I modded one of my 7th gen 160gb iPods using flash duo board with 256gb + 128gb SD cards. It worked fine until I put about 48 000 songs on it, then crashed. Lol! I couldn’t even restore it with iTunes, it was just not responding at all. So I cracked it open and replaced 128gb SD card with a 64gb SD card. It restored with no problems. So now it contains 256gb SD card + 64gb SD card and works like a champion! I currently have over 39 000 songs on it and 2.7gb of free space. I am pushing it, lol!😅
@@hidden-tb8kf No really, lol! Anyone can do it if they want it. The hardest thing is opening the thing, once it’s open, it’s really easy to mod it. I learned from Dankpods, he’s brilliant!
It crashed because on the stock firmware, it tries to load every song into memory for some reason. Rockbox works great as an alternate firmware, allows full customization, and has no song storage limits.
Honestly i prefer sd card based storage mods. Ssds are somewhat finicky and run hot, and suck a fair but more power. A 1th sd card has been enough for me. Have only used about half so far
4:00 The nano line should be largely avoided nowadays The battery is right behind the screen, so when it expands it cracks the screen and even if you're an expert it's super easy to destroy it trying to repair it The iPod mini is also a good contender for easiest iPod to mod, though you have to be a bit careful and the only aftermarket parts that exist are batteries and compact flash drives/SD to CF adapters
unexpandable flash storage, soldered batteries, hard to take apart for 2nd gen and 4th gen and 5th gen, etc. the touches and shuffles are not any better
@@pentiummmx2294 This too Aside from using a 4th gen Shuffle as a workout DAP (Given that they were sold up until 2017 and are basically indestructible unless you try to disassemble it), you really should avoid everything that isn't part of the classic or mini lines
My favorite looking iPod of all time is the one with the 4 back lit buttons. And of course the O.G. iPod. Nice that these are still making the rounds today. One thing I have to wonder is playing back just WAV files as they are by nature uncompressed at the 44.1Khz 16 Bit Sample rate of Red Book Audio CD data format; those should play just fine I would think as the O.G Apple Player from what I recall played those. One thing to note about streaming services is that often (TH-cam for example) you will find a great track, and then it will be lost forever due to some copywrite claim etc. (there was a Great remix of Blink 182, and ALL is lost. Even the title & Info of the song) So if you find something you really like? RIP IT! You never know when it will be gone. (TH-cam Music especially! ) Not sure about the Koss headphones, but will give them a try.
So uncompressed lossless wasn't playable on ipods in my memory and experience but apple would play lossless in ALAC format. If you plan to play FLAC (or also possibly wav) on an ipod running rockbox (the OS you need to be running to play those file formats) it technically can play but is very slow according to the internet. I actually have yet to get FLAC/WAV to work on my min 2nd gen, it just freezes up. At the moment I am re-ripping my CD collection in ALAC format as thats "Apple Lossless Audio Codec" and was made for apple devices and I hope that does the trick. Pray for me.
I used to use rockbox as a kid, can report its beyond solid. If anything it makes transferring files way easier because computers just read it like a usb hard drive. ✌️
20:15 You can copy lossless AIFF files directly from a CD unto the iPod. FLAC files dont run on iPods, but can be converted to AIFF using the flac command line tool since both are lossless audio formats. Nothing beats the warmth of a Wolfson DAC running on an iPod. Fair warning, once you go lossless, nothing else will do. This account is shadowbanned, so doubt you'll see this, but if any chance, just wanted to say welcome to the iPod community. ❤
Thank you. I have a big library of flac and didnt really want to shrink them into mp3. Aiff works for me without skipping songs on the ipod. Also there are tools that convert flac into aiff into a matter of seconds
I really enjoyed watching this video from this great young man. I’m in my mid 60’s and have a lot of old Apple gear including the iPods Ive bought since 2009(?). The battery is shot but its always been in a crystal protective case so the case is in pristine condition. Its really incredible how affordable a used one is and its also incredible that Apple is no longer threatening people who make restorative kits with lawsuits! Needless to say, I have a Humongous CD collection but I also have never stopped buying content for the series of IPhones Ive owned. My intent is to have the battery replaced and update the hard drive. It looks like one can actually accomplish this on your own with a reliable kit. Thats my intention and then I just might start buying, refurbishing and selling these wonderful devices as a side hobby/hustle. Once again, I really like this young man. Very pleasant, intelligent, rational, friendly, funny and relatable. Thank you young Mr. Sun!
@@Cookefan59 Thank you for taking the time to write this nice comment! Modifying these iPods is quite fun and rewarding! Here’s a video of me doing that for the first time, hope it’ll help: th-cam.com/video/14Nj175ek0I/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Cg5188LE9upBfyXT Best of luck on your journey and please keep us updated!
Audiobooks are my addiction and my collection is very large. I prefer to have my all books offline and carried with me so when I outgrew the 256GB Ipod my choices were to mod an Ipod myself, spend a lot of money for a commercially modded Ipod classic or pick up a high capacity refurbished Iphone without a SIM card and delete most of the apps from it and only leave Itunes intact on it essentially turning it into an Ipod that could be a phone again if I wanted to do so in the future but I'm happy with my Android phone for phone use. A 1TB refurbished Iphone cost much less than the same capacity commercially modded Ipod classic so that choice was easy to make.
For me my mp3 players are definitely more than another tool in the box. I still use Spotify, I still buy CDs and vinyls, hell even the odd cassette but mp3 players have always felt more personal, I have one in particular I only have a handful of albums and various TH-cam audio of my favourite shows on that I definitely feel has become a comfort item to me. If I can’t sleep I don’t have to grab my phone or iPad I can just plug and play my way into dreamland. In modern consumer culture especially I really feel like that real, raw love for music can often be lost, it’s all so easy now, people don’t have the same connection with listening anymore. I don’t want my music experience to be confined to a subscription or an app that could be taken away tomorrow.
Thank you for taking the time to write! I agree completely, there’s something about MP3 players, CDs, vinyl records, and even cassette tapes that make the listening experience much more special. It’s a unique feeling that I can’t quite describe, perhaps it’s the magic of having a connection with the music. It’s a feeling that cannot be replicated by Spotify or any other streaming service for that matter, at least from my experiences.
I was looking for years the reason for the songs skipping and how to solved, and i thought changing the hard drive will solved that I’m glad I cross with your video thanks!
I run Rockbox on my Ipod Video. Mostly so i don't have to use the Windows version of iTunes. I have an iflash adapter installed. To load files I have to be in Ipod mode before connecting to the PC. Then i just drag and drop the files into the a music folder on the root of the Ipod SD card. After the files are on the iPod i reboot the iPod into Rockbox
I guess it's an issue from Windows 11. I have the same setup as yours, 7th Gen with 256 GB mod. Using Win 10 I didn't have to switch to Apple boot. My older 5Gen works without needing dual boot.
CDs are selling for less than a bunch each at yard sales and thrift stores, and our library has hundreds of them. I now have hundreds of albums on my 128 GB gen 5.5. I never have to search for something to listen to!
Yup now I go thrifting all the time and I always get at least 5 cds, for a dollar each sometimes less, and I just upload them to my iTunes library, it’s the best and cheapest way to get music
Been making it a weekly thing to visit my library and check out their cd collection! I’m more willing to listen to an entire album this way and if I like them a lot, I get them!
and how do you explore new music? what if your fav. band releases a new album? its fundamentally flawed in the way, yard sale and thriftstore cds are 100% OLD music you already know. but you can not listen to new releases or explore new artists that way. its as if you would only own old books you have already read hundreds of times and you need to continue to read those books over and over again
@There is lots of music on those yard sales I’ve never heard! But there are several bands I follow. I just buy the albums off of iTunes. And I do play streaming music while I am doing chores in the house as background noise. I just don’t LISTEN to music that way.
@ as I AM old, older music appeals to me! But having said that, most artists are still putting out CDs. And a lot of the CDs are new to me, so they are “new music” as far as I’m concerned! I do listen to Pandora while I am working. Streaming music is fine if it’s just background noise. If I hear something I like I’ll give it a listen or two in TH-cam Music (the free part) and then I can decide whether or not I want to own it. But there are some recent artists that I follow. I buy their albums off of iTunes, just like “the old days”. I know that my way of listening to music won’t appeal to many people. That’s why streaming is so popular. I just don’t prefer it. My way works for me.
Thanks for the comment and the support, it means a lot to me! It’s gonna get real expensive real quick lol. I would suggest you take every review and recommendation with a grain of salt, your wallet will thank you later!
