goes inside the dock. It isn't detachable.

There's a DC plug for 4.5v AC adapter. You can't transfer data, but you don't need the computer on for it to charge. Also, in addition to the mini you see on the picture, there's another mini on the other side of the dock. Inside the dock are 4.7uF and .1uF Sonicaps.

At first, I tried to use a 6V DC adapter but the iPod froze everytime I tried to charge it.

[CAvanessia]

Looking good. I have the EXACT setup with the sonicaps and 1g Nano. Except my case looks is a budget one.

[joneeboi]

Nice work, powertoold. Are you connecting the ground to case? If you're using the same Kobiconns I got from Mouser, then that's one "disadvantage" of using them. How's the bulk pairing with the amp? I was listening to a CMoy during finals, and I had loads of cell phone interference ruining my studying fun. I didn't ground the case, so all that interference got into my music. >=(

Anyway, here's my diyMod 4G with my recently completed Mini3. I can charge both player and amp while studying. Huzzah! Minor note: the interaction between the iPod's metal back and the Mini3's grounded casing cut out my right channel. You can't see it, but I lined the top of the Mini3 with electrical tape. Burning in now...


edit: Also, I've updated the first page with a gallery. If you want in or you want a certain picture up there, let me know.

[cfcubed]

Looks like there's lots of solder smoke today (not to mention iPods at risk

Got my 3G 40GB done & it works & sounds good but has yet to burn-in. The hard work was really done by lwaudio @ ipastudio.com identifying the Codec lineout caps.... And thanks go to joneeboi & others here for sure...

Goal was to keep all features working as stock (headphone out, lineout, make no holes, pigtails, etc) and met that. Was a kinda tight fit, but not too bad really & iPod fits together & works fine w/the new parts in it.

Used crappy Paint to put comments in the pix & I think they pretty much cover it. This may be too many pics to post (even tho I cropped them), please let me know if I should amend the post to pull pics...

[powertoold]

Hey Jon, what do you mean by grounding on the case? I took the Line Out GND from the dock, and it is connected to the sleeve on the headphone out. Is this a bad way of doing it?

Also, at the same volume, I can't really tell the difference between the diyMod w/ Sonicaps vs the regular headphone out. There must be something wrong, or maybe the differences are subtle, which I doubt because I've been hearing stuff like "going from regular iPod to iMod is a big difference." I'm not sure what's wrong, if anything. The SQ of the headphone out and Line Out sound very much the same to me, except the Line Out has less background hiss, which isn't noticeable on HD580s.

[joneeboi]

Thanks for that tutorial, cfcubed. Very detailed and revealing pictures. This should help out 3G diyModders because we had yet to discover the dock pads. Good job!

powertoold, I mean that the Kobiconn jacks are isolated from the case, so it's not electrically connected to ground. What you could do is connect a wire to ground inside the case and let the other end fly in the air and scrape the top/bottom/side/front/back of the case. Long runs of wire lend themselves to picking up interference, so protecting it from RFI with the case is a good idea.

Concerning the sound difference, give your mind a chance to hook onto the sound of the diyMod signal for a while before you compare to the headphone jack. This sentiment is expressed in regards to doing comparos at mini-, regular and national meets, where there is little time for you to pick up on the nuances and quirks of the sound signature of this or that piece of equipment. Let your mind settle on the "higher quality" sound of the diyMod's cap-enhanced, amped signal before going back to listen to the HP out signal. Then there's that whole chestnut of burn-in.

[aaronylee]

Just to let everyone know. I'm in the process of putting a tutorial together to explain how to mod the 5g on my site soon.

Will give due credit to everyone!

[pcyl]

Originally Posted by KoKoKrunch

Well, as already mentioned and tested... changing a few caps won't make audible differences unless your set up is really good for monitoring or whatever. Really, I even compared normal iPod to iMod, with an average setup, you'll never know if I modded it or not. (Note: tested with 4G iPod) My verdict bout the iMod is just a simple mod which does nothing huge but with truckloads of hype. It may be my ears, but if there are differences I can hear it. Bleh, nothing against our DIYMod committee here, I've done the mod myself and I'm just thinking out loud. =) Smile everyone

And KerryKing seems to have a fetish for hotglue! That's a hell lot man! You sure you're able to close it?

i have actually tried IMod with ALO dock with RSA
and also plug in a 5 Gen without mod (sound like some china cheapo MP3)
of course we are on losses file
we should stick to 47uf 6.3V dun need BG

[KoKoKrunch]

Originally Posted by powertoold

Hey Jon, what do you mean by grounding on the case? I took the Line Out GND from the dock, and it is connected to the sleeve on the headphone out. Is this a bad way of doing it?

Also, at the same volume, I can't really tell the difference between the diyMod w/ Sonicaps vs the regular headphone out. There must be something wrong, or maybe the differences are subtle, which I doubt because I've been hearing stuff like "going from regular iPod to iMod is a big difference." I'm not sure what's wrong, if anything. The SQ of the headphone out and Line Out sound very much the same to me, except the Line Out has less background hiss, which isn't noticeable on HD580s.

Hahaha, I experience the same thing as you. Oh well, but if you can't really hear the difference straight away, it should be considered subtle. I think it's more of a mind thing when you're saying this sounds better than that, when it's the same thing, blind tests have proved it. I've been comparing again and again, A-B... nope... subtle difference, other than the noise part.

And again, it may be me, but that's what I hear.