Alternative to ipod classic?

They did indeed. The Sandisk 200gb card was a Gold Box special on Amazon for $58 a few days ago.

 

I'd recommend the Fiio X1 and a 200gb microsd card. Those both will cost you less than a new iPod. If you're on Windows, sync files to the card with Windows Media Player.

Either that, or I would mod your existing iPod with a TF card reader rather than just getting a bigger HDD. Odds are larger microsd cards will come out and you'll just end up putting another HDD in it. Plus for traveling, microsd cards are way better as HDDs are harmed by bouncing around in a car or being dropped.

And when you have it opened up is a good time to swap in a better battery.

Replaced dead iPod Classic SSHD with SD Card Reader • /r/DIY »


You can also get a good price on a 256GB SDXC card right now and I'm sure the 512GB ones will come down in price sometime too.

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extre..._UL160_SR130,160_&refRID=1G7EDPF0RGAT56TM2A7V

 

Looks like iPhone 7 is going to be offered with a 256GB option but dayum! $849?!?

I'd love to be able to have a single phone/media player but for now, I think I'd rather spend the $100 or so for the iFlash adapter & 256GB card to upgrade my Classic.

 

Yeah, I'm going to have to say "pass" to that one. For that price, you could refit 3-4 5th Gen iPods to run 256gb flash memory AND upgrade to high capacity batteries on each of them.

 

I recently paid $36 for a 5th gen (Wolfson dac) ipod from an ebay seller who had "refurbed" it with a new battery, 30 gb hard drive, and new face. I bought the ipod with the intention to mod it by installing an sd card adapter and a 256gb sdxc card. This project cost me $150 all in. Installing the parts was a fairly straightforward process. I loaded up approximately 200gb of AIFFs on the unit and it has worked flawlessly so far. I normally play on shuffle.

Next up is a 7th gen ipod which is getting a dual sd card adapter with two 256gb sdxc cards. My intent with the ipod 7 is to sync my entire library of AIFFs and use the digital signal out into my dac as a source. This will alleviate using the computer as a source.

 

I recently picked up an 80gb classic to use in my car, however it freezes up every few days. No idea why.

 

That's a really nice price for a 5th Gen. Most of my pricing hovers around $50.

I had one floating around with a dead hard drive and put in a cheapie compact flash adapter I found on Amazon. Of course, for the real fun, then I had to get an SD to compact flash adapter and plug a microSD card into an SD adapter, so it's a bit of a Russian doll. My only gripe with the setup is that it'll periodically start to play a track, get a few seconds in and skip to the next. Going back plays the "skipped" track properly, but it's a bit of a nuisance.

My intention is to try to pick up one of those dual SD card iFlash adapters and throw another 128gb card into this thing, upgrade the battery and see if the new adapter performs better.

If it works a treat, I'd like to replace one of my 160gb iPods with another 256gb Frankenpod.

 

That could be a bad logic board, but my guess is that the hard drive is failing.

 

Oh noes. Is it a simple swap?

 

I'm not sure how easy it is to source a new drive for these. Personally, I'd shell out for an iFlash adapter and a 128gb microSD card. The combined cost is around $80 and I doubt you'll do much better picking up another hard drive.

The worst part of doing the swap is opening the device up without destroying the casing (my answer for this is to buy replacement casing up front so it doesn't matter how badly I butcher it going in).

 

There
seems to be dozens of HDs on eBay for my iPod. I'd rather not turn it into Frankenstein with mods.

 

Check this site out: iFlash.xyz – Welcome to the home of the iFlash Adapter »

Plenty of options and plenty of informative videos. One of the sections which helped me was this one: Prepare SDXC (ExFat) for use with the iPod – iFlash.xyz »

If batteries are needed I plan on ordering from this site: NewerTech 580mAh NuPower Battery For Apple iPod 5th - 7th Generation »

 

I can understand that feeling. What tipped the scales for me was having a Pod laying around that was already non-functional. I had nothing to lose by trying it.

At this point, the fact that I don't have to worry about vibration messing up the drive or a mechanical failure adds some peace of mind to the proceedings.

Your mileage may vary though. Can anyone else comment on the general reliability of the drives you see for iPods on eBay? NOS or are they still being manufactured?

 

There's always a 2-3 second delay when switching tracks via my car radio when using my iPod. When the iPod is unplugged it works as fast as it should.
Do you think it will work faster with the radio if I use the SD cards instead? I notice the sites say the iPod will perform faster with the SD card.

 

The hardest part about a hard drive replacement is just prying the damn thing open without doing any permanent damage to the case or snaps. Once it's opened, it's a pretty straightforward swap out (either HDD or Flash adapter). There are several videos and images posted online to help guide the actual replacement. Even if you're not having power issues, I recommend doing a battery replacement while the patient is open.

My classic was originally purchased used/refurbed from the 'bay, and after about a year, it started losing album artwork and periodically crashing. I replaced the hard drive and that resolved the issues. I've had it for 6-years. Now it's running a 240GB HDD. If/when that goes, I'll be moving on to the flash adapter/SD card.

 

Yeah, after some reading, the SD seems to be the way to go. It's cheaper too.

The only time I use my iPod is in my car, and the radio keeps it charged so I doubt I'll swap the battery.

 

I can't speak to improved performance since the iPod I installed the kit into was dead as a doornail when I got it. I also load my iPods down with ALAC files, so there's some additional processing involved.

The iPods I was using more regularly were both 7th Gen models, which I believe run more quickly than the 5th gen due to a RAM increase. I will say that the 5th Gen "Frankenpod" easily matches them for performance, differences in the user interface aside.

 

I should add I'll be opening up the patient again. My headphone jack is crapping out so I just ordered a replacement. In addition to the car use, I still listen to it via headphones at work and doing the yard work.

 

I HATE when that happens! Easy replacement, but it's hell to keep track of those miniscule screws holding the assembly in place. The things have to be all of three human hairs wide.

 

This will be my first headphone jack replacement. Really looking forward to it!

 

Just don't lose the screws and you'll be fine. I've done a few transplants without losing them myself and if my meat fingers can make it work, anybody can pull it off!

 

I have several of the Ixpand drives from Sandisk. While they do allow you to store and play music and movies, they are power hogs. They work with all of out lightning connector devices, and my family loves them to play movies when we are on trips. The older versions have a rechargeable battery built into them, but I am not so sure as to how effective they are. I have stored high res files on them, and they do play through the Ixpand app, but the iPhone dac is limited to 24/48. They also have a USB drive that connects to Idevices through wifi, and it is 200gb, not sure how well they work or if you could stream high res and use an external dac (think audioquest dragonfly or cyberdrive clarity feather amp/dac).

 

Are you playing lossless or lossy files? My old player kept freezing up when I played ALAC or WAV files. I remember at the time, I did some research and couldn't find a solid solution, but there were quiet a few comments about the ipod having a cache issue with the lossless files. In the end I took it an Apple store, still under warranty, got a new one and the same thing happened. lol

 

Anybody happen to have an extra couple of the iPod classic mini-screws and/or a thick rear panel cover? The headphone jack replacement isn't going so well.

 

Don't take my like wrong. Definitely funniest use of emoticons on the forum that I've seen.
Got me laughing out loud.