Thanks for the good tips here. I have two iPod classics, 80 and 160GB, one has a bad HDD and was lying around for a few years already (probably needs a new battery too) and that's the one I want to try modifying first. However, those iFlash adapters are really hard to find over here in Germany and pretty expensive, so I wanted to go with the cheap and easy noname solutions from Amazon - either a CF card adapter + CF to SSD (I can't find any direct SD card adapters) or a mSATA... not sure yet, and everyone just posts videos about iFlash conversions sadly, so I'm a bit at loss which adapters will fit or have issues. I'll probably use Windows for Sync too, ever since the demise of iTunes on the Mac I can't authorize my Audible books anymore, which makes the Books app absolutely useless, while iTunes on Windows still works excellent.
Hallo! Thanks for taking the time to write. I’m glad the video was helpful! The iFlash boards are popular, but not a requirement, the generic SD and CF adapters will work with your iPod as well. They are smaller in size compared to the iFlash but the connectors on those should be exactly the same. There are many alternative softwares you can use to sync on Windows, such as MusicBee. Maybe one of them out there can get your audiobooks to work! Hope this helps! Please keep us updated on your project!
Two years ago I modded an iPod classic to have a new battery, a 64GB SDD, and got it to work with Rockbox using a old obscure patch. I used it in my car for a while, and while I don't use it now, there's just something really fun about using older devices and getting them up and running.
Longtime Mac user here. I’m glad young people are enjoying iPods. They are fun devices to update and use. I too did SD card and battery upgrades on classic iPods and iPod Minis. I also put Rockbox on most of them and used that for a while. But I couldn’t figure out why my battery life was really poor and assumed it was just cheap batteries. I later read that Rockbox can’t power manage SD equipped iPods as well as the stock hard drive iPods. So I tested this by putting my music back onto the iPod using stock iPod OS and iTunes. This definitely solved the battery problem, so I sadly won’t be going back to Rockbox. One benefit of using iTunes to load music on the iPod is creating playlists. Smart playlists are especially fun, where it can automatically create playlists based on tag attributes that you choose. Try it out if you haven’t before. It’s great fun if you have a large collection with lots of types of music.
@@Kenaroni Thanks for the comment and the useful info! I will definitely try out the smart playlists. Scrolling through thousands of albums to find one song gets tiring after a while lol!
I've been temporarily without a phone which has kind of forced me to start using an ipod again and I love it. I just flashmodded an 80GB 5.5 gen ipod and it works great - one thing I was surprised about was how light it feels compared to my old 7th gen that still has its mechanical hard drive. One important thing to note about the 5th/5.5th gen ipods is that inline controls from your headphones (if you have them) won't work on the iPod (I found it out the hard way and thought my headphone jack was defective).
Rockbox works perfectly, I never had the issues you talked about and remember that 5.5 has a Wolfson DAC on it..worth the lossless listening, Very good quality DAC
I am honestly surprised nobody else mentioned the DAC the onboard sound was the whole point and reason for me getting another one after almost 15 years when I bought the one I have now to compliment the first 5th gen. I now have a 5.5 gin and also something that wasn't touched on both the 5th all the way up generations can play video also and used to have games on them which that makes me mad in one of the reasons why I haven't upgraded my other one oldest the fifth gen since it has 30 games that you used to have to sink through iTunes and if you try to it actually deleted them all off of the iPod video now
I have a set of planar headphones that absolutely make the music sound like you're right in there when they're recording it and there's nothing I would listen to on other than those if given the opportunity
Sup Brotha! New Sub, Detroit, Michigan. Well Done! My First IT Job after High School had Perks as the Admin Assistant. I had a Gen 3 with the 4 Buttons atop of the Click Wheel, a Gen 4, Gen 4 Photo, and 2 Gen 5/Video Now called Classics. I really want another one, I sold mine years back when I was P00r, I cant stand listening to Music on my phone. The iPod was Glorious, I Also had to 1st Gen Dell DJs, They were Awesome, I have 2 non-working Gen 2's still, but they aren't as nice
Another great video! I was shocked when I saw my comment! Thanks! I just ordered a 30gb enhanced version today, hopefully it'll be here early next week. I'm going to see how much of my library (everything I've had ripped and backed up for a REALLY long time lol, and pretty much all just mp3 format) will fit on the stock hard drive for now. I'm planning on ordering the iflash quad, 3000mah battery, and depending on the overall appearance of the unit, possibly a new shell. I'll probably go with 256 of total storage like you have. I don't think I even have that much music, so I should be good haha
Thanks for the comment, I’m glad the videos helped! One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that you should perform a disk check if you do plan on using the mechanical hard drive. Look up "iPod disk smart data" and you’ll find instructions on how to access the diagnostics menu on your iPod. If it shows more than 30 reallocations, that means the hard drive is failing and in need of a replacement. Please keep us updated on your new iPod! Be happy to help if you run into any issues! Cheers!
@@iamalexsun I'm going to go ahead and order the battery and iFlash tomorrow most likely. I'm going to look at how much music I have before ordering an sd card, but, I don't think I'll need more than 256gb.... Plan on running stock ipod OS, so I'm trying to make sure not to go over that 20,000 song limit
Great video. I've had similar issues with files skipping on my modded ipod with Rockbox as well as reading m4b and aac files. I find Rockbox pretty unintuitive and their wiki is a total mess, organizationally speaking, so it's an exercise in frustration to try and learn how to master it. One mod I'd love to see would be an OLED screen for an always on display during playback, but these seem few and far between!
Thanks for the comment! I looked into an OLED upgrade for iPods as well. It’s so obsolete that no one is willing to put in the time and resources to develop/modify an OLED to fit the iPods.
Thanks for this video. I just picked up a gen 6 classic iPod for $25 US at an estate sale (i had to use my advanced haggling techniques) and am interested in adding Bluetooth and lossless playback to it without needing to convert FLAC to AIFF.
I had the same problem of skipping songs with elac, I solved the problem changing the format of my songs with itunes, so if you have your songs in flac, you have to change the format to elac with an external program and again create a new version of your music with itunes, this solve the problem of skipping the songs.
For me, I had the skipping issue when encoding to ALAC in anything other than 16/44100/2, and when using FFMPEG to encode. Using the XLD software and specifying the 16/44100/2 it works flawlessly.
Absolutely great video! I love the way you've formated the key points you discussed. I found it both very easy to follow and very informative! I'll be here for your next one!
I got a iPod Gen6 to use at my job (my workmates listened to lousy popmusic on the radio). A few years after my retirement I tried to shake some life into the iPod but it seemed to be dead and I have on and off struggled to open it to change the battery, which appearantly is alive and well. But as I have ruined the screen I will continue with a blow torch and angle grinder, swap the HDD for a solid state disc, replace the battery and get a screen. Obviosly I also have to get a new back panel. Also I accidently happened to buy another Gen6 iPod and maybe I will win a Gen5 (30GB) and if that one is easier to open I will add a solid state disc to that one as well. Your points are very good!
I had the same "song skip" issue with 320kbps aac files. I tried all kinds of resolutions, but what fixed it for me was downgrading the album art quality on the files to 200x200 (as much of my artwork was originally 1500x1500 or larger). The 5.5 iPod seems to have issue quickly loading files with higher quality album art, causing it to skip songs. As soon as I downgraded all album artwork, I never got another skipped song.
Nice video.. looking into getting a (probably pre made to save time) 5.5 gen 256gb to most likely run Rockbox to run flacs and wavs. I hear with the 5.5s the higher storage boards had more ram which helps stuttering on the larger uncompressed files. I do alot with music, running a sound system and having made music and DJ'd for years now.. it would be nice to have something to refresh listening to all kinds of music away from a streaming service (of which i now pay for none)
Just did one of these mods with 7th generation classic with iquad flash using 1tb samsung Evo. Using Rockbox exclusively bypasses storage limitation, also flac works. You can get themes that simulate the stock os. Putting music on is drag and drop.😊
Very informative video, thank you! Is it crazy to want to buy an iPod and only keep songs no later than the first few years of it's original release? Was thinking of keeping songs, videos, and even pictures no later than that time to make it feel like a time machine for me.
I've been running FLAC files on mine for, idk, 6+ years... Rockbox though. I also have some weird, random .wav files (I "sail the high seas" as you say) and they play fine as well.
Thanks for the comment! Glad to hear it’s working well for you. The iPod is a great daily driver for me, and I use another device for lossless/hi-fi playback.
