Upgrading an iMod HDD?

(All prices I mention include shipping.)

I upgraded my stock 30GB 5.5G iPod to 240GB with a new, higher capacity (850mAh, stock is 590mAh) battery, new Rockbox firmware (I dig that there's a iPod Video UI theme) and the transparent iVue case all at the same time this last week. It's about as difficult as you can get modifying electronics using just three simple tools and no soldering. The hard drive you want is a Toshiba MK2431GAH. You can buy the hard drive itself from China for around $130 USD. For about ten dollars more you can get it in a kit with all the bits and pieces you'll need to upgrade, a battery, and opening tools. I think it's worth it, generally if you're opening your iPod for the first time you want to put in a new battery upgrade, and although I was being frugal I didn't mind paying an extra handful of dollars to make sure I had all the internal little plastic pieces and cables I needed. I didn't want to be in the middle of installing my HDD and find that I needed a $0.02 plastic piece or hard drive connector that I was missing and needed to order from China, delaying me for a month. Since I had a 30GB I also needed a thicker back and the plastic piece that hugs the dual-platter hard drive. I payed $150 for a 240GB upgrade kit from an eBay seller with good feedback that included a new customized iPod back (with a new headphone port) that has "240GB" printed on it (otherwise it's just like a standard new iPod Video back). I then spent another $15 to buy my new iVue case and a plastic screen protector from Rapid Repair on eBay (less expensive than on their own site).

For $250-$300 (depending on your options) you can get it professionally installed in the USA by Rapid Repair. For most people, I'd say it's worth the peace of mind. The company has a fine reputation, you can get a warranty, and rest assured your parts will all be legitimate. Personally, with my $300 upgrade budget I decided to take a risk and spend $150 on a kit from a no-name in China with no warranty instead of $300 with Rapid Repair, and I took the $150 I saved and I'm going to spend it on a Teclast T51 (Nationite S:flo2), to complement my "best high-capacity digital audio player" with the "best sound quality digital audio player" (well, short of paying a hefty sum for a HiFiMAN HM-801. The sound quality on the T51 from what I hear is comparable to the iMod (at a third of the price of modifying my iPod). I was about to buy the Teclast T51, but with Teclast's new line of X19HD, X29, and T59 in production, I've decided to wait a few months for the reviews and impressions here on Head Fi rather than live with an obsolete player. kiteki was an evangelist of the X19HD which has recently been released, but I haven't seen his impressions posted yet. I've so far only seen brief comments from one person, who say it's good but did not compare it to the T51. I'm not necessarily expecting Teclast to match (let alone exceed) the T51's sound quality in their new products. I hope they will, that's why I haven't ordered my T51 yet.

I recommend professional installation if you're not technically capable and very careful and you have a job in a first-world country. Many people aren't careful enough when opening their iPods for the first time and damage some component. I saw a lot of messed-up cases and cracked screens on YouTube. The part of the process most likely to cause damage is the first step of opening the iPod for the first time. (Removing the plastic from the touch wheel and replacing it with plastic for my iVue case was by far the longest, most difficult, taxing, and tedious part of my upgrade and was the part most likely to cause damage even for careful installers.) Now that I have the experience of upgrading my iPod, I can open my iPod quickly and replace any component easily. The only part that remains difficult is closing the iPod: the battery cable connection could not be in a less user-friendly position, making connecting the battery and closing the iPod very difficult. You have to close the case almost all the way just to give yourself enough length of the cable, and then, with barely enough room to hold the cable with a finger or tool, connect the cable and lock the clip.

Alright, I've given you a lot of information, some of which you may not need, but this should be important for you: I can confirm that a 240GB RWA iMod iPod is possible, because the 240GB hard drive is exactly the same size as the 60GB and 80GB iPod hard drives. All the 1.8" dual-platter iPod-compatible hard drives are the same size (all the single-platter drives are the same size, too).

