[Jonah]

Noone told me that my 30GB iPod 5.5G didn't have enough RAM for the 240GB hard drive, so I performed the upgrade and that's what I've been using without any problems so far. But I've not yet loaded all my music on it. I've been gradually converting my library to FLAC, so I'm slowly putting more and more data on the drive. Right now I'm up to\75GB tonight. In the next month or two I'll probably have everything I have now that I want on it, and I'll give a very rough guess that I'll be using 150GB. I'll let you know if I start having problems. I wish all this information was more available. There ought to be an iPod guide aimed at advanced users looking to upgrade or make the most of their device. If I'd known I couldn't upgrade the HDD without problems I would have just bought a new Classic. Do RapidRepair upgrade the RAM (or swap the board) when they upgrade a 30GB above 80-100GB? Because they do offer such upgrades. I would have let them upgrade my 30GB to 240GB if I didn't have to be so frugal.
 
By the way, having performed the upgrade myself, for the amount of research, effort, and skill required to learn and perform such an upgrade, I believe RapidRepair is totally worth it if you have a job in the First World. If I could've haggled a comparative deal to yours there's no way I would have taken the risk I did, performing the upgrade myself from parts bought from a near-anonymous Hong Kong eBay seller!
 
The CLAS is expensive and I think you're right, I wouldn't go for it if I had your set up. Your money could be better spent elsewhere, that's some serious cash for what isn't a major improvement. You'd also need to buy an iPod Classic (and thus take a 50% capacity hit), as the 5.5G is not compatible. What I meant by "obsolete" is new buyers deciding between a CLAS and an iMod are generally better off with a CLAS- bought new, there's not a huge difference in price. The CLAS is around a hundred bucks more. Of course, the iMod has been around a while so if they can get a deal, then the situation is different. People are satisfied with the CLAS but it's not like I've heard anyone (even hyperbolic audiophiles on a new-equipment high) say that they were blown away by an improvement over their iMod. It's just gradually started to supplant iMods.
 
As far as footprint, with a slim amp the CLAS can get quite portable. Check out cooperpwc's setups (one and two). Of course I doubt those amps can compete against a sweet Ray Samuels. But an amp like that really shines with full size headphones, and since when I'm out and about I use small headphones or IEMs, I think I'd be fine with the built-in amp of the Fostex HP-P1 (as Jude concluded in his video review). That would be a two-box set up, like you have now. If I came into money, then perhaps at home I'd plug in a great amp and listen with full cans. As I haven't been in the quality headphone enthusiast game long, right now I'm starting from scratch and I don't yet have a headphone amp.

 

[trentino]

Jonah, very interesting and informative posts, thanks. Let us know if your new 240 hdd works fine when you fill it up with music. I had the same upgrade in mind for my 5g.

 

[no_mas_123]

This will be short and I'll gear it towards the iMod upgrade.  I happen to have both the iMod(5.5 80G ->240G, Rapid Repair battery) and an iPod Classic(160G)/CLAS combo.  And, no, my music doesnt fit on them 

.  I listen to both with almost all ALAC files.  For me, sound quality wise, its the CLAS combo(no surprise).  But carrying around the iPod/CLAS/amp is cumbersome, but I carry around a backpack so its not that bad(for me).  Since I use ALAC files, the battery life of my iMod is shorter than pre-iMod(with lossy files), but I still enjoy the iMod sound signature.  Amps:Arrow 2G, 2stepdance, pa2v2.  Maybe a p51 in a little while.  IEMs are se530.  Also trying to pull the trigger on es5.
 
My experience with the iPod->iMod upgrade was excellent.  Sent my iPod, 240 hdd, battery to Vinnie.  Vinnie notified me that the battery was dead and with a call, RapidRepair sent a new one out to Vinnie right away.  As I remember, the whole process was relatively fast and it was an excellent experience.

 

[563]

I didn't ask rapidrepair, as far as I can remember, whether they would upgrade the RAM on the 30gb, since, in my case, I figured, if they're taking out the 80gb HD anyway, I might as well put it in the 30gb ipod 5.5g - I think they charged me about 40 dollars or so for the swap over, give or take.  One 240gb imod was enough for me   I'm glad, though, that I went that route.  And as with anything, it pays to try to negotiate the price.  My original quote from rapidrepair, for instance was significantly higher than what I ended up paying, after I spoke to a different customer rep.   I think, in the end, maybe I could have saved a maximum of 50 to 100 dollars (wild guess) for both ipods/imods had I gone the DIY route, but I would almost certainly have destroyed at least one of my units in the process  
 
Bottom line:  rapidrepair and Vinnie are both great at what they do, and can be flexible price-wise to boot.
 
 

 

[Mr Ben]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonah /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
The hard drive you want is a Toshiba MK2431GAH. You can buy the hard drive itself from China for around $130 USD. 

 
Thank you for the informative thread Jonah - very useful indeed.
 
Did your research bring up any differences between MK2431GAH manufactured in China and those from Philippines?
 
Both options seem to be available from eBay sellers in China - I'm just wondering what (if any) the differences are before I pull the trigger.
 
Thanks