Great video! Thanks for the efforts of making and explaining. No sure if I want to favour a multi device setup - again. After all those years of phone(s) and player(s) if was happy with having it all on one device. But looks like iPod modding is a cool project and not caring about storage limitations on / of the phone is great fun. Let’s see… One note about music quality of streaming services: apple is stealing lossless if I remember correctly. And there is others as well of course. Thanks again!
nice video. good info. ive been getting iPhone pro max for years with the most storage so I can get all my music. and now with the thunderbolt cable syncing with my Mac mini is quick
You can put alac files on that ipod (my 5.5 gen has all alac) it’s very hard to find information on how to fix it and i don’t remember where i got my info
Re mp3 versus FLAC - I recently found the FLAC versions of the Mind Webs broadcasts (audio performances of speculative fiction) and can attest that they sound better than the mp3 versions that I found some time ago. I do admit that audio quality is less of an issue with spoken word recordings than with music.
I have a 30Gb v5.5 and an 80Gb v6, with the experience of getting the first one open far more pleasurable than the latter! Few dings on the v6 case getting it open, but not fussed as plan on replacing the top and bottom due to all the scratching there. Might leave the v5.5 stock in the sense of OS, and try Rockbox on the v6.
please make a video about the Nokia 2780 Flip (its $80 phone with 32 gig expandable storage) I have MORE than 32 gigs of music so i tried formatting a 512 gig micro sd into fat32 format but my video was inconclusive (on my channel)
I don't own an ipod but I can totally relate to this. Buying the rights to store and listen to your favorite tracks offline is really a life-saver -- or should I say a buck-saver.
i wished i saw this video before i got an ipod and modded it. i think an android based DAP would have been better for me. i like rockbox on the ipod but the 5/5.5 just has ancient specs that it cannot keep up with nice themes and mp3 320kbps files. also the ram is very small so the autoplaylist gen/shuffle just crash the ipod sometimes... also modding ipods is very expensive now compared to just buying an android based DAP, or a hifi walker h2. thing is i want the option of both wired and wireless whenever i'm out or when i'm home
Or you can get even better sound quality, and volume control through the car if you use a line out connection with a DAC, which can really be as simple as a plug. You connect the cord to the 30 pin output,NOT the microphone out. Most cars have a USB that’s tied into the Soundsystem, not just charging-that’s at the other end of the cord. Some have that 30 pin to accessory 3.5 mm plug, and I think that works too. But the key is to go from the 30 pin connector to your car, not from the earphone out plug. I’ve happily done this over many years with six or seven cars some older cars even have a dedicated plug, like some ram trucks in the glove compartment
Sounds like a nice project. Its funny, I went for a good while trying to avoid the ipod because I didnt want to use i tunes(mid 2000s era) I had a coby mp3 player the cheap "Chi-ipod" knock offs and eventually a creative zen vision M 30 gb. When that broke I finally got into the Ipods(as opposed to the zune). Went through classics, the nano and a variety of ipod touches based on the use case(Gym Ipods/Everyday music Ipods). All of em were ebay purchases aside from 1 that I bought from someone on craigslist. I have a 32 gb touch for my everyday listening and I have a 16gb touch for workouts. I'd like a higher capacity one to add more of my collection
thank you SO much bro. i've been on the mp3 game for a couple of years now and this is the exact video i needed before switching from my random mp3 player to an actual ipod. and as someone who has also gone down the rabbit hole of audiophile headphones (without actually buying any cuz there's JUST SO MANY) i sincerely thank u for ur recommendations 🙏 this vid is an actual godsend
There are a number of ways to buy one nowadays. First option is eBay. Be sure to read the descriptions and don’t hesitate to ask the seller questions. There are lots of good deals out there. Second option is your local electronics and thrift stores. Availability will be limited, depending on your area. Definitely the most fun and rewarding option, but very time consuming. Third would be purchasing from reputable sites such as Elite Obsolete Electronics (eoe.works). He has prebuilt configurations and also fully customizable options. This will be the easiest way to get your hands on one without doing all the searching and modifying yourself. Hope this helps!
Could you go into specifics about syncing Apple Music with the iPod as you mentioned it briefly at 6.30 is it possible to sync your Apple Music library with the iPod?? Please let me know🙏🙏🙏
Here is an article I found on the steps: support.apple.com/en-us/118285 I'm not sure exactly how it works, you should be able to see and sync your Apple Music library to your iPod with the Music app on Mac. I have not found any useful information on this, will keep looking!
My 5.5g with flash, .rockbox, a larger battery and an SSD lasts for up to 30 hours of playback. I leave it in the glove box and use it in the car, battery typically lasts a month.
@@iamalexsun well and assuming the parts inside just don't inevitably break down. Almost none of these will be running say another 15-20 years from now
Nice video Alex, not too long ago, not a rant as you say. We can skip ahead at any time. Nice to see a young man like yourself showing an interest in older school gadgets. You have a pleasant demeanour about you and I have subscribed to you today. Looking forward to future videos from you. Nice Bugatti by the way. Is that an 80s model? Look after that one mate she looks like a classic 😊…
The key is purchased. If I remember correctly If you subscribe to Apple Music you can add songs to the iPod that you haven't purchased and play them as long as your subscription is active when you add them. If your subscription ends and you sync, they'll be gone.
I’ve never modded any electronics before and want to get in to it. Do u download direct to SD and then plug the SD into the iPod or do I use the charging cable to plug into my computer and it downloads to the SD?
To transfer songs onto the iPod, simply plug it into your computer and open iTunes. Drag your music into iTines and sync them to your iPod from there. Hope this helps.
I seek freedom to music as i work jobs that involve going to bumfug nowhere, and using griphoists to move logs where i want them. This video brought me valuable knowledge.
First of all, great video. now, what I wanted to know when reaching the part of earphones is which earphones would work to play/pause and go forward/backward on the playslist with just the cable, I know for a fact that my AKG (that came with my samsing phone) can't do this and second, I'm happy that you say the fact that an iPod it's not mean to losless files and I'm ok with that, but what other devices are right now that would be as good as an iPod? I found the Innioasis MP3 player on Amazon, but it won't handle videos, Yeah I wopuld like to watch some videos on my Media Device.
@@CMarco Thanks for the comment! Only the following iPods are compatible with audio cables that has an inline remote: iPod classic: 2009 (120GB and 160GB) iPod nano: 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th generations As for media players with video playback functionality. You can find a lot of audio players that uses android as their operating system, which means you can watch TH-cam, browse the internet, import your own videos, etc.
The only iPod I had was a classic 5Th gen, I had a 16gb CF cart in it, replacing its HDD, it was enough for me. Realistically I can't really hear a difference between VBR 0 MP3 and FLAC, or its so little that it doesnt bother me anyways, audio gear causes the highest difference, 128kbps mp3 on my IEMs with a good output are better than FLAC on bad headphones, thats why I decided to just take the more efficient format I was silly enough to sell the iPod to a friend, welp, happens, now wanting to get a media player again I am not sure if I'd settle for an iPod now just because I am low on money, I don't earn money yet but I will move out this year and also start to earn money, so, I could get one again if I want to. This exact week I bought 2 old Sandisk Sansa e200 series players which cost me less than 15€, I had one before I had an iPod and I liked it, it had rockbox, sadly also an outdated connector but I could just shove in a microSD and play music off it with rockbox. One of them was sold as untested as its cable is missing and one was sold with "issues to delete and add music" and occasional headphone issues which I am sure I can resolve and make at least one good working one of. I checked out the KPH 40, sadly they're 70 bucks here, not 40, probably because I am in germany and stuff loves to be more expensive here compared to neighboring countries 🤷♂ I currently use Truthear x Crinacle Red IEMs, they sound great but they require some power to be driven at louder volumes which especially older devices struggle with, which is especially noticeable on genres like metal, which I love a lot, even the iPod already reached its limits there, if too quiet, it just doesnt let me dive into music the way I want to. I dont wanna use my phone for music for mainly 3 reasons, my only phone to reliably power them is too big and in a bad condition, the third reason being distraction. I also agree that shelling out high amounts for the most expensive stuff is pointless as it's a gamble and stuff with a quarter of the price often has 90+ % of the quality of the more expensive stuff. I used to have Moondrop Chu IEMs in the past, for 20 bucks it was one of the best investments, just that the filters sadly died, making them useless unless I use the weirdest equalizer curve imaginable.
Dude, great video! Excellent step-by-step analysis for troubleshooting. I can relate because I have everything in FLAC and was looking for a portable music device. I noticed some people are using the iPod Classic again, but I'm not sure if it's the right choice in terms of sound quality, the chip it uses, coding, etc., or if there's a better device that doesn't cost $10,000 for an integrated DAC. I tried looking for a Zune, but they don't sell them where I live. ps: liked and subscribed.
