[Tilpo]

Portable noob here,

I have a serious problem where my iPod Classic 120GB kills every 3.5mm plug inserted over time. It has happened to 8 headphones already (4 iBuds, 2 CX-300's, 1 creative stock earbud, 1 Pioneer SE-CLX50)

My current temporary solution I had come up with after the eighth destruction is putting in a crappy dealextreme 3.5mm splitter, so that the splitter will be massacred, and not my IEM's. But I want a more permanent solution, if possible, because I will buy an IE 8 in the near future. This means that an el-cheapo splitter just won't cut it.

My warranty has passed (it's over 3 years old) so I can't demand repair either from Apple. So the only permanent solution I saw was getting a portable amp and an LOD JUST to bypass that destructive jacket. But this cost money, which I am willing to spend if necessary, but I prefer a cheaper solution as I heard IE 8's don't really benefit all that much from an amp, and that's leaving out the fact that it's impractical with the extra devices and batteries and what not.

Might it also be possible to send it to Apple for repairs, and actually pay for the repairs? How much would this cost me? If it costs more than $100 I might just as well buy an amp.

Thanks, Tilpo

 

[henrylee]

how does it "massacre" the jack?I've got one and it doesnt "massacre" my iems.

 

[Mad Max]

(You stick headphones' plugs into the ipod's jack, you mean.)  How exactly does it "massacre" plugs?
 
I think replacing the ipod jack is a far better idea, unless you don't want to try and disassemble your ipod.
Alternatively, LOD plus amp.  You could also sell that ipod and buy the newer 160GB classic.

 

[Rainbow Randy]

This sounds eerily familiar to the long-fabled toothed vagina, destroyer of men.
 
Coincidence?

 

[Tilpo]

It 'massacres' the plug in the sense that the jack damages the jack, eventually causing one channel to silence out completely, and lowering the volume to a large extent on the other channel. I don't remember which channel silences though, it was always the same channel but I keep forgetting which one.
Also, the plug does work well when you pull really hard on it to the side, which is of course very unpractical.

I think this problem is caused by the jack of the iPod being damaged being of low build quality. And it must be the iPod as the same problem was consistent over multiple headphones from different brands.

As far as DIY'ing and replacing the jack manually: I am willing to do this as long as the risk of destroying my iPod even further is very small. I am not experienced either, so if I were to do it myself I have to be pretty sure that I won't damage it in any way.

Selling it to buy the 160GB might also not be the best option as there are a huge amount of scratches on the back of the iPod, caused by a bad protective case I bought, and I don't think anyone wanting to buy a iPod that looks like it went through a cheese grater (it's only the aluminium casing that's damaged, no damage on the screen or outputs as far as I can see). I still have the case on it though, is there also a chance that this might be what is causing the problem? I'll upload a photo of it when I'll get home.

 

[Eric_C]

Sounds like you just have a bad piece. Either get it fixed or get it replaced, I guess.

 

[Szadzik]

Best solution: Get rid of it.

 

[Tilpo]

Sounds like you just have a bad piece. Either get it fixed or get it replaced, I guess.

Best solution: Get rid of it.

These replies aren't really useful. As i stated before, replacing costs a lot of money and fixing can be done in multiple ways. One of my questions was HOW to get it fixed cheaply and without compromising SQ.

 

[Rainbow Randy]

Question: Does the iPod make loud gurgling noises?
 
Has it ever expressed hostility toward your phones?

 

[Tilpo]

Question: Does the iPod make loud gurgling noises?
 
Has it ever expressed hostility toward your phones?

Only when I play Mindless Self Indulgence does it make violent noises towards me. And it has destroyed 8 phones, which is definitely an act of hostility.
How is this related, technically, to the issue?

 

[Eric_C]

I beg to differ: the suggestions to replace it are useful. Why? Any fix you do now is likely to be DIY by yourself or at a store; these could work, but there's no telling how long they'll work for, and if something goes wrong in the procedure, what next? 
 
If you get a new iPod--or in fact, a new MP3 player, of which there are many in the market, some of which should be less than your $100 threshold--then you'll be getting a new device covered by warranty. 
 
In addition, you're buying an IE8 soon. I think the IE8 is a great earphone (that's why I have one), but if you have cash enough to get an IE8, why not put that money towards gear that's in good working condition instead?

 

[Tilpo]

I beg to differ: the suggestions to replace it are useful. Why? Any fix you do now is likely to be DIY by yourself or at a store; these could work, but there's no telling how long they'll work for, and if something goes wrong in the procedure, what next? 
 
If you get a new iPod--or in fact, a new MP3 player, of which there are many in the market, some of which should be less than your $100 threshold--then you'll be getting a new device covered by warranty. 
 
In addition, you're buying an IE8 soon. I think the IE8 is a great earphone (that's why I have one), but if you have cash enough to get an IE8, why not put that money towards gear that's in good working condition instead?

Because a $100 mp3 player is going to be insufficient. I like to have a large library with at least 32GB's of storage (preferably a lot more than that), and furthermore good audio quality. Currently the cheapest solution I see is a 160GB iPod classic, costing me a little over $300 here in Holland. This would solve my problem, but provide no actual improvement in SQ, whereas spending the same amount of money on an LOD+amp WILL improve SQ, while also fixing the problem since the deadly 3.5mm jack is left untouched.
I could also get a HiFiman, for example and get a 32GB SD card. This would actually cost more, compromising storage capacity as well. Although it does have better SQ, so I would need to know which is a bigger upgrade in SQ; amp or new media player?

 

[Tilpo]

Bump.

What I also thought of was getting a good sounding player (like HiFiMAN) with low storage capacity and buying a battery powered 1.8" external hard disk of ~100GB. This would supply the storage, and not cost too much.
I don't know if this is possible though, as I have never actually heard of someone who did this.

Alternatively I could also try to get an E5 or a Cmoy, but what I'm afraid of is that this would actually DECREASE the SQ, meaning it might be better to use my current solution (e.g. the 1/8" male to female cable, into which I plug my headphones)

Here are the photos of the jack, by the way.


On a sidenote: I also noticed that the iPod jack does not make a very tight fit, I am still able to wobble the plug around quite a bit when inserted.

 

[Eric_C]

Look into getting a Sansa Clip. It was recommended to me on the "why do 90% of people use iPod" thread as a high capacity alternative. Seeing as you're considering a Hifiman, I assume you're not using iTunes for music management? In which case a non-Apple player with equal/comparable storage should suffice.

 

[Tilpo]

Look into getting a Sansa Clip. It was recommended to me on the "why do 90% of people use iPod" thread as a high capacity alternative. Seeing as you're considering a Hifiman, I assume you're not using iTunes for music management? In which case a non-Apple player with equal/comparable storage should suffice.

Read my signature: I use foobar2000.

But as I said before the storage is the problem, since I really NEED 80GB's of storage to fit that every so tiny fraction of my library on there.
And as far as I know there aren't many cost efficient high storage players around, so what I proposed is maybe getting a battery powered external hard disk, and connect that to the player. Does the Sansa allow for this? I think I'll need to research the possibilities in that direction right now.

Next step: Fill wallet and empty it on something that others might see as a waste of money, we seem to be known to do that around these lands. (but really it's a good investment worth a lot more than we actually pay for it! )

Edit: The Sansa Clip+ does not allow for external hard drive support. I have asked head-direct if the 601/2 IS able, as I couldn't find it so easily on Google.