I've fantasized about having an iMod myself: I think few would argue with my assessment that an iMod 5.5G iPod (or similar Whipmod and DIYmods) with the highest capacity drives (240GB MK2431GAH, and I think similar capacity SSD drives have been successfully installed) is overall (we all have different desires and needs) the best commercially available digital audio player in the world right now- or more specifically, the one that excels in the most ways. You can't top it in any way without extreme compromises (which depending on your needs can be justified). It's the HM-801 might have slightly better sound (significantly better sound with 96kHz/24bit audio, which no other DAP can play, although few us listen primarily to high-res audio), but it has far inferior UI (iPod has the best UI options in the business: the iPod stock UI is very good, and Rockbox is excellent and FLAC compatible) and the capacity is dwarfed by what the iPod offers. Size and weight wise, it's comparable to carrying a portable amp strapped to an iMod. Plus you'll need to carry a case of SD cards if you want more capacity. That said, if you don't need to carry a large collection of music, you listen to high-resolution audio, and good UI isn't important to you, I would definitely recommend the HM-801 over the iMod. The only thing that tops a modified iPod in capacity by a wide margin is a big clunky 500GB Archos tablet but it's a very poor DAP in every other respect. Of course if you're going for a run, you should compromise and use a Sansa Clip+ or Teclast X19 HD or similar decent small player. If you're not being still in a quiet space, it becomes much harder to notice the difference better sound quality. If I had $450 to spend to upgrade my DAP at this moment, I would immediately send my 240GB Rockboxed 5.5G iPod to Red Wine Audio to make it an iMod. It's the only way for me to carry all of my music in my jacket and then sit down and listen to it with CD-resolution sound quality the equal of any other player. The only other option for that would be the HM-801, which would mean alphabetically organizing my music collection on a dozen MicroSD cards and dealing with an inferior user interface.

I don't think RWA would have any problems making an iMod of an iPod that's already upgraded, but you may want to check in with RWA and whoever will be installing your new drive (if you're not doing it yourself) to make sure you won't run into trouble installing your new drive. There's almost no empty space in an iPod, and you'll have to work around the iMod. Unlike with upgrading a stock player, there aren't any guides with pictures or video for that on the internet, so you would be venturing into unknown territory. It's possible that professionals like Rapid Repair might have experience working on iMods before.

If you plan to make then upgrade yourself, here are the two upgrade guides (out of at least a dozen I read) that I found most helpful:

Detailed step-by-step guide with photos (includes important details I didn't find anywhere else in days of research) [computershopper.com]

Macworld's HD overview of the process on YouTube (includes important high-quality footage of how it's done)

And here is Rapid Repair's site.

I hope this post is helpful. As far as SSD goes, I honestly think it's a waste of money for most people. I used to exercise and run with my 5.5G 30GB iPod in a Contour Showcase case clipped to my waistband, and my hard drive still functioned well after five years of mostly regular use, up until a few days ago when I replaced it for 6x the capacity. I never should have had a 30GB in the first place, I hit the 30GB limit years ago and spent years micromanaging my iPod to work around the capacity limit (I'm a member of the lossless club). I'm not afraid of running with my iPod hard drive (although if I start running regularly again I'll buy a Sansa Clip+), and so I don't see a reason for anyone to spend hundreds of dollars on a SSD drive just for additional shock protection unless they're planning to expose their iPod to regular, hard-drive-killing extreme vibration. Just buy a good iPod case. You'll have money you can spend on improved headphones to measurably improve your listening experience, or have money around to replace a iPod component in case it ever fails. Even SSD drives fail. If you're looking for an iPod 5/5.5G case, I think the Contour Showcase is just about the perfect iPod case and the best ever made. But I can't find one to buy any more now that they're out of production (I need the larger size now). I bought a Griffin iClear Photo (iClear is almost the same) instead for $3.50, I'll see how it is.

Rockbox can play 96kHz/24bit FLAC files. I'm not sure if it downsamples it, though. I can't hear a difference off of my iPod, but I don't think the headphone out is good enough on an unmodified iPod for me to hear a difference. Hopefully the limitation isn't in Rockbox: I would be very interested to know if an iMod can output 96kHz/24bit FLAC well enough to take advantage of the superior fidelity.

