scootermafia
MOT: Double Helix Cables
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
- Posts
- 3,024
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- 245
[size=medium]I'm sure everyone's curious about these, so here goes. [/size]
[size=medium]The dock adapter has a plastic shell on it that is glued. You can't cleanly get it off without the dremel, as the glue is not hot glue, that I can tell. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] Once you get it open, there are 2 stick-on metal heat shields, that remove to reveal copper foil covering the lightning plug area. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] Next you must peel the wretched center steel piece off, which reveals the lightning heart of the adapter. The lightning plug is steel reinforced now with a large steel molding integrated with it, then it attaches with a ribbon cable. There is a rubber dampening piece around it. All in all this thing is beautifully manufactured like a cruel puzzle.[/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] Finally the steel cage that surrounds it. Steel tabs insert through the circuit boards, there is silicone black crud and a thin coating of epoxy all over the chips inside. The board is u-shaped around surrounds the lightning plug and its ribbon cord. Removing it intact - with the forces involved to bend the steel - means that it isn't going to be modded by anyone anytime soon. To access the contacts for the audio output to somehow hack a cable to this and make a dock audio output cable - would require a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and specialized tools. Probably a CNC to make the cuts to remove the steel cage. I got the steel cage off using tungsten carbide cutting hand tools, a dremel, and I still had to cut into the circuit board (probably nonfunctional protrusions of the circuit board, the long narrow parts of the u-shape) to get the board out. Further time was required to get off all the crud on the chips. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] The chips look unfamiliar, but with the same metal finish and some have lasered text. They all appear to be custom and trying to figure out what does what is fruitless. I really took this apart for the headfi community to ascertain if the DAC in this thing is actually good, but it's quite unclear. It's probably some integrated audio circuitry in a larger processing chip, that's how these things tend to be done now. One of the chips reads Apple on it with a very long serial number. Another reads 8533 23AP CAB. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] The dock connector is hyperdelicate when removed from its moorings. It is literally floating there with just its pins attaching it, and the pins are ultra fine as usual. Again, good luck modding this thing. Even if you did mod it, making something that would be appealing to look at is essentially not going to happen. The gauntlet is thrown down though, and I'll truly respect anyone that can do a project with this dock. And I don't mean soldering wires into the dock hole, that would be a bit cheaty. This thing is even more fearsomely reinforced than the Lightning USB cord, by a factor of 10, surely to thwart those that want to hack it, and also so that it cannot break easily. Nobody should balk at paying $29 for this after they see what is inside, though. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] Got 2 more of these coming in the mail that I intend to use, and not mod. This took me a long time to take apart, most of the afternoon. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] The $39 cabled version of this should be similar, with the lightning end simply distanced from the dock circuitry by a cable. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium]
[/size]
[size=medium]The dock adapter has a plastic shell on it that is glued. You can't cleanly get it off without the dremel, as the glue is not hot glue, that I can tell. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] Once you get it open, there are 2 stick-on metal heat shields, that remove to reveal copper foil covering the lightning plug area. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] Next you must peel the wretched center steel piece off, which reveals the lightning heart of the adapter. The lightning plug is steel reinforced now with a large steel molding integrated with it, then it attaches with a ribbon cable. There is a rubber dampening piece around it. All in all this thing is beautifully manufactured like a cruel puzzle.[/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] Finally the steel cage that surrounds it. Steel tabs insert through the circuit boards, there is silicone black crud and a thin coating of epoxy all over the chips inside. The board is u-shaped around surrounds the lightning plug and its ribbon cord. Removing it intact - with the forces involved to bend the steel - means that it isn't going to be modded by anyone anytime soon. To access the contacts for the audio output to somehow hack a cable to this and make a dock audio output cable - would require a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and specialized tools. Probably a CNC to make the cuts to remove the steel cage. I got the steel cage off using tungsten carbide cutting hand tools, a dremel, and I still had to cut into the circuit board (probably nonfunctional protrusions of the circuit board, the long narrow parts of the u-shape) to get the board out. Further time was required to get off all the crud on the chips. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] The chips look unfamiliar, but with the same metal finish and some have lasered text. They all appear to be custom and trying to figure out what does what is fruitless. I really took this apart for the headfi community to ascertain if the DAC in this thing is actually good, but it's quite unclear. It's probably some integrated audio circuitry in a larger processing chip, that's how these things tend to be done now. One of the chips reads Apple on it with a very long serial number. Another reads 8533 23AP CAB. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] The dock connector is hyperdelicate when removed from its moorings. It is literally floating there with just its pins attaching it, and the pins are ultra fine as usual. Again, good luck modding this thing. Even if you did mod it, making something that would be appealing to look at is essentially not going to happen. The gauntlet is thrown down though, and I'll truly respect anyone that can do a project with this dock. And I don't mean soldering wires into the dock hole, that would be a bit cheaty. This thing is even more fearsomely reinforced than the Lightning USB cord, by a factor of 10, surely to thwart those that want to hack it, and also so that it cannot break easily. Nobody should balk at paying $29 for this after they see what is inside, though. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] Got 2 more of these coming in the mail that I intend to use, and not mod. This took me a long time to take apart, most of the afternoon. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium] The $39 cabled version of this should be similar, with the lightning end simply distanced from the dock circuitry by a cable. [/size]
[size=medium] [/size]
[size=medium]
[/size]