Thanks for the support! If you’re looking for a capable DAP that sounds great and is reasonably priced, check out the Aune M1P, great little nugget! Here’s a review from Zeos:m.th-cam.com/video/7phQ51QA8Cc/w-d-xo.html
It’s possible to sync with lots of third party softwares on both Mac and Windows. Alternatively, Rockbox supports drag and drop transfer straight onto the sd card.
18:19 Indeed sound is subjective and an iPod is not exactly the way to listen to hi-res files so I'm 100% with you in this one. HOWEVER I would not underestimate the importance of a good pair of headphones/earbuds. Yeah, sure. High-end heaphones or IEMs will mostly be underexploited if used with an iPod. But try good "normal" audio gear because even with an common music player you will notice diferences in how you taste your music.
@@BIGWojo68 iTunes is still available to download and use on Windows machines. It was replaced by the Music app on MacOS. You are able to sync music to your iPod on both platforms. There are also third party apps that offer similar functions and experiences.
@Whytedebil I don't have an IOS device to download iTunes, just Windows. On Windows, you can, but only podcasts are available to purchase, and it doesn't show your music library or ipod when you connect it to your computer.
@@BIGWojo68 then maybe you’re either not signed into your Apple account in iTunes (no library) for windows or you haven’t authorized said windows machine (grayed out library). It should definitely be showing your library.
@Whytedebil I wish I could show you a picture of what I'm seeing on my PC. Everything shows up as it should on my mom's old, slow laptop, but not on my PC. (Both running Win 11) It did at first but after opening up a second time just the podcast store shows up.
I’ve got an original iPod shuffle 1Gb looks kinda like a flash drive. Only iPod I know of that will run from a lanyard holding 2 AAA batteries, add an AirFly transmitter to the 3.5mm socket and use AirPods Pro wirelessly 😃👍.
21:42 I get the idea that you don't know how much the dead toured. Your iPod wouldn't come close to holding most of their live stuff even if your iPod was 4TB :p 30 straight years of touring made for a lot of audio. + they had a contract that allowed for unlimited studio time, so they have a lot of studio tracks that didn't ever make it into albums
@@NebulaHatesWatchdog Haha! You are absolutely right! I recently just started exploring the enormous collection of live albums, as well as the studio sessions and bootleg shows. They’re awesome!
i run mine using mainly ALAC-M4A Files at 16-bit 24-bit currently have 1.17TB and currently at just over 40k song 815GB 7th geen can run and digital out lossless iam using TRN conch IEMS OR TRN zero reds crincal IEMS they work great with my 7th gen classic, but even my hd6xx and hd58x jubilee work fine on my iPod TOO. Iam Also using a Pure i20 dock into my AVR for home music it ouptups digitally from 7th gen lossless or bose sounddock portable for around the home which is loud with lots of boom so prefer my pure i20
For the record if this the 5th /5.5 Generation it wasn’t called iPod classic it was called the iPod video the naming for the “classic” was for the 6/7 generation
@@iamalexsun just making sure people are aware the difference between each iPods and the naming of each of them. I think the naming of them started with the iPod 4th which I believe was the iPod photo then the 5th iPod video then the 6th was named classic I only. Also the iPod mini are good to get modded which I sell them on my eBay page
I stopped using iFlash Quads because it was unreliable. I started using mSATA boards because it was cheaper and was less problematic. I highly recommend those. I used to get 2TB cards for $109 for the whole board for the iPod.
dealing with itunes, importing music etc in 2024 on a windows machine is nightmare fuel to me. edit: I bought a LG V20 and put revanced on it for $40 all in. superb sound and adding music is a breeze.
I have a question. After modding my iPod 5, it works perfectly before snapping everything into place, but once I snap it into the back housing, the click wheel stops working. It works again once I’ve taken the back casing off
Could be a pressure point somewhere pressing on it, or the click wheel cable being pinched. Check the chick wheel connector and make sure it isn’t being pinched when closed. Hope this helps!
I decided to go with a 7th gen so I can have around 500gb of storage, I’ve been watching videos surrounding this community for years, and I’m just finally wanting to hop in. I’m also learning how to solder so that I can try a Taptic mod!
Paid $80 for the 160gb late 2009 model off of eBay, and with the housing, battery, sd cards and stuff, I think my project will still come out being sub $160 ish
When I’m finished with this one, I’ll probably try to look for a couple of 5th gens. I know I’m gonna have fun working on these, and maybe I can give those as gifts
@@iamalexsun I’m so pumped! I’m trying not to let myself get distracted from all the end of semester craziness, so I’m probably gonna put it off until April or May, but research is my method of coping with the wait, I suppose 😂
The 7th gen is the best to modify because it has the maximum amount of ram. Dankpods shows why it is and shuffle works the best for those who love using that feature. 512GB is the sweet spot for it but it will go to a terabyte. This is what I did with mine but I also don’t use modified audio. The majority of all my music is iTunes purchased and imported from disc using Losless. So it works for me being somewhat of an audiophile but not too anal of one. As long as it sounds clear and not muffled, or not low quality I can be easily satisfied.
I modded one of my 7th gen 160gb iPods using flash duo board with 256gb + 128gb SD cards. It worked fine until I put about 48 000 songs on it, then crashed. Lol! I couldn’t even restore it with iTunes, it was just not responding at all. So I cracked it open and replaced 128gb SD card with a 64gb SD card. It restored with no problems. So now it contains 256gb SD card + 64gb SD card and works like a champion! I currently have over 39 000 songs on it and 2.7gb of free space. I am pushing it, lol!😅
The pro here😮
@@hidden-tb8kf No really, lol! Anyone can do it if they want it. The hardest thing is opening the thing, once it’s open, it’s really easy to mod it. I learned from Dankpods, he’s brilliant!
It crashed because on the stock firmware, it tries to load every song into memory for some reason. Rockbox works great as an alternate firmware, allows full customization, and has no song storage limits.
@@felkmane It crashed because there is not enough RAM.
@@felkmane I don't want Rockbox because all my music is on iTunes.
I give 0 fucks about any service or stream once I have my music on my SSD based iPod.
@@francohicI do both
@@Whyareusernamesathing where do you download the flac's from?
@@francohic I use various methods. Both piracy and legal sources. Try HDTracks or SoulSeek
@@francohic soulseek
Honestly i prefer sd card based storage mods. Ssds are somewhat finicky and run hot, and suck a fair but more power. A 1th sd card has been enough for me. Have only used about half so far
4:00 The nano line should be largely avoided nowadays
The battery is right behind the screen, so when it expands it cracks the screen and even if you're an expert it's super easy to destroy it trying to repair it
The iPod mini is also a good contender for easiest iPod to mod, though you have to be a bit careful and the only aftermarket parts that exist are batteries and compact flash drives/SD to CF adapters
unexpandable flash storage, soldered batteries, hard to take apart for 2nd gen and 4th gen and 5th gen, etc. the touches and shuffles are not any better
@@pentiummmx2294 This too
Aside from using a 4th gen Shuffle as a workout DAP (Given that they were sold up until 2017 and are basically indestructible unless you try to disassemble it), you really should avoid everything that isn't part of the classic or mini lines
My favorite looking iPod of all time is the one with the 4 back lit buttons. And of course the O.G. iPod.
Nice that these are still making the rounds today.
One thing I have to wonder is playing back just WAV files as they are by nature uncompressed at the 44.1Khz 16 Bit Sample rate of Red Book Audio CD data format; those should play just fine I would think as the O.G Apple Player from what I recall played those.
One thing to note about streaming services is that often (TH-cam for example) you will find a great track, and then it will be lost forever due to some copywrite claim etc. (there was a Great remix of Blink 182, and ALL is lost. Even the title & Info of the song)
So if you find something you really like? RIP IT! You never know when it will be gone. (TH-cam Music especially! )
Not sure about the Koss headphones, but will give them a try.
So uncompressed lossless wasn't playable on ipods in my memory and experience but apple would play lossless in ALAC format. If you plan to play FLAC (or also possibly wav) on an ipod running rockbox (the OS you need to be running to play those file formats) it technically can play but is very slow according to the internet. I actually have yet to get FLAC/WAV to work on my min 2nd gen, it just freezes up. At the moment I am re-ripping my CD collection in ALAC format as thats "Apple Lossless Audio Codec" and was made for apple devices and I hope that does the trick. Pray for me.
Love the third generation. Classic.
