Phile-Tweaked Recording Line in for a Linux-Enabled iPod?

[scrypt]

I knew I'd been clenching my hoary 3G pods for a reason. Recently, I discovered one: for a leer at said reason, jaunt here.

Apparently, one can now record stereo 96khz audio on older iPods, provided one installs any of several flavs of Podzillae (such as MikMod Podzilla) and solder-crafts this Special Dock Connector for line-in glee. I haven't actually tried any of this, but if anyone here is interested in exploring the nuances of Linux line-in prosumerphilia, I'm biting and buying (in that order). Thoughts, anyfoont, on the viability of (and phile tweaks for) this potential recording accesswhory?

Previous discussion of the ultimate line in can be found here on the exciting Linux iPod Forums for today's individuals.

 

[scrypt]

PS: If any aggressively philanthropic mod happens to read this, please adjust the title of this thread to read "Phile-Tweaked Recording Line in for a Linux-Enabled iPod?" and delete this second post.

(Thanks in advance: Hell, did you really do all that for me? Why, that was damned thoughtful, you fluorescent pink performance enhancer. Jiminy Silverfish, you shouldn't have.)

 

[Dougigs]

Wise to put old Piranesi in your sig file, sir -- the dude who discovered the concealed functionality in the ruins of Rome, which had been sitting in the back of junk drawers, as it were, until he and his charcoal pencil discovered their 96K/24-bit throughput capability, and Gibbon and whatnot followed.

My G4 iPod has line in as standard, but unless there's some secret Linux tweak it's nothing to write home about -- I use it to record interviews (it's nice to know that the middle-bureaucratic functionary on the other end of the mic can keep talking for another 36 days), but I wouldn't bother hiding it in my toque to record Fats Domino singing the praises of his rescuers as he is Chinook-winched off the roof of a flooded Popeye's. Or any other great musical moment, for that matter.

 

[scrypt]

Dougigs, my refreshingly informed core respondent:

Boss analogy/segue, that. As Hadrian's Villa is to Piranesi, so the hoary 3G is to Podzillae programmers: a relic that resonates with archeological features.

Ninety-two years ago, when I was but a tiny soprano peach-fuzz-tufted Hadrocodium wui gelder, I used to think that ancient pottery could be played like phonograph records. After all, I reasoned, expert fingers had grooved each specimen. Years passed as I awaited the invention of a machine that would reveal snatches of ancient potters' small talk. Safe to surmise I was a spritz disappointed to discover science's (and painted clay's) limitations.

Nine decades have changed my outlook, you naughty man. Though I'm still three feet tall, I now sport a pair of manly mutton wisps. (I heart my miniature wheelchair.) Which punts me back to the fancy-schmantzy dock described on the Linux iPod Forums:

Supposedly, the line in capabilities of a standard iPod (4G included) are shimmeringly improved by the addition of podzilla and a DIY-Dock. The virtually unusable resolution (mono, 8kHz) is replaced by stereo recording capabilities and an adjustable resolution of considerable range: 8, 32, 44.1, 88.2, and 96kHz. Hence the rather elaborate dock specs proposed by Nikropht (note the Samuels-friendly format: RCA instead of miniplug):

"R RCA Female (Phono) - Line Out
"L RCA Female (Phono) - Line Out
"R RCA Female (Phono) - Line In
"L RCA Female (Phono) - Line In
"V RCA Female (Phono) - Composite Video Out (Photos only)"

Here's a post-Linux iPod recording made by poster 139:

http://www.paulkimball.com/chatteredit.mp3

Not superb, but not unusable either.

 

[Dougigs]

Hey, well, golly -- I hadn't known about the line-in option on the IPod connector -- it's like discovering the unlisted "Train in Vain" on the inner grooves of your well-played Clash LP. I actually just built a couple of IPod DIY-docks (for my pocket travellin' amps and sundry last-movement-saving battery boxes), and had no idea of this useful feature... or potentially useful. I'm not sure what I'd use it for, actually, though if I ran across Thomas Pynchon and JD Salinger engaged in a scat-singing bee with Ronnie Biggs I'd sure want to have it.

You will find the technical hard-wire data of this unheralded function here, should your greasy sausage fingers be up to the pico-soldering required for such a feat:

http://pinouts.ru/data/ipod_pinout.shtml

There's a fellow in Sweden who is selling IPod dock plugs for $2 each; they have a nice big opening for either high-quality cable or multiple thinner cables. I can look up his contact data if anyone wants it.

The software mod actually doesn't sound all that scary (compared to some of the things these people have suggested).

Here's a most valuable question: Does this mod apply to the mini IPod? I actually deliberately avoided buying one because I learned its line-in was unimplemented.

 

[scrypt]

Thanks for the link to the docks, Strapping Young Dougigs.

Sadly, podzilla recording on the mini isn't supported. One more caveat: 4G, Photo, and Color iPods are able to record using podzilla's res-improved mike in, but only the 3G allows for line in recording.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrypt Supposedly, the line in capabilities of a standard iPod (4G included) are shimmeringly improved by the addition of podzilla and a DIY-Dock. The virtually unusable resolution (mono, 8kHz) is replaced by stereo recording capabilities and an adjustable resolution of considerable range: 8, 32, 44.1, 88.2, and 96kHz. Hence the rather elaborate dock specs proposed by Nikropht (note the Samuels-friendly format: RCA instead of miniplug): "R RCA Female (Phono) - Line Out "L RCA Female (Phono) - Line Out "R RCA Female (Phono) - Line In "L RCA Female (Phono) - Line In "V RCA Female (Phono) - Composite Video Out (Photos only)" Here's a post-Linux iPod recording made by poster 139: http://www.paulkimball.com/chatteredit.mp3 Not superb, but not unusable either.

Interesting and a decent recording! Say, what bit depth can you obtain with this recording feature?

 

[scrypt]

Depth remains at the 16-bit level, unfortunately.

Perhaps it's time to lobby for optical ins and outs on the strangely unsponsored Neuros feedback thread. I doubt we'll convince Mr. Born to build a 24-bit player, but the ability to use a superior pre and ADC would be damned spiffy.

In the bittertime, I wonder whether anyone might be interested in building the iPod/Linux line in dock (vanilla or tricked out).

 

[scrypt]

WHAT IN THE NAME OF SPUMONI'S THE ISSUE, ISHI? I've intoned a polite yet seductive question pertaining to your collective talents, yet I haven't heard from a single strapping slab of pneumatic amp-building machismo! I can see there are no real brutes on this prison bloc. Doesn't the idea of special dock crimping and solder penetration awaken something forbidden in your natures? My god, when will the mambo of the speckled grebe be answered by the robust tinkling of Brillo-chested can-do inflammation?