The Apple diyMod: My Take on the Famous iMod [56k killer] Featuring 3G, 4G, 5G and nano 1G! - Page 118

The last few days I have been experimenting on Elna SILMIC 4.7uf 50V and Nichicon MUSE 3.3 uF. I have to say I am impressed with the SILMIC caps - even not burned in yet shows a lot of promise. I have used V-Caps OIMPs, Mundorf ZN, BGs and a few others before, the SILMIC proved to be a very strong contender in comparison. Considering the small size I'd say most likely this will be a permanent choice for my DIY iPods application. The MUSE LOD is still being tested and I can't conclusively decide if I like them at all - but time will tell.







PS:
LODs used on both DIYipod 4g & 5g

Good thing I read this before starting - would you be updating the first page anyway?

That's a sound advice. I have a nightmare modding session where the stock caps lead were damaged accidentally in removal process. Luckily I managed to solder directly to the DAC analogue pin out (VERY tiny!!) on my 5G. Takes a good magnifying glass and pin pointed solder to make them work. Then I sealed them off with a good dose of hot glue to secure. Almost toasted my 5G fooooh..

Excuse me.... am I crazy here or I read it wrong.

You said that SILMIC electrolytics proved to be a very strong contender with non-electrolytic capacitors, paper-in-oil as V-Caps or Mundorf for signals?

Ruzz.il did that. He routed the bypassed signal to unused dock pins. He decided the difficulty in soldering was not worth it. (or at least that's what I recall) If you do send the signal to alternative pins, then you will obviously have to make your own LOD, and only that LOD will make use of your mod.

You pointed out some advantages such as using stock docking stations and LODs etc, but the other advantage is being able to compare the modded and unmodded signal.

Yes you heard me right. I am speaking from actual working experience with those caps (Mundorf ZN 4.7uF 250V, V-Caps OIMPs 4.7 & 6.8 uF) - the SILMIC does offer solid performance in contrast. I did not say that they are outright superior but definitely they did not pale in contrast. Not even the BG Hi-Qs can claim this specially against the V-Caps.

My first post here on Head-Fi so be understanding.

some background: I've never considered myself an audiophile but I do appreciate music and it's proper reproduction. I can remember the joy of discovering stereo output on my old 8 bit gameboy when I plugged in headphones into it. Also when audio cd's were just starting to go mainstream I found out about the SPARS code and would specifically buy albums just to hear its quality. I've always been fascinated with headphones, of all sorts.
I guess my audiophile'ness is really limited to my poor budget and really, I just enjoy music as it is fed to me and I'm really not anal about it.

Well, why am I posting here? in this thread? because I have proudly modded my 4g.

I picked up a used and broken one for $15 from some online forum. I purchased it for the sole purpose of using it my car as a music box. (USAspec ipod adapter for my honda accord) It was a dead drive deal so I obtained a converter and crammed in a CF card and tossed it into my car, never giving it another thought.

fast forward a year or so.

I picked up a Sansa Clip, generally known for its clean output. Soon after I began hearing things in my music (or the absence of ) and was quite entertained. One day on the road, I wanted to hear something on my Clip that wasn't on my ipod so I plugged it into the line in of the USAspec module. HOLY SMOKES, it sounded good. I started to go through all my music in my car with the ipod and then with the clip. BIG difference. I was RUINED. I began to hate my 4g Ipod and it's muddled, filtered and violated output but I just couldn't give up the convenience of steering wheel controls. I played with the equalizer and it just sounded worse.

Fast forward a few months up to last night. I found this thread. This wonderful wonderful thread....discovered at 10pm on February 25th 2009. By 12:30am, my ipod was Modded.

Now keep in mind this is for my CAR so don't criticize too much, but I cannibalized an old discarded modem for it's caps They were 22uf 50v badboyz. I don't even think they had a brand. I also ripped two strands of wire from an 80 pin IDE ATA cable that worked AWESOME for it's flexibility and tininess.

The only hitch I had was I dePadded one of the contacts coming out of the DAC but I made do by scratching the resin off the PCB over the trace just to get an adequate purchase on the contact. *Whew* it actually worked. For a moment there the white flag was coming out of the bag to be unfurled.

With fingers crossed I plugged it into my car and tested it out. (don't have a LOD for headphones) It worked! Sure enough, the output is DRASTICALLY better and noticeably more dynamic, even with my untrained ear. It's hard to describe but the only word I can come up with is CLARITY. Even adjustments to the equalizer were effective in improving the sound, before it was like attempting to patch up a burnt dinner.....impossible. (I'm using all stock components -- actually the 2003+ accords have relatively decent equipment)

Well, that's all I have to share. I just wanted to pipe in and give everyone on here a big thank you for your knowledge and experience of this whole project.

Now I'll go crawl back into my hiding cave.

cheers.

Jason

Let me add one thing I forgot, a buddy of mine (I believe he's a lurker here) showed me his modded ipod about a month ago. He had someone do it for him and it sounded really nice. I guess that gave me the idea of actually doing something with my ipod but it wasn't until last night when a google search landed me here. So it's partly his fault for ruining me. :grin:

Really nice recounting of your modding and what brought you to perform it. Welcome to HF, get some nice caps (plenty of cheap film caps that will be 100x better than those you are using), and sorry about your wallet.

iRiver H140/120 DIY Mod

And so I decided that my H140 gonna get the same treatment as my modded iPods.

Caps used:
Elna Cerafine 47uf 6.3V (Line Out)
Elna SILMIC II 47uF 16V (Headphone Out)

As you can see I am modding both the Line Out and Headphone Out.
Pics says a thousand words


* The venerable Elna Cerafine












* There's enough room in the H140 for four caps!

Sound Impression so far:
Awesome! this baby have the potential to knock off my modded 5G. Let's see how it goes after 200 hours.