[vvs_75]

Just a little tip for 4th gen click ipod mode.
If you sending signal from DAC chip (pins 15,16) to the phone jack directly and want to save the hold function by keeping the ribbon cable you need to cut the signal that coming from main board through ribbon cable.
When I took off c84, 86 caps I still could hear music coming from the jack but with lots off noise at normal to high listening levels. After I cut signal traces on picture below (two yellow dots near ribbon cable plug), my ipod went dead silent.

 

[CAvanessia]

good job ferds! wgr, keep us updated on the 5.5g.

i'm planning on getting one to mod after I sell my nano

 

[ferds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KoKoKrunch /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yay, ferds followed my method! Gimme a five!

yup its a clone of your imod.. hehehe

i also bought mine refurbished from apple store in HK.

thanks

 

[joneeboi]

*high five to KoKo*

Great work, ferds! That's as clean a build as they'll come. Congrats on the good work.

I recently got my hands on a black 80GB iPod video, and man, that thing was beautiful. In theory, the 5G/5.5G iPods are my favourite iPods and portable digital media players (the digital distinction made because there have been portable analog media players). I haven't owned an iPod video yet, but it seems lovely. Right now, I'm just chugging along with the 3G and 4G. The nano 1G and the 5G/5.5G video are my champions for now, but we'll see if someone can show me a better player.

Also, thanks for looking into where to cut the traces, vvs_75. Your way is much simpler than what I was imagining, so kudos on finding a darn-near perfect solution to that problem.

 

[wgr73]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAvanessia /img/forum/go_quote.gif good job ferds! wgr, keep us updated on the 5.5g. i'm planning on getting one to mod after I sell my nano

Will do! I already did a 5.5 (30GB), but the friend that let me borrow it wants it back!!!!

He has no clue what he's got. Anyways, the other one is on its way.

 

[darkfury18]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruZZ.il /img/forum/go_quote.gif Success This is an iMod of a nano first gen. I bypassed the whole internal wiring and maintained all original functionality. I cleaned it up a lot since the pic of the inside (forgot to take another one..). Soldering the wires internally to the dock pins was really difficult, so I don't recommend anyone do this (naturally, some will anyway). as I mentioned before, I used a little bit of teflon tubing to duct the wire through and hold it in place. I used hot glue to keep them in place. I used some multistrand wire I had lying around. I cut most of the strand at the end, leaving just one. I put a little solder blob where I cut just to keep it all together. The single strand is about the width of the pins, and it took me many attempts to get this right (admittedly, I believe it would have been easier with a good iron). I had some issues with the wire sticking out at first, that effected the screen. I router the wires a little better than seen here and that was solved. I still have some internal pressure somewhere thats slightly effecting my clickwheel. I will probably open it again to smooth it out even more. I got good at mating the little cables back into their sockets, but this was a bi... at first. Sound? it sounds great! better? I can't tell yet. I'm waiting for the epoxy on the dock to dry and will give it more of a listen. BG burn in starts now (and I believe in it too, my MAX showed me their way). Thank you to everyone who's contributed to this thread showing me the way.

I'm probably going to follow in your footsteps when I do my mod in a week or so. How small are those dock pins? They don't look too bad from the picture.

 

[ruZZ.il]

about as thick as a single strand in that wire I used! what REALLY helped me finally was to thread the wire through a little tube that held it in the right angle, like I mentioned above, but the single strand whose base was soldered to the other strands was slightly bent so as when the wire is pushed through the tube it would be perfectly aligned on top of the dock pin. Access is also a big problem, since my solder irons head was about as wide as the gap, so I had to come from above with the tip. in retrospect, it would have been heaps easier to do the normal mod. That being said, now that I've done it, it would be easier to do again, so I guess with some familiarity of the space you have to work with, its easier and do-able. Take a look at those pins before you decide to do it though, cause it's not the easiest thing I've done... but it works!

and it worked well for a while, till I opened my ipod once too many times and somewhere along the line messed the clickwheel ribbon up. I've got a new one waiting for me at a friends house that I need to go pick it up. I'll be able to post impressions once I get more of a solid one, and burn the BGs in. I wont be able to comment on the differences between the 2 different mods till I hear the reg. one, but I doubt the difference is audible. Theoretically, the rest of the bypasses audio circuit is open and shouldt have any effect, but with a cap there I'm not sure if theres NO effect since there's still some charge swing on the other plate due to the voltage swing on the first, which may have some effect.. I dunno.. I do it for the mod, not so much the sound

my ears aren't golden, so, ja know.. let us know how it goes!