I used to use rockbox as a kid, can report its beyond solid. If anything it makes transferring files way easier because computers just read it like a usb hard drive. ✌️
20:15 You can copy lossless AIFF files directly from a CD unto the iPod. FLAC files dont run on iPods, but can be converted to AIFF using the flac command line tool since both are lossless audio formats. Nothing beats the warmth of a Wolfson DAC running on an iPod. Fair warning, once you go lossless, nothing else will do. This account is shadowbanned, so doubt you'll see this, but if any chance, just wanted to say welcome to the iPod community. ❤
Thanks for the comment! Didn’t know about AIFF files. I’m using another player for all my lossless files, the iPod is my daily carry haha.
Thank you. I have a big library of flac and didnt really want to shrink them into mp3. Aiff works for me without skipping songs on the ipod.
Also there are tools that convert flac into aiff into a matter of seconds
ALAC would be another option for losslees right?
ALAC did not work for me on my 5th gen. Only lossless working so far is AIFF
@@nothing1843 do you notice differences between ALAC, FLAC and AIFF? In terms of sound?
I really enjoyed watching this video from this great young man. I’m in my mid 60’s and have a lot of old Apple gear including the iPods Ive bought since 2009(?). The battery is shot but its always been in a crystal protective case so the case is in pristine condition. Its really incredible how affordable a used one is and its also incredible that Apple is no longer threatening people who make restorative kits with lawsuits! Needless to say, I have a Humongous CD collection but I also have never stopped buying content for the series of IPhones Ive owned. My intent is to have the battery replaced and update the hard drive. It looks like one can actually accomplish this on your own with a reliable kit. Thats my intention and then I just might start buying, refurbishing and selling these wonderful devices as a side hobby/hustle.
Once again, I really like this young man. Very pleasant, intelligent, rational, friendly, funny and relatable. Thank you young Mr. Sun!
@@Cookefan59 Thank you for taking the time to write this nice comment! Modifying these iPods is quite fun and rewarding! Here’s a video of me doing that for the first time, hope it’ll help: th-cam.com/video/14Nj175ek0I/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Cg5188LE9upBfyXT
Best of luck on your journey and please keep us updated!
Audiobooks are my addiction and my collection is very large. I prefer to have my all books offline and carried with me so when I outgrew the 256GB Ipod my choices were to mod an Ipod myself, spend a lot of money for a commercially modded Ipod classic or pick up a high capacity refurbished Iphone without a SIM card and delete most of the apps from it and only leave Itunes intact on it essentially turning it into an Ipod that could be a phone again if I wanted to do so in the future but I'm happy with my Android phone for phone use. A 1TB refurbished Iphone cost much less than the same capacity commercially modded Ipod classic so that choice was easy to make.
Just mod your own iPod its super easy, hell even I can do it
For me my mp3 players are definitely more than another tool in the box. I still use Spotify, I still buy CDs and vinyls, hell even the odd cassette but mp3 players have always felt more personal, I have one in particular I only have a handful of albums and various TH-cam audio of my favourite shows on that I definitely feel has become a comfort item to me. If I can’t sleep I don’t have to grab my phone or iPad I can just plug and play my way into dreamland.
In modern consumer culture especially I really feel like that real, raw love for music can often be lost, it’s all so easy now, people don’t have the same connection with listening anymore. I don’t want my music experience to be confined to a subscription or an app that could be taken away tomorrow.
Thank you for taking the time to write! I agree completely, there’s something about MP3 players, CDs, vinyl records, and even cassette tapes that make the listening experience much more special. It’s a unique feeling that I can’t quite describe, perhaps it’s the magic of having a connection with the music. It’s a feeling that cannot be replicated by Spotify or any other streaming service for that matter, at least from my experiences.
i have the same iPod since 2007 and i modded mine from 30GB to 256GB with a new battery and transparent shell. Great Video :)
I was looking for years the reason for the songs skipping and how to solved, and i thought changing the hard drive will solved that I’m glad I cross with your video thanks!
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad the video was helpful!
I run Rockbox on my Ipod Video. Mostly so i don't have to use the Windows version of iTunes. I have an iflash adapter installed. To load files I have to be in Ipod mode before connecting to the PC. Then i just drag and drop the files into the a music folder on the root of the Ipod SD card. After the files are on the iPod i reboot the iPod into Rockbox
I guess it's an issue from Windows 11. I have the same setup as yours, 7th Gen with 256 GB mod. Using Win 10 I didn't have to switch to Apple boot. My older 5Gen works without needing dual boot.
@@B0X666I'm using an iFlash Quad adapter. The Rockbox forum suggests it's a problem with the iFlash adapters. What adapter are you using?
@@bubdedoh7395 I use an iFlash, but its an mSata model. Installed about 3 years ago. It works great!
Does the original OS stay along with Rockbox?
@@user-tu1zw8pj9b With most iPods, yes. You can use Dual Boot to acess original OS.
CDs are selling for less than a bunch each at yard sales and thrift stores, and our library has hundreds of them. I now have hundreds of albums on my 128 GB gen 5.5. I never have to search for something to listen to!
Yup now I go thrifting all the time and I always get at least 5 cds, for a dollar each sometimes less, and I just upload them to my iTunes library, it’s the best and cheapest way to get music
Been making it a weekly thing to visit my library and check out their cd collection! I’m more willing to listen to an entire album this way and if I like them a lot, I get them!
and how do you explore new music? what if your fav. band releases a new album? its fundamentally flawed in the way, yard sale and thriftstore cds are 100% OLD music you already know. but you can not listen to new releases or explore new artists that way. its as if you would only own old books you have already read hundreds of times and you need to continue to read those books over and over again
@There is lots of music on those yard sales I’ve never heard! But there are several bands I follow. I just buy the albums off of iTunes. And I do play streaming music while I am doing chores in the house as background noise. I just don’t LISTEN to music that way.
@ as I AM old, older music appeals to me! But having said that, most artists are still putting out CDs. And a lot of the CDs are new to me, so they are “new music” as far as I’m concerned!
I do listen to Pandora while I am working. Streaming music is fine if it’s just background noise. If I hear something I like I’ll give it a listen or two in TH-cam Music (the free part) and then I can decide whether or not I want to own it.
But there are some recent artists that I follow. I buy their albums off of iTunes, just like “the old days”.
I know that my way of listening to music won’t appeal to many people. That’s why streaming is so popular. I just don’t prefer it. My way works for me.
Thanks for the great video dude! You actually started me down a crazy audio rabit-hole; and I couldn't be enjoying it more!
Thanks for the comment and the support, it means a lot to me!
It’s gonna get real expensive real quick lol. I would suggest you take every review and recommendation with a grain of salt, your wallet will thank you later!
Thanks for the good tips here. I have two iPod classics, 80 and 160GB, one has a bad HDD and was lying around for a few years already (probably needs a new battery too) and that's the one I want to try modifying first. However, those iFlash adapters are really hard to find over here in Germany and pretty expensive, so I wanted to go with the cheap and easy noname solutions from Amazon - either a CF card adapter + CF to SSD (I can't find any direct SD card adapters) or a mSATA... not sure yet, and everyone just posts videos about iFlash conversions sadly, so I'm a bit at loss which adapters will fit or have issues.
I'll probably use Windows for Sync too, ever since the demise of iTunes on the Mac I can't authorize my Audible books anymore, which makes the Books app absolutely useless, while iTunes on Windows still works excellent.
Hallo! Thanks for taking the time to write. I’m glad the video was helpful! The iFlash boards are popular, but not a requirement, the generic SD and CF adapters will work with your iPod as well. They are smaller in size compared to the iFlash but the connectors on those should be exactly the same.
There are many alternative softwares you can use to sync on Windows, such as MusicBee. Maybe one of them out there can get your audiobooks to work!
Hope this helps! Please keep us updated on your project!
Two years ago I modded an iPod classic to have a new battery, a 64GB SDD, and got it to work with Rockbox using a old obscure patch.
I used it in my car for a while, and while I don't use it now, there's just something really fun about using older devices and getting them up and running.
Longtime Mac user here. I’m glad young people are enjoying iPods. They are fun devices to update and use. I too did SD card and battery upgrades on classic iPods and iPod Minis. I also put Rockbox on most of them and used that for a while. But I couldn’t figure out why my battery life was really poor and assumed it was just cheap batteries. I later read that Rockbox can’t power manage SD equipped iPods as well as the stock hard drive iPods. So I tested this by putting my music back onto the iPod using stock iPod OS and iTunes. This definitely solved the battery problem, so I sadly won’t be going back to Rockbox. One benefit of using iTunes to load music on the iPod is creating playlists. Smart playlists are especially fun, where it can automatically create playlists based on tag attributes that you choose. Try it out if you haven’t before. It’s great fun if you have a large collection with lots of types of music.
@@Kenaroni Thanks for the comment and the useful info! I will definitely try out the smart playlists. Scrolling through thousands of albums to find one song gets tiring after a while lol!