While I'm at it, I might as well share this little-known nugget knowledge I learned while reading about Rockbox: the 30GB iPod 5/5.5G has 32MB of RAM, while the 60/80GB has 64MB of RAM. This is pretty much useless information for most users, but it's curious. Perhaps the extra RAM provides a very slight boost to battery life by reducing hard drive usage.

I would offer to upgrade your iPod myself for $100 (plus the cost of materials, so around $250 plus shipping) if it wasn't an iMod. I'm curious about the process of upgrading an iMod, but I have no experience working with one and I'm not willing to take chances with anyone else's equipment (especially if they're paying me).

Edit: I edited this post 30 hours after posting because I wanted to separate and clean up the section where I compared the iMod favorably to other players. I considered deleting this paragraph for perhaps unnecessary value judgements that I was worried might be a little hyperbolic, but after a little editing  to make it tighter (but longer) I decided to leave it in because a comparison between the DAPs with the best audio quality available, the iMod/Whipmod/DIYmod and the HiFiMAN HM-801 could definitely help some people. Those are the only two players that are generally considered to best the cheaper Teclast T51's sound quality, and without having with it's awful UI that is a deal-breaker for many. Although I do believe that if you're listening in the subway, even with great headphones you'll be hard pressed to tell the three apart. Anyway, that was the only paragraph I modified.

@jonah:

where did you get the 850mAh battery? does it fit the ipod video 30gb case?

and does the battery really carry 850mAh in it or is it just another '850mAh' label on the battery?

I'm glad my first post on Head-Fi is a success! It's a very difficult, long process to get good comparative information on Head-Fi (of course, you won't find this niche information anywhere else). Most of my beyond-the-iPod knowledge so far has come at least as much from people making comparative references in threads I've searched for that sent me reading on something else other than what I came to the threat to read about. I'm Googling old posts from years ago all the time. With that in mind, I'd like to be thorough and give anyone reading my posts the full picture, as best as I can. So that "what is the best portable audio equipment for my budget and needs" becomes a shorter easier process. Not like I've experience over the last few months, combing through dozens of old threads. Of course for some people there's fun in the chase, but I'd rather socialize if I want to once I've completed my objective and found (and ordered) what I'm looking for.

With that in mind, I want to write a few more things. I might be writing some things you already know, but as you can probably tell by now I'm writing for future readers as much as for you. I've considered editing my first post tomorrow, merging in this information (if I do that, I'll provide a basic changelog at the bottom of the post). But now that this second post is so long, it might not be easy or worthwhile to do that.

Before I go off on my own tangents, though, I will respond to your question. Yes, you can buy a 850mAh iPod battery that is really 850mAh. You could spend anywhere from $4-30 on a battery, double that if you get it professionally installed. Red Wine Audio recommends $25 batteries from ipodjuice.com. Their 580mAh battery (I'm unsure of the capacity of the original battery, but 580mAh is at least 20% larger) is compatible with the thinner-backed 30GB. They sell a 850mAh batter for thick-backed models (such as the 60GB and 80GB). I'm sure their batteries of very high quality (but you read all this in the FAQ and already bought one you sent in to be installed for free with your iMod, right?). My personal belief is to buy cheaper batteries (I require confidence that they will work and not damage my iPod) and just replace them more often. I could buy several of the batteries I'm currently using for $25 (this one came with my 240GB hard drive). My cheap battery even had a double-sided sticker to attach it in place (Apple uses glue). If my iPod was a valuable iMod, though, I think I might feel differently and want to buy batteries I really and truly trust, spending a little extra dough for extra peace of mind. Before you buy, check to make sure the vendor you buy it from says it's compatible with your iPod model. You won't have a problem finding one that is.

Other World Computing also offers batteries as well as professional installation services. Their batteries are a lower capacity than ipodjuice.com and the 800mAh isn't compatible with a 5/5.5G iPod with the "slim" back (such as the stock 30G 5/5.5G). My favorite thing about them: they have a great, very useful iPod battery installation video. I should have included it with the links above, it was my third primary guide to the process of opening and upgrading my iPod, even though it only went as far as changing the battery. Very helpful and I even enjoyed the music.

