Gear / Technical Help > Playback Forum

The JerryPod 512GB SD Conversion (formerly iPod 80GB HDD)

<< < (2/4) > >>

audBall:
Very nice looking! My experience was limited to the 5.5 Video, so YMMV with the Classic model. That said, I found it to be incredibly easy and straightforward once I was able to get the iPod restored on the older Windows 7 machine with an older version of iTunes. Note: you need to make sure the iPod is set to be readable as an external drive in iTunes before moving onto installing Rockbox.

For the Rockbox OS installation, I recommend skimming the manual for your device on Rockbox's website, downloading the corresponding Rockbox OS extracting file, and doing the "Manual" installation, which really just involves extracting the firmware (".rockbox" folder) as-is to the root folder of the iPod (which you allowed external drive access). There is also the "Automatic" installation via the Rockbox Utility, but I did not find that to be necessary. From there you need to connect the iPod to your computer (USB) and run the ipodpatcher.exe bootloader installation file, which allows for the dual-boot feature so you can boot to either the stock OS or Rockbox OS (defaulted).

For me the clunkiest part of the entire process was restoring the device as my Windows 10 machine running current iTunes would not recognize the device at all and my computer was giving me an error that the E: drive was an invalid drive. Once it restored on the older machine, everything fell into place without issue.

Photo of the bootloader installation progress:

tedyun:
For bonus points, these iPods have a Wolfson DAC chip, and there is a mod where you could directly connect the output from the DAC to the line outs on the dock connector. The reasoning was that Apple put in a quality DAC, but all the components in the path to the line out were crap! You also had to put capacitors in-line with the signal because apparently there was some voltage coming out of the DAC, and if your headphone amplifier didn't have some way to suppress that voltage, it would fry the amplifier.

There was a audiophile shop called Red Wine Audio that pioneered this mod. They either performed the mod, or you could buy a modded iPod. In addition, they sold the "line-out dock" that had a dock connector with BlackGate capacitors, and copper wiring with an audiophile plug. Back in the day, the mod cost a few hundred, along with the line-out dock, then a headphone amplifier. It could cost over $1,000 depending on the options.

Over on head-fi.org, some experts figured out how to do the mod and posted instructions. It's definitely not for the shaky handed solderers! I took a look at trying to do the mod myself, but soldering those tiny pins on the DAC takes an extra steady hand. They figured out how to mod the iPod 4 and then some subsequent versions. Although I think past the iPod 5, Apple wised up and started using cheaper DACs, as they figured out that putting crappy components downstream of an audiophile component ended up being the weaker links.

The iPod is limited to 16-bit though, so with the modern DAPs moving toward 24/96 DACs, these modded iPods are going the way of ... well ... the iPod! People either go to their phones, or if they want the audiophile experience, they go to the Astell & Kern. I still have my modded iPod tho! Complete with the flash memory mod too. I love it.

audBall:
Yeah, there seems to be some praise for the DAC in these players and its unfortunate the hardware limits its full potential. I read a post on the iPod subReddit claiming that hardware separate from the DAC chip limits bitrate to 400kbps, effectively rendering FLAC playback unnecessary. I couldn't find any further information about this claim elsewhere on the net. I've also avoided transferring 24bit FLACs to the player.

The extent of the modifications, and the lengths people go to, never cease to amaze. I see people are installing wireless chargers and bluetooth chips as well. Really loving this resurrected thing, using it daily for background tunes and the battery life is amazing now. It's been fun to match current dates (month/day) with shows played.

RyanJ:

--- Quote from: audBall on December 24, 2021, 04:28:40 PM ---Yeah, there seems to be some praise for the DAC in these players and its unfortunate the hardware limits its full potential. I read a post on the iPod subReddit claiming that hardware separate from the DAC chip limits bitrate to 400kbps, effectively rendering FLAC playback unnecessary. I couldn't find any further information about this claim elsewhere on the net. I've also avoided transferring 24bit FLACs to the player.

--- End quote ---

That's an interesting bit. Makes sense as it was never intended to be a lossless player. Although most of my AIFF files don't even play on my iPod. The iPod just advances the tracks.

It's hard for me to move on from the iPod. I love how it works with both computers and syncs (and I have all my playcount since 2006 on there lol)

gormenghast:
My 512GB ( more like 470gb ) iPod 5.5.  I purchased it on eBay and it had a bunch of Christian music and bible studies.  I used a Windows XP laptop I had laying around to restore and load rockbox.  I installed two 256gb micro SD cards.  I'll eventually do the newer battery when I need it.

Plan is to load about 5000 songs into it, then add a bunch of SCI and Kimock flacs.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page