I've been temporarily without a phone which has kind of forced me to start using an ipod again and I love it. I just flashmodded an 80GB 5.5 gen ipod and it works great - one thing I was surprised about was how light it feels compared to my old 7th gen that still has its mechanical hard drive. One important thing to note about the 5th/5.5th gen ipods is that inline controls from your headphones (if you have them) won't work on the iPod (I found it out the hard way and thought my headphone jack was defective).
looking forward to the ruby build
Rockbox works perfectly, I never had the issues you talked about and remember that 5.5 has a Wolfson DAC on it..worth the lossless listening, Very good quality DAC
Thanks for reminding me about the dac in the 5.5. that's one of the reasons I chose the 5.5
So it works pretty smooth with no skipping using lossless and Rockbox?
@@loudiamond Yes.
I am honestly surprised nobody else mentioned the DAC the onboard sound was the whole point and reason for me getting another one after almost 15 years when I bought the one I have now to compliment the first 5th gen. I now have a 5.5 gin and also something that wasn't touched on both the 5th all the way up generations can play video also and used to have games on them which that makes me mad in one of the reasons why I haven't upgraded my other one oldest the fifth gen since it has 30 games that you used to have to sink through iTunes and if you try to it actually deleted them all off of the iPod video now
I have a set of planar headphones that absolutely make the music sound like you're right in there when they're recording it and there's nothing I would listen to on other than those if given the opportunity
Sup Brotha! New Sub, Detroit, Michigan.
Well Done! My First IT Job after High School had Perks as the Admin Assistant.
I had a Gen 3 with the 4 Buttons atop of the Click Wheel, a Gen 4, Gen 4 Photo, and 2 Gen 5/Video Now called Classics.
I really want another one, I sold mine years back when I was P00r, I cant stand listening to Music on my phone.
The iPod was Glorious, I Also had to 1st Gen Dell DJs, They were Awesome, I have 2 non-working Gen 2's still, but they aren't as nice
Another great video! I was shocked when I saw my comment! Thanks!
I just ordered a 30gb enhanced version today, hopefully it'll be here early next week. I'm going to see how much of my library (everything I've had ripped and backed up for a REALLY long time lol, and pretty much all just mp3 format) will fit on the stock hard drive for now. I'm planning on ordering the iflash quad, 3000mah battery, and depending on the overall appearance of the unit, possibly a new shell.
I'll probably go with 256 of total storage like you have. I don't think I even have that much music, so I should be good haha
Thanks for the comment, I’m glad the videos helped!
One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that you should perform a disk check if you do plan on using the mechanical hard drive. Look up "iPod disk smart data" and you’ll find instructions on how to access the diagnostics menu on your iPod. If it shows more than 30 reallocations, that means the hard drive is failing and in need of a replacement.
Please keep us updated on your new iPod! Be happy to help if you run into any issues!
Cheers!
@@iamalexsun I'm going to go ahead and order the battery and iFlash tomorrow most likely. I'm going to look at how much music I have before ordering an sd card, but, I don't think I'll need more than 256gb.... Plan on running stock ipod OS, so I'm trying to make sure not to go over that 20,000 song limit
@@RyanNiemer 256gb = 32 000 songs. At least in my case, It obviously depends on what files you have.
Question, Where can I buy a modded IPod besides eBay that’s trustworthy?
@@JoseR_14 What country are you in?
❤❤Huge Thnx Alex. Excellent video. You are a superb presenter. I enjoyed it and learned soo much
@@stevehornshaw4478 Thank you!
This video was EXTREMELY detailed and informative!! Thank you so much!!
Thank you! Glad it was helpful!
Great video. I've had similar issues with files skipping on my modded ipod with Rockbox as well as reading m4b and aac files.
I find Rockbox pretty unintuitive and their wiki is a total mess, organizationally speaking, so it's an exercise in frustration to try and learn how to master it.
One mod I'd love to see would be an OLED screen for an always on display during playback, but these seem few and far between!
Thanks for the comment!
I looked into an OLED upgrade for iPods as well. It’s so obsolete that no one is willing to put in the time and resources to develop/modify an OLED to fit the iPods.
Thanks for this video. I just picked up a gen 6 classic iPod for $25 US at an estate sale (i had to use my advanced haggling techniques) and am interested in adding Bluetooth and lossless playback to it without needing to convert FLAC to AIFF.
I had the same problem of skipping songs with elac, I solved the problem changing the format of my songs with itunes, so if you have your songs in flac, you have to change the format to elac with an external program and again create a new version of your music with itunes, this solve the problem of skipping the songs.
Great presentation Alex ... I learnt a lot ! Thank you !!
For me, I had the skipping issue when encoding to ALAC in anything other than 16/44100/2, and when using FFMPEG to encode.
Using the XLD software and specifying the 16/44100/2 it works flawlessly.
this!
Thanks for the suggestion! Will definitely give this a shot!
how can we download apple music alac file.
Absolutely great video! I love the way you've formated the key points you discussed. I found it both very easy to follow and very informative!
I'll be here for your next one!
@@LoveBbyJay Thank you, I appreciate the support!
Nice Royal Enfield interceptor bike in the background
Thanks! ;)
I got a iPod Gen6 to use at my job (my workmates listened to lousy popmusic on the radio). A few years after my retirement I tried to shake some life into the iPod but it seemed to be dead and I have on and off struggled to open it to change the battery, which appearantly is alive and well. But as I have ruined the screen I will continue with a blow torch and angle grinder, swap the HDD for a solid state disc, replace the battery and get a screen. Obviosly I also have to get a new back panel.
Also I accidently happened to buy another Gen6 iPod and maybe I will win a Gen5 (30GB) and if that one is easier to open I will add a solid state disc to that one as well.
Your points are very good!
Thanks for the comment! And thanks for keeping your iPods alive!
Look up Dankpods, I learned so much from him. I can open these things now without even cutting myself ( mostly ).
I had the same "song skip" issue with 320kbps aac files. I tried all kinds of resolutions, but what fixed it for me was downgrading the album art quality on the files to 200x200 (as much of my artwork was originally 1500x1500 or larger). The 5.5 iPod seems to have issue quickly loading files with higher quality album art, causing it to skip songs. As soon as I downgraded all album artwork, I never got another skipped song.
@@rosettastoned69 this might be it! Thanks for sharing!
I'd highly recommend a pair or KZ IEM's, the best buds for sub $100(they range from $5-80
Nice video.. looking into getting a (probably pre made to save time) 5.5 gen 256gb to most likely run Rockbox to run flacs and wavs. I hear with the 5.5s the higher storage boards had more ram which helps stuttering on the larger uncompressed files. I do alot with music, running a sound system and having made music and DJ'd for years now.. it would be nice to have something to refresh listening to all kinds of music away from a streaming service (of which i now pay for none)
Just did one of these mods with 7th generation classic with iquad flash using 1tb samsung Evo. Using Rockbox exclusively bypasses storage limitation, also flac works. You can get themes that simulate the stock os. Putting music on is drag and drop.😊
good shit man. new sub
Thanks!
I got some cheap iems and a 64mb 5.5 and I’ll be putting new caps and flash quad in it. I’ll be using rockbox and flac
Very informative video, thank you!
Is it crazy to want to buy an iPod and only keep songs no later than the first few years of it's original release? Was thinking of keeping songs, videos, and even pictures no later than that time to make it feel like a time machine for me.
@@0PTIC5 That’s a great idea!
Is that an re interceptor 650 bike in the background
@@AroraRuhan Good eye!
Really enjoyed and appreciated the info and presentation! Thank you!
@@pubsub9832 Thanks for watching! I’m glad the video was helpful!
I want a iPod, but the Classic ones are expensive or just unavailable
I've been running FLAC files on mine for, idk, 6+ years... Rockbox though. I also have some weird, random .wav files (I "sail the high seas" as you say) and they play fine as well.
Thanks for the comment! Glad to hear it’s working well for you. The iPod is a great daily driver for me, and I use another device for lossless/hi-fi playback.
@@iamalexsun The iTunes SUCK, and the lack of Skins on Apple software makes the OG System boring.
@@B0X666 To each their own.
Great video! Thanks for the efforts of making and explaining. No sure if I want to favour a multi device setup - again. After all those years of phone(s) and player(s) if was happy with having it all on one device. But looks like iPod modding is a cool project and not caring about storage limitations on / of the phone is great fun. Let’s see…
One note about music quality of streaming services: apple is stealing lossless if I remember correctly. And there is others as well of course.
Thanks again!
@@ocd001 Thanks for the nice comment! I’m glad the video was helpful!