I also recommend ordering one of those little backup external battery packs for $5 from Hong Kong off of eBay. I've got one sealed in a package on my lap right now. "PORTABLE MOBILE CHARGER 1900mAh". It plugs into the bottom connector of your iPod and charges it. It uses a regular iPod charger to charge itself. The "1900mAh" is the best value. I don't know if it really is 1900mAh (it's $5!), but it will fully charge an iPod at least. It also has a mechanism with four LED lights to display the charge level at the presss of a button. At this price point, I would have purchased it even without that feature, but having makes me actually like this cheap thing. They work well. Here's what the one I use looks like: front, back.

Now, theres a few things I feel I should have included in my previous post. Rockbox resamples 96kHz/24bit audio, and everything else, to 44.1KHz/16bit stereo. This should be accurate: it is the statement of a Rockbox developer two years ago. If you want a digital audio player that can actually output 96kHz/24bit audio without resampling or seriously compromising it, there is only one player that does this: the HiFiMAN HM-801. The HM-601 cannot output 96kHz/24bit. It downsamples to 48kHz/24bit. Here is a comparison by Head-Fier warp08 with more information.

raymundu999, I don't mean to pry, and there are legitimate reasons one might prefer the default firmware to Rockbox. I've just given up iTunes myself (it's been a long time coming) for Rockbox, Exact Audio Copy, FLAC, and a self-organized folder directory structure, and let me tell you, everything does indeed take more effort. Ripping CDs in iTunes and having it automatically sync everything (which with only 80GBs you can't do anymore) is as fast as it gets and super easy. I have to do a lot of upkeep and renaming. I do it because being locked into iTunes ended up costing me more time overall. I had to jump through hoops every time I wanted to convert FLAC to ALAC or take music from my iPod to my computer. Now I feel that with the extra effort I put into making perfect (and I do mean perfect) FLAC rips, I'll never be unsatisfied with my files, they'll always be flexible and compatible (or easily converted), and I'll save time and frustration in the long fun. Plus I still have my iTunes library synced for now, there's plenty of space on my 240GB and I can switch between Rockbox and it's FLAC library and the original firmware with it's iTunes library (still synced with iTunes) just by sliding my hold switch at startup. There are other themes I like- some with huge cover art!- but right now I'm able to interact with Rockbox using an interface almost identical to what I'm used to while I get used to it. I just want to point out the iVideo theme. It's like being introduced to an alien assuming human form for your comfort. At a glance, it perfectly replicates the original "Now Playing" screen, with one change I toggled on myself: I have a percentage number next to the battery icon, for a more precise idea of how much battery power I have left. There's also an iClassic theme (also available without slanted art) if you ever wanted to try the iPod Classic (6G) interface on your iPod Video (5/5.5G). Here's the menu. I installed all of the themes I thought were good, which was most of them, and I can switch between them on-the-fly, even midsong. If I want a better look at cover art, for example. But I mostly stick with what works. It's fine to stick with the original firmware if that works for you and you enjoy your music- with a CD that isn't very scratched iTunes vs. well-configured EAC FLAC is not going to make a noticable difference- but I'd like you to know about Rockbox so you can make an informed decision that it's not what you want.