 

[BrinNutz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KoKoKrunch /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yay, ferds followed my method! Gimme a five!

I will be too!!

I just got my BG's in today, but I'm searching for the wire I need...somewhere local at least, and I'm doing mine on a 4G Photo 30gb which had HD failure so picked up a new 60GB HD, replaced it, but lost my wall wart so I can't freaking restore it!

So, I'll be waiting on the wires to complete the mod...

Also, I'm going to be sending the signal from the caps back up to the headphone jack, and the dock...running two wires from caps.

 

[wgr73]

Well guys, I have successfully modded another 5.5G (80GB) ipod, and it sounds great! No need to break in the caps that are in the dock, my other diyMod did that!!

Here are some shots of the guts: …(the flux was a mess is almost all pictures)

Unsoldered components…






The routing of the wires...









Now the finished product…







Both diyMods along with my Tomahawk and HD650’s!

 

[powertoold]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruZZ.il /img/forum/go_quote.gif about as thick as a single strand in that wire I used! what REALLY helped me finally was to thread the wire through a little tube that held it in the right angle, like I mentioned above, but the single strand whose base was soldered to the other strands was slightly bent so as when the wire is pushed through the tube it would be perfectly aligned on top of the dock pin. Access is also a big problem, since my solder irons head was about as wide as the gap, so I had to come from above with the tip. in retrospect, it would have been heaps easier to do the normal mod. That being said, now that I've done it, it would be easier to do again, so I guess with some familiarity of the space you have to work with, its easier and do-able. Take a look at those pins before you decide to do it though, cause it's not the easiest thing I've done... but it works! and it worked well for a while, till I opened my ipod once too many times and somewhere along the line messed the clickwheel ribbon up. I've got a new one waiting for me at a friends house that I need to go pick it up. I'll be able to post impressions once I get more of a solid one, and burn the BGs in. I wont be able to comment on the differences between the 2 different mods till I hear the reg. one, but I doubt the difference is audible. Theoretically, the rest of the bypasses audio circuit is open and shouldt have any effect, but with a cap there I'm not sure if theres NO effect since there's still some charge swing on the other plate due to the voltage swing on the first, which may have some effect.. I dunno.. I do it for the mod, not so much the sound my ears aren't golden, so, ja know.. let us know how it goes!

Why didn't you go all out and solder directly to the DAC? lol Now both of those at the same time are challenging!

ruzZ, which dock pins did you solder the wires to? You didn't solder them to the normal Line Out pins on the right side (27,28,29)?

 

[ruZZ.il]

if looking here, they were pins 14 and 17.

There was no real need to solder directly to the DAC, whose pins went directly to those 2 resistors I soldered to. If I'd found a more open element that the dock pins 14/17 led to, I'd probably have gone there. Since they're unused, I don't think they go anywhere..

 

[joneeboi]

Great documentation, wgr73. That's going to be a big help to those who try it for the first time. What's the outer diameter size on those wires?

Russ, I think I may have underestimated your method before. With the nano 1G and video 5G/5.5G, there's that dangerous DC coming out of the DAC, so put that into the lineout pins 3 and 4 can damage certain types of equipment if used improperly. If we send it to those unused pins, then we can prevent the damage of those sound docks and such altogether. When you want your diyModded signal, hook up your homebrewed dock connector. Interesting... Then again, it's really fun soldering to those pins. It's a win-win-win situation all around.

 

[wgr73]

Thanks Jon. I'm not quite sure but I'm thinking its around 30-32awg. Its works great!

 

[vvs_75]

Finally finished my ultimate Sonicap dock. Now the 5gen imod can be charged while listening and music can be transferred to the player without removing the dock connector.

 

[slwiser]

What can I say Vlad...WOW!

What do you think about it's sound?