Wow, thank you very much for your video. I learned a lot ❤
nice video. good info. ive been getting iPhone pro max for years with the most storage so I can get all my music. and now with the thunderbolt cable syncing with my Mac mini is quick
You can put alac files on that ipod (my 5.5 gen has all alac) it’s very hard to find information on how to fix it and i don’t remember where i got my info
How to convert lossless ALAC to 320k MP3?
@@stormrider01 This is what I use:
www.mediahuman.com/audio-converter/
Re mp3 versus FLAC - I recently found the FLAC versions of the Mind Webs broadcasts (audio performances of speculative fiction) and can attest that they sound better than the mp3 versions that I found some time ago. I do admit that audio quality is less of an issue with spoken word recordings than with music.
I have a 30Gb v5.5 and an 80Gb v6, with the experience of getting the first one open far more pleasurable than the latter! Few dings on the v6 case getting it open, but not fussed as plan on replacing the top and bottom due to all the scratching there. Might leave the v5.5 stock in the sense of OS, and try Rockbox on the v6.
please make a video about the Nokia 2780 Flip (its $80 phone with 32 gig expandable storage) I have MORE than 32 gigs of music so i tried formatting a 512 gig micro sd into fat32 format but my video was inconclusive (on my channel)
Fantastic video! Thanks for your effort
I don't own an ipod but I can totally relate to this. Buying the rights to store and listen to your favorite tracks offline is really a life-saver -- or should I say a buck-saver.
niiice thanks for this info, i dig your style
i wished i saw this video before i got an ipod and modded it. i think an android based DAP would have been better for me.
i like rockbox on the ipod but the 5/5.5 just has ancient specs that it cannot keep up with nice themes and mp3 320kbps files. also the ram is very small so the autoplaylist gen/shuffle just crash the ipod sometimes...
also modding ipods is very expensive now compared to just buying an android based DAP, or a hifi walker h2. thing is i want the option of both wired and wireless whenever i'm out or when i'm home
Can you connect it to your car speaker?
yes! with a 3.5mm aux cable
Or you can get even better sound quality, and volume control through the car if you use a line out connection with a DAC, which can really be as simple as a plug. You connect the cord to the 30 pin output,NOT the microphone out. Most cars have a USB that’s tied into the Soundsystem, not just charging-that’s at the other end of the cord. Some have that 30 pin to accessory 3.5 mm plug, and I think that works too. But the key is to go from the 30 pin connector to your car, not from the earphone out plug. I’ve happily done this over many years with six or seven cars some older cars even have a dedicated plug, like some ram trucks in the glove compartment
Sounds like a nice project. Its funny, I went for a good while trying to avoid the ipod because I didnt want to use i tunes(mid 2000s era) I had a coby mp3 player the cheap "Chi-ipod" knock offs and eventually a creative zen vision M 30 gb. When that broke I finally got into the Ipods(as opposed to the zune).
Went through classics, the nano and a variety of ipod touches based on the use case(Gym Ipods/Everyday music Ipods). All of em were ebay purchases aside from 1 that I bought from someone on craigslist. I have a 32 gb touch for my everyday listening and I have a 16gb touch for workouts. I'd like a higher capacity one to add more of my collection
Thanks for sharing your journey!
...syncing my music on Linux was a couple minutes >.>;
I use a newer sony mp3 walkman that can play flac files, built in microsd support, and modding it with custom firmware is easy too
What model?
Also have the Sony mp3. Love the buttons so I can skip forward or start audibooks without needing to turn on the screen.
thank you SO much bro. i've been on the mp3 game for a couple of years now and this is the exact video i needed before switching from my random mp3 player to an actual ipod. and as someone who has also gone down the rabbit hole of audiophile headphones (without actually buying any cuz there's JUST SO MANY) i sincerely thank u for ur recommendations 🙏 this vid is an actual godsend
@@aroundten Thank you! I’m glad the video was able to help!
Can you still buy music on itunes? I can't even download podcasts on it.
Yes, you can still purchase music on iTunes!
How you make your screen red I’ve modded hundreds want to make the screen red
Red gel film cut to size.
I show it at the 7:35 mark in this video: th-cam.com/video/zeuYIfOSbUM/w-d-xo.html
Here's the film I Used: amzn.to/3Rm581P
Where can i purchase the classic iPod u have? Is there a link?
There are a number of ways to buy one nowadays.
First option is eBay. Be sure to read the descriptions and don’t hesitate to ask the seller questions. There are lots of good deals out there.
Second option is your local electronics and thrift stores. Availability will be limited, depending on your area. Definitely the most fun and rewarding option, but very time consuming.
Third would be purchasing from reputable sites such as Elite Obsolete Electronics (eoe.works). He has prebuilt configurations and also fully customizable options. This will be the easiest way to get your hands on one without doing all the searching and modifying yourself.
Hope this helps!
Nice frickin' catch at 3:25.
wait bestie, i named my ipod dingus too. the ipod i'm currently working on is named bingus
I watch too much Dankpods haha! My nano is named “Dingus Nano”
Could you go into specifics about syncing Apple Music with the iPod as you mentioned it briefly at 6.30 is it possible to sync your Apple Music library with the iPod?? Please let me know🙏🙏🙏
Here is an article I found on the steps: support.apple.com/en-us/118285
I'm not sure exactly how it works, you should be able to see and sync your Apple Music library to your iPod with the Music app on Mac.
I have not found any useful information on this, will keep looking!
@@iamalexsun thank you loads I’ll look into that!!
@@iamalexsun also do you think that’s possible with a MacBook or just with windows?
You should be able to see your Apple Music library in iTunes on your Windows machine.
@@iamalexsun thank you that’s great!
My 5.5g with flash, .rockbox, a larger battery and an SSD lasts for up to 30 hours of playback.
I leave it in the glove box and use it in the car, battery typically lasts a month.
If I get a modified iPod, will I be constantly troubleshooting and repairing? I want to get one, but not if it doesn't last...
You set it up once and use it forever. If you do everything correctly.
@@iamalexsun well and assuming the parts inside just don't inevitably break down. Almost none of these will be running say another 15-20 years from now
Nice video Alex, not too long ago, not a rant as you say. We can skip ahead at any time. Nice to see a young man like yourself showing an interest in older school gadgets. You have a pleasant demeanour about you and I have subscribed to you today. Looking forward to future videos from you. Nice Bugatti by the way. Is that an 80s model? Look after that one mate she looks like a classic 😊…
Thank you for taking the time to write, I appreciate the support!
Didnt apple take drm off their music at least a decade ago?
You’re right! The iTunes Store no longer uses DRM copyright protection for songs and albums purchased after 2009.
The key is purchased. If I remember correctly If you subscribe to Apple Music you can add songs to the iPod that you haven't purchased and play them as long as your subscription is active when you add them. If your subscription ends and you sync, they'll be gone.
I’ve never modded any electronics before and want to get in to it. Do u download direct to SD and then plug the SD into the iPod or do I use the charging cable to plug into my computer and it downloads to the SD?
To transfer songs onto the iPod, simply plug it into your computer and open iTunes. Drag your music into iTines and sync them to your iPod from there. Hope this helps.
I seek freedom to music as i work jobs that involve going to bumfug nowhere, and using griphoists to move logs where i want them.
This video brought me valuable knowledge.
@@DunnageGoblin Thanks for the comment! I’m glad the video was helpful!
First of all, great video. now, what I wanted to know when reaching the part of earphones is which earphones would work to play/pause and go forward/backward on the playslist with just the cable, I know for a fact that my AKG (that came with my samsing phone) can't do this and second, I'm happy that you say the fact that an iPod it's not mean to losless files and I'm ok with that, but what other devices are right now that would be as good as an iPod? I found the Innioasis MP3 player on Amazon, but it won't handle videos, Yeah I wopuld like to watch some videos on my Media Device.
@@CMarco Thanks for the comment!
Only the following iPods are compatible with audio cables that has an inline remote:
iPod classic: 2009 (120GB and 160GB)
iPod nano: 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th generations
As for media players with video playback functionality. You can find a lot of audio players that uses android as their operating system, which means you can watch TH-cam, browse the internet, import your own videos, etc.
i keep hearing that those flash boards create issues in the long term , is this true ?
@@squiddymute These iFlash boards are extremely reliable if you install them correctly and use the right brand and capacity of SD cards.
The only iPod I had was a classic 5Th gen, I had a 16gb CF cart in it, replacing its HDD, it was enough for me.