I also want to mention something that is difficult to pick up, with information spread thinly all over: I stick by my claim that from what I know the iMod is blow-for-blow overall the best commercially available DAP for most audiophiles (although best supplemented with something lightweight for when lugging isn't practical), satisfying all but the most unreasonable audio quality and capacity demands. I don't mean "unreasonable" in a pejorative sense: this is Head-Fi, after all. I feel I should mention the Whipmod, by Whiplash audio. Head-Fiers seem to be in agreement that the Whipmod is superior to the iMod (but not by that much). However, it seems to have been discontinued. I say "seems to" because I saw a comment from the last two months to the effect that contacting Craig at Whiplash audio might yet prove fruitful for anyone looking for a Whipmod, but it is probably gone for good: it's not mentioned on the Whiplash audio website, and a few posts here on Head-Fi state that it is no longer being manufactured. It seems dead. To clear up some confusion out there (I myself was not fully informed until very recently): iMod, Whipmod, and DIYmod are all similar iPod mods that do the same thing: bypass or replace the original audio components in the iPod for superior sound quality. Generally you end up using a line-out from the bottom connector and attaching that to an amp. iMod came first, it is still professionally done by Red Wine Audio. Whipmod came later, it was professionally done by Whiplash audio. Both are very similar. Some cabling is different. DIYmod is a term for do-it-yourself mods that have the same goals. A iMod or Whipmod setup with everything you need to make the most of it (at least a line-out cable and headphone amp) can easily cost over a thousand dollars, not including headphones.

I don't use a headphone amp. I'm at a stage where I'm ready to transition from my iPod, but going straight to anything but a heavily-compromised iMod setup (or a used Whipmod) would bankrupt me. I haven't a headphone amp. With my high-end universal-fit canalphones ("IEMs") (Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10s, a level below custom-molded professional in-ear monitors), I haven't felt a need for a headphone amp. Generally it seems that the headphone amps don't make a big difference to canalphones ("IEMs"). The expense of getting a DAP that demands fancy cables and a very good headphone amp- both of which can cost more than the DAP- makes some DAPs prohibitvely expensive, and definitely financially intimidating. The iMod mod itself is $250. For the 5/5.5G iPods (with which produce a DAP with superior audio quality to 4G iMods), a $195 cable is mandatory. The spending can't stop there. You need something to plug your headphone into. That'll be hundreds more for an appropriately good headphone amp if you don't have one. This is all very intimidating for the uninitiated with little money to waste. I'm looking to upgrade for a $150 Teclast T51 (or successor) because you can just buy it and stick your low-impedance headphones (oh man, that's another technical term that throws neophytes for a loop) in and get great sound. And my Rockbox FLAC library is as compatible as it gets. I'll just drag one folder into another, and then I'll have my music.

How's that for a second post? All my posts will be this long! Hahahaha! OK, that's not going to happen. I hope, for my own well-being. What I've wrote could indeed be one or more articles. It's wide-ranging and not exactly focused, but if there's demand I wouldn't mind the work.

Edit: I edited this post an hour after posting because I forgot that the "thick" iPod batteries for the larger thick-backed models won't fit into the slim-back cases. But if you get a wider case, you can use them (that's what I did).

i just checked the link you provided

the 850mAh battery is meant for ipod 60/80gb, while the 30gb must satisfy with the 580mAh max. capacity

now i'm confused

I made a mistake. Those 850mAh batteries won't fit in your 30GB "5/5.5G slim" iPod case. The batteries are larger. Wider. That's why the 60GB and 80GB hard drives have longer battery capacity. They have space for and include the larger batteries. You can still get the 580mAh battery for your iPod, which is over 20% higher capacity than the stock battery.

Other sellers I didn't mention for batteries are Rapid Repair, who offer the quality batteries for either self-installation or you can send them your iPod (they're a very trusted company and I think the company most likely to be willing to work on your iMod on request). Also eBay is a terrific source for when you're looking for the cheapest parts you can buy. For many electronic parts, the cheapest that works is good enough. I don't know what iMod internals are like (you'd better look it up before you operate), but changing a battery on a stock iPod is as simple as opening the iPod, unplugging the battery cable, prying the battery off of the backing, sticking the new battery in it's place, plugging the battery cable back in, and closing the case. It's a simple process, but not nearly as easy as it sounds. Not for the faint of heart, but you can do it without problems if you're careful. Rapid Repair is (I think) the least expensive professional battery installation I know of, but with you in Singapore that may not be the case. You might also be able to find stores in Singapore that stock iPod batteries, although they may not be easy to find.

