[Ankaret]

So I have this old faithful portable player that I bought when these first came out many years ago, and it still works great save for the short battery life. I have just bought myself a Little Dot I+ to compliment my Grado RS1s, and would like to mostly run a portable source like the iPod for now. I need to get a phono preamp for my TT and a DAC for my laptop etc. down the road.
 
Ive read that this 5th gen. iPods have the most highly rated/best sounding DAC chip, i.e. Wolfson. Anyways, that's great, and Im happy with the sound and am wondering about 2 things that I would love some feedback/advice on:
 
1) I really want to keep this iPod around as long as possible, if everything about it seems to still work great except for short battery life, would one of those cheap $5 battery replacements from eBay etc. be easy to replace the old battery with, and has anyone done this and run into any issues etc.? Or is it fairly simple and a no-brainer to invest in this if I like using this iPod.
 
2) I JUST received the little dot, and while it sounds fantastic already with my minimal setup, I would like to bypass the headphone out of the iPod, so Im looking for a direct out dock-to-RCA adapter for this iPod. Any leads you guys have? Or any that have worked really well and sound the best at a reasonable price? The audio shop on my block has one of these for $59, but that seems pricey: http://www.amazon.com/Audioquest-Golden-Audio-Analog-Interconnect/dp/B0070WDNR8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358821854&sr=8-1&keywords=Golden+Gate+iPod
 
Or is that a normal price for this kind of cable? Any cheaper yet equally good sounding alternatives that I can order online for example?
 
Thanks in advance for any suggestions/thoughts/etc.

 

[Sefelt103]

Replacing the battery on an iPod 5th generation is relatively easy. Much easier than on the 6th generation. If the player has never been opened it might take a little careful prising. You also need to be careful removing the old battery so you don't damage the headphone jack. As for the battery buying suitable replacement can be tricky. I've had some that would fully charge in less than an hour and subsequently give low battery life. Sometimes more expensive replacements aren't any better than cheap ones. Where the battery connects into the logic board is a lever that you prise up to disconnect and press (with a small screwdriver) to connect. You have to be careful you don't damage this. The player is a little awkward to put back together. Compared with replacing the display or clickwheel this is easy. I was always a little disappionted with the sound of my 5th gen into my Sennheiser HD555 and a Fiio E9 amp. didn't seem to make any difference. Grado RS1 headphones I imagine go with things like Colorfly C4, HiFiman HM801 or QLS QA350.

 

[Ankaret]

Ok, I will take a gamble on a cheaper battery and see what happens. Mine is so bad (original) that it would be hard pressed to do worse if I can get it installed myself.
 
What would be the most logical upgrade from my current player that would give me a considerable improvement of sound quality? I try to always play lossless out of the iPod --> Little Dot I+ --> Grado RS1.
 
For now, since it was so cheap Ive ordered this guy to get the clean line out: http://www.amazon.com/Ziotek-ZT1900666HC1-6-Feet-30Pin-Stereo/dp/B0051MQJF2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358877009&sr=8-2&keywords=ipod+dock+to+RCA 
 

 

[davidcotton]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9csNyvh2mw0  how to video of battery replacement.  Whilst it's open you could also check the ssd mod thread to see if you can get a larger ssd drive in there instead of a hard drive!
 
Cheers

 

[DMinor]

If you swap the stock HDD for a CF card (with Tarkan adapter), the battery life will be greatly improved. The CF card has no moving mechanical parts and consumes much less power than the HDD. Also with the swap the ipod responds and boots faster, not mentioning the CF card is more reliable than the HDD.
 
It's not that hard to do the swap yourself. Just follow the video tutorials (do a google search) and take your time.