Realistically I can't really hear a difference between VBR 0 MP3 and FLAC, or its so little that it doesnt bother me anyways, audio gear causes the highest difference, 128kbps mp3 on my IEMs with a good output are better than FLAC on bad headphones, thats why I decided to just take the more efficient format
I was silly enough to sell the iPod to a friend, welp, happens, now wanting to get a media player again I am not sure if I'd settle for an iPod now just because I am low on money, I don't earn money yet but I will move out this year and also start to earn money, so, I could get one again if I want to.
This exact week I bought 2 old Sandisk Sansa e200 series players which cost me less than 15€, I had one before I had an iPod and I liked it, it had rockbox, sadly also an outdated connector but I could just shove in a microSD and play music off it with rockbox.
One of them was sold as untested as its cable is missing and one was sold with "issues to delete and add music" and occasional headphone issues which I am sure I can resolve and make at least one good working one of.
I checked out the KPH 40, sadly they're 70 bucks here, not 40, probably because I am in germany and stuff loves to be more expensive here compared to neighboring countries 🤷♂
I currently use Truthear x Crinacle Red IEMs, they sound great but they require some power to be driven at louder volumes which especially older devices struggle with, which is especially noticeable on genres like metal, which I love a lot, even the iPod already reached its limits there, if too quiet, it just doesnt let me dive into music the way I want to.
I dont wanna use my phone for music for mainly 3 reasons, my only phone to reliably power them is too big and in a bad condition, the third reason being distraction.
I also agree that shelling out high amounts for the most expensive stuff is pointless as it's a gamble and stuff with a quarter of the price often has 90+ % of the quality of the more expensive stuff.
I used to have Moondrop Chu IEMs in the past, for 20 bucks it was one of the best investments, just that the filters sadly died, making them useless unless I use the weirdest equalizer curve imaginable.
sorry for all the rambling here by the way
Rockbox can absolutely read the music that is synched through itunes but the stock os can't read the music that got transferred through file explorer
Dude, great video! Excellent step-by-step analysis for troubleshooting. I can relate because I have everything in FLAC and was looking for a portable music device. I noticed some people are using the iPod Classic again, but I'm not sure if it's the right choice in terms of sound quality, the chip it uses, coding, etc., or if there's a better device that doesn't cost $10,000 for an integrated DAC. I tried looking for a Zune, but they don't sell them where I live. ps: liked and subscribed.
Thanks for the support! If you’re looking for a capable DAP that sounds great and is reasonably priced, check out the Aune M1P, great little nugget! Here’s a review from Zeos:m.th-cam.com/video/7phQ51QA8Cc/w-d-xo.html
Good catch! 👍
i'd so look into it but i'M not doing itunes and that junk.
give me cfw with easy sd transfer
It’s possible to sync with lots of third party softwares on both Mac and Windows. Alternatively, Rockbox supports drag and drop transfer straight onto the sd card.
18:19 Indeed sound is subjective and an iPod is not exactly the way to listen to hi-res files so I'm 100% with you in this one.
HOWEVER I would not underestimate the importance of a good pair of headphones/earbuds. Yeah, sure. High-end heaphones or IEMs will mostly be underexploited if used with an iPod. But try good "normal" audio gear because even with an common music player you will notice diferences in how you taste your music.
iTunes music hasn't had DRM in years. M4A files are not DRM protected only M4P
If iTunes is no longer available by Apple, how does one put music on an iPod then?
@@BIGWojo68 iTunes is still available to download and use on Windows machines.
It was replaced by the Music app on MacOS.
You are able to sync music to your iPod on both platforms.
There are also third party apps that offer similar functions and experiences.
iTunes Store is also still available in the App Store for iOS/iPadOS.
@Whytedebil I don't have an IOS device to download iTunes, just Windows. On Windows, you can, but only podcasts are available to purchase, and it doesn't show your music library or ipod when you connect it to your computer.
@@BIGWojo68 then maybe you’re either not signed into your Apple account in iTunes (no library) for windows or you haven’t authorized said windows machine (grayed out library). It should definitely be showing your library.
@Whytedebil
I wish I could show you a picture of what I'm seeing on my PC. Everything shows up as it should on my mom's old, slow laptop, but not on my PC. (Both running Win 11) It did at first but after opening up a second time just the podcast store shows up.
Yeah I have some koss kph30i headphones that are great. Don't use em enough cause sweat n stuff.
I’ve got an original iPod shuffle 1Gb looks kinda like a flash drive. Only iPod I know of that will run from a lanyard holding 2 AAA batteries, add an AirFly transmitter to the 3.5mm socket and use AirPods Pro wirelessly 😃👍.
Apple doesn't have drm protection on music
21:42 I get the idea that you don't know how much the dead toured. Your iPod wouldn't come close to holding most of their live stuff even if your iPod was 4TB :p
30 straight years of touring made for a lot of audio. + they had a contract that allowed for unlimited studio time, so they have a lot of studio tracks that didn't ever make it into albums
@@NebulaHatesWatchdog Haha! You are absolutely right! I recently just started exploring the enormous collection of live albums, as well as the studio sessions and bootleg shows. They’re awesome!
i run mine using mainly ALAC-M4A Files at 16-bit 24-bit currently have 1.17TB and currently at just over 40k song 815GB 7th geen can run and digital out lossless iam using TRN conch IEMS OR TRN zero reds crincal IEMS they work great with my 7th gen classic, but even my hd6xx and hd58x jubilee work fine on my iPod TOO.
Iam Also using a Pure i20 dock into my AVR for home music it ouptups digitally from 7th gen lossless or bose sounddock portable for around the home which is loud with lots of boom
so prefer my pure i20
For the record if this the 5th /5.5 Generation it wasn’t called iPod classic it was called the iPod video the naming for the “classic” was for the 6/7 generation
Thanks for the comment! You’re absolutely correct about the designations. Will definitely be more specific in the future!
@@iamalexsun just making sure people are aware the difference between each iPods and the naming of each of them. I think the naming of them started with the iPod 4th which I believe was the iPod photo then the 5th iPod video then the 6th was named classic I only. Also the iPod mini are good to get modded which I sell them on my eBay page
I remember my friend showing me his porno collection in highschool on his 5 lol
This video is very good 💯
Thank you for the support!
I stopped using iFlash Quads because it was unreliable. I started using mSATA boards because it was cheaper and was less problematic. I highly recommend those. I used to get 2TB cards for $109 for the whole board for the iPod.
I LOVE YOUR BIKE.
dealing with itunes, importing music etc in 2024 on a windows machine is nightmare fuel to me.
edit: I bought a LG V20 and put revanced on it for $40 all in. superb sound and adding music is a breeze.
Good video, with good advice. 20000 songs is 49 days of continous music playing…killed my airpods skiing a snowy day, they can’t take water.
I have a question. After modding my iPod 5, it works perfectly before snapping everything into place, but once I snap it into the back housing, the click wheel stops working. It works again once I’ve taken the back casing off
Could be a pressure point somewhere pressing on it, or the click wheel cable being pinched. Check the chick wheel connector and make sure it isn’t being pinched when closed. Hope this helps!
Incredible video, even if i had to look up every acronym you said...Wish more people could communicate their ideas as well as you do
Thank you for the support!
I decided to go with a 7th gen so I can have around 500gb of storage, I’ve been watching videos surrounding this community for years, and I’m just finally wanting to hop in.
I’m also learning how to solder so that I can try a Taptic mod!
Paid $80 for the 160gb late 2009 model off of eBay, and with the housing, battery, sd cards and stuff, I think my project will still come out being sub $160 ish
When I’m finished with this one, I’ll probably try to look for a couple of 5th gens. I know I’m gonna have fun working on these, and maybe I can give those as gifts
(Also I really want to know the difference for myself between Wolfson and Cirrus)
Thanks for sharing! You’ve definitely done much more research before going into it haha! Excited to see how yours turn out!
@@iamalexsun I’m so pumped! I’m trying not to let myself get distracted from all the end of semester craziness, so I’m probably gonna put it off until April or May, but research is my method of coping with the wait, I suppose 😂
Just got a 5th gen from my brother in law. Cant wait to mod mine.
@@troymd2009 Congrats! Excited for you!
What the hell yre you doing not puting Rockbox on it?!
The 7th gen is the best to modify because it has the maximum amount of ram. Dankpods shows why it is and shuffle works the best for those who love using that feature. 512GB is the sweet spot for it but it will go to a terabyte. This is what I did with mine but I also don’t use modified audio. The majority of all my music is iTunes purchased and imported from disc using Losless. So it works for me being somewhat of an audiophile but not too anal of one. As long as it sounds clear and not muffled, or not low quality I can be easily satisfied.
"phones are more efficient" mfs that don't pay for their service