If you want to keep the slim backing, you can upgrade to the 100GB Toshiba MK1011GAH or the 120GB Samsung SpinPoint N2 1.8" hard drives. You can buy either drive for under $100.

raymondo99, warp08 wrote that he got a 240GB 5.5G "Super iMod" from Red Wine Audio, and I've heard it said by someone else that they used to accept hard drives for upgrading while you get the iMod procedure done (just like they currently do with batteries) so if I were you and looking to upgrade my iMod, I would contact RWA: they definitely know how to perform the upgrade, and considering that you've spent at least $450 with them they might be willing do perform the upgrade for you for a fee if you sent them the hard drive. It would be a special job, but you've done business with them and if they were willing to do it that would be the most confident way to perform the upgrade.

I'm going offtopic, but I already did in my previous posts, so I might as well continue: I've been thinking and learning more today, and the more I think about it I think I can't say the iMod is any better than the HM-801. All that extra expense of the cables and amp you need to take full advantage of it means a significantly higher total cost. Certainly managing music is easier with iTunes than a manual file system, but I'm already doing that anyway with Rockbox. And with true 96kHz/24bit support you're future proof for hi-res audio for years. I don't know which one I'd choose today if I were to upgrade, considering my iPod investment is already worth hundreds. Of course, I'd first upgrade to top-tier IEMs before I went either route (JH-13 Pro or UE Reference, probably). I'll be the first to admit that I know little and am continually learning and updating my opinions. Anyway, the point is moot for me at the moment: I can't afford either, or custom IEMs, so I'm going to go the poor man's route with a crappy-everything-but-sound Teclast and excellent universal-fit canalphone/IEMs purchased on sale.

My Fx700s sound so good straight out of my 5.5g super iMod that I stopped using the Vcap dock and amp with them 

grokit, I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying... the headphone out on the 5G and 5.5G iMods is not modified in any way from the stock iPod! 

Anyway, on the original topic of this thread: an 256GB SSD can be stuck in a iMod with the 30GB (slim) backing. ALO audio sells a finished unit for $1,100. That would be the ultimate iMod. Although if you would consider paying that, I would say get an iPod Classic and Fostex HP-P1 instead.

Since I wrote my posts in this thread, I've found out about the the Fostex HP-P1 (and it's amp-less rival the Cypher Labs Algorythym Solo), and it seems the iMod is now obsolete: not that it no longer sound great if you have one, it's just that there are better options now to purchase if you don't yet have the equipment. Unlike the iMod, the HP-P1 and CLAS are able to upgrade the DAC, so they simply have the edge. I haven't read one comparison favorable to the iMod. Also a new challenger I only just found out about (!) in the battle of the high-end portable DAPs is the Colorfly C4. Comparable to the HM-801. The most striking difference is that unlike the HM-801, which looks like a late-80s/early-90s Walkman, the Colorfly C4 actually looks like the $800 high-end niche audio player that it is. It's gorgeous; wood and brass. Similar sound to the HM-801 but there haven't been many direct comparisons, even here on Head-Fi. Early opinion would seem to place it just under the HM-801, sound quality wise. Comparisons between the HM-801 and the HP-P1 with a compatible iDevice over the asynchronous USB connection seem to come down to the neutral sound of the HP-P1 vs. a more colored, "lush", "musical", more analog sound of the HM-801. HM-801 does have the high-res audio compatiblity edge. Right now my dream setup is a HP-P1 with an iPod Classic 7G (in an ironic twist after I decided to upgrade my 5.5G instead of purchasing one). Eventually perhaps I could stick a 256GB SSD in a Classic, but there's little information about that on the internet. There are some investigators looking into it here on Head-Fi, but no solid info yet.

Everybody with an interest in Head-Fi stuff should read the Head-Fi holiday gift guide to make sure you're aware of the latest products on the scene. Thanks, Jude!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonah 

grokit, I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying... the headphone out on the 5G and 5.5G iMods is not modified in any way from the stock iPod!  

 

Anyway, on the original topic of this thread: an 256GB SSD can be stuck in a iMod with the 30GB (slim) backing. ALO audio sells a finished unit for $1,100. That would be the ultimate iMod.

I know what you're saying Jonah, but it's still the same DAC. The analog stage has been bypassed for the dock connector but not the headphone out. Compared to going through the big caps and the external amp I actually prefer the JVC's straight from the headphone out.

Full-sized headphones are a different story of course 

I would think that the thicker iPod would be better than the thinner as far as an ultimate iMod is concerned, just because of the bigger battery. I had a nice U2 (thin) iMod and sold it because of the ridiculously short battery life. I suppose that's the tradeoff, do you want a thinner iMod or much better battery life.

Ah, but an SSD iPod should use substantially less power without the moving parts of a hard disk drive. That ought to go a long way toward bridging the gap between the lower capacity and higher capacity batteries. Unfortunately, I can't find an A/B comparison along the lines of "I got X hours with my 240GB HDD iMod on a full charge with a new battery. After installing the SSD, I got Y hours on a full charge." (I would love it if such a test continued more scientifically: "I then recharged and got A hours on a full charge with the SSD. I then switched the SSD and the HDD again and got B hours. Six months later, I repeated the test: X2, Y2, A2, B2.")

So you find that with your JVC/Victor FX700 IEMs, your iMod, external caps, and external headphone amp don't provide a sound quality improvement a stock iPod? I find your suggestion rather spooky, that for some good IEMs won't respond well to an iMod and a good amp (especially as I have comparable IEMs). Does this mean something bad about your headphone amp, the FX700, the iMod, or your aural taste? Not to question your judgement, it's just the first time I've heard of someone saying that a good iMod setup didn't improve their sound with a headphone. If I understand that correctly, your opinion might translate into a different purchase for me in the future.

The extra components totally improve the sound with full-sized headphones, in particular the AD2000 and Edition 8. With the Fx700 the benefit seems negligible to me, and the bonus is that it goes from a transportable to a truly portable rig.

"While I'm at it, I might as well share this little-known nugget knowledge I learned while reading about Rockbox: the 30GB iPod 5/5.5G has 32MB of RAM, while the 60/80GB has 64MB of RAM. This is pretty much useless information for most users, but it's curious. Perhaps the extra RAM provides a very slight boost to battery life by reducing hard drive usage."

Based on my discussions with the folks at rapidrepair (they did the 240gb upgrade for me off my 80gb ipod 5.5g), they told me the 30gb doesn't have sufficient RAM to support the 240gb hard drive.  I seem to recall them telling me that the maximum hd upgrade for a 30gb ipod 5.5g would be to 80 or 100gb (and of course, a new backplate).   By the way, I live not far from red wine, and Vinnie did two imod upgrades for me (i had rapidrepair swap out my 80gb hd when i did the 240gb upgrade and put  the 80gb hd in the 30gb ipod 5.5g.  rapidrepair, at the same time, replaced my batteries for free.  (i purchased the two ipod 5.5g's as brand new apple factory refurbs here on head-fi for about 190 dollars total.  Vinnie at Red Wine did a great job with the imods, and, count me as one of those who is very happy with this "obsolete" set up.  I've played with the idea of the CLAS, but I think it's rather overpriced, and it can't really be considered to be portable at that point.

I use the imod 240gb lossless (and also aac) with a ray samuels sr-71a (unbalanced) with the JH-13s, and i have to say, the sound the first couple of times i listened to the imod knocked the socks off of me.  Believe it or not, I had never used a hard drive ipod before (just the ipod nano 2g and my iphone 4), so, other than getting used to the normal hard drive loading sound, i couldn't be happier with Vinnie's work.  I also picked up the imod LOD cables used on head-fi at a decent price, so all in all, i didn't do too bad.  I think i may have paid the folks at rapidrepair about $190 for the 240gb upgrade and the 80gb swap over to my 30gb ipod, including the batteries and backplate, and a 3-year warranty on the 240gb hard drive to boot.  (they'll negotiate price, if you're lucky).  They do really great work.  No way I wanted to mess with the innards of the ipods :)