mp3 players/ mass storage devices

[dashDustin]

Recently my 10yr old iPod Classic died on me. It was 1 of 2 iPods I have ever purchased, and the only full size. I was bummed, but curiously excited about the potential to pick up a black 160gb.

SURPRISE! Apple discontinued the Classic, and only offers the Touch...128gb for $400 or 64 or $300.

Hmmm...I want more than 64, so everything is on one device, but wasn't expecting to have to shell out $400.

Is my only other option a flash drive for something that will spend 99% of its life in my truck?

Apple went so far as to remove "iPod" from its header. Didn't realize they were at that point.

[edoz]

Check this article out. I am going to try this one one of my old iPods.
Turbocharge your iPod Classic - revive your old iPod with an SSD | Alphr

[alexstar]

I read this the other day and it seems like the best option. Basically retrofitting an iPod to take an SD card or other solid-state storage unit. I think the iPod Classic is still relevant. Wish I had bought a couple before they were discontinued.

Music Geeks Are Retrofitting Old iPods to Keep the Perfect MP3 Player Alive | Motherboard

edit: Edoz and I are on the same page, clearly.

[edoz]

I priced the stuff, and a 128gb mSATA drive can be had for $60 if you shop around, and the adapter board is around $45.
Buy a few tools to open the case up without destroying it, and you're set.

[sk_tle]

These solutions are nice if you are still using an old nokia phone. If the point was to keep my whole music collection with me anytime I'd just throw a 128GB microsdhc card on my smartphone. Those ipod classic were nice for their time but quite buky without adding much value nowadays.

[EricKeller]

yeah, I wouldn't want to carry it with me, but for the shop or the car it would work fine. This is just what I need, another project

[edoz]

I've never wanted to cross contaminate my music player and phone. There's also the option of packing a larger drive into an iPod Classic, up to a terabyte, I believe. The software limit in the iPod is 128gb, but Rockbox can be installed to remove the ceiling. I think that is my plan, I am curious to see if the head unit in my van will work with Rockbox like it does iTunes.

[TMB]

Sales of the Classic had reached a point that they were losing money making them.

The Touches sell well, basically an iPhone without the cell wiring. All iPods are now under the Music tab, which sort of makes sense. I guess.

[TMB]

Reading this again. I wonder if I could do this with my original iPod Mini which was a click wheel and a 4GB hard drive??

For iPod Classics - check your local pawn shops. Lots of them around. Only thing that ever kept me from buying one of them in a pawn shop was not knowing what state the hard drive would be in, to replace it with a flash drive though?? Yup.

[davids]

How do you use your iPod?

If you have a smart phone, you should be able to load lots of music onto it for portable listening.

If you will be listening at home or in your office, there may be better solutions. Tidal thru an old smart phone is quickly replacing my iPod as a headphone source while I'm exercising; Tidal, Amazon Prime or iTunes through the Sonos provides music in the house; Tidal through some cheap PC speakers provides music in the office ("New Lace Sleeves" at this very moment.)

I'm not limited by the physical storage the device for any of these solutions.

[dashDustin]

I would like one place to keep all my digital music that isn't cloud based. Ideally it'd be stored on something that I could listen to and transport. iPod classic handled all of that. I was reading the articles above and all seemed well, until I got to:

A PC: If you are a Mac-only person, then you’ll struggle to complete this job, because one of the vital steps is to format your SSD as a FAT32 device.

Might be more research than I want to do...we'll see what Google says.

[randonneur]

A PC: If you are a Mac-only person, then you’ll struggle to complete this job, because one of the vital steps is to format your SSD as a FAT32 device.

Find a friend who's a tiny little bit computer-literate and has a pc and ask them to do it. It's a trivial task that takes all of about 30s.

[dashDustin]

Find a friend who's a tiny little bit computer-literate and has a pc and ask them to do it. It's a trivial task that takes all of about 30s.

i don't know computers, so maybe this is a stupid question, but if it's formatted on a windows machine, music will have to be uploaded via a windows machine, too, won't it?

[EricKeller]

no, macs know how to read fat32, they just refuse to format in fat32. Or at least you have to jump through hoops. Almost all usb flash drives are fat32. You can also use a linux machine to format the ipod

Reading this again. I wonder if I could do this with my original iPod Mini which was a click wheel and a 4GB hard drive??

I'm not sure what interface those hard drives were. I suspect that you can get a board to do the job though

[j44ke]

If your music is not predominantly DRM copy controlled files (like some of those bought from Apple iTunes Store) then you might look at something like the FIIO players. My nephew has the $99 one and it actually sounds really good. I'd get them through B&H as Amazon apparently has had some problems with counterfeits. They are pretty popular with the kids I guess.

iPods & Media Players | B&H Photo Video

[TMB]

If your music is not predominantly DRM copy controlled files (like some of those bought from Apple iTunes Store) then you might look at something like the FIIO players. My nephew has the $99 one and it actually sounds really good. I'd get them through B&H as Amazon apparently has had some problems with counterfeits. They are pretty popular with the kids I guess.

iPods & Media Players | B&H Photo Video

Fiio are nice products. I have a couple of the headphone amps and am very happy with them. Only thing with the music players is that the newer models require Android, the older models are standalone devices. They are very nice though.

[EricKeller]

I just looked at ipod repair on ebay, couldn't find a lot of alternative storage upgrades

Reading this again. I wonder if I could do this with my original iPod Mini which was a click wheel and a 4GB hard drive?

apparently it's compact flash in there, just have to get a bigger flash

[j44ke]

I just looked at ipod repair on ebay, couldn't find a lot of alternative storage upgrades


apparently it's compact flash in there, just have to get a bigger flash

I think the Nano internals are all board connected? So would that mean upgrading the flash would require soldering etc. not just spunging a micro-connector apart? The system is in a separate chip, so switching a drive might be easier than if the flash did both. A Nano to 128gb (if possible) might be pretty nifty, especially if used in a car. You could stick it anywhere.

[j44ke]

Fiio are nice products. I have a couple of the headphone amps and am very happy with them. Only thing with the music players is that the newer models require Android, the older models are standalone devices. They are very nice though.

Yes, I've looked at their headphone amps. There is one that will strap onto an iPhone 5s that looks cool.

OT but speaking of headphone amps, I've been looking at the Schiit Magni 2 Uber as a way to create a mini-system with a super range bluetooth input + some nice sounding Bose amplified speakers that I think could use a bit more push to sound great. My wife is against having a visible stereo anywhere in the living/dining room area, and so far the bluetooth input + Bose speakers sound very good and take nearly no space. Not high fidelity but enough. Any experience?

[TMB]

I just looked at ipod repair on ebay, couldn't find a lot of alternative storage upgrades


apparently it's compact flash in there, just have to get a bigger flash

The second generation Mini was compact flash. The first gen was a teeny tiny hard drive with a massive 4GB capacity. They upgraded to 6GB mid run then went to the compact flash after that. I have the first gen, out of the first run. I happened to be in San Diego the day they were released into the wild and went to the Apple Store in La Jolla who had 2 units that had not been spoken for. I grabbed one and felt guilty for a week about spending the money.

Nice little unit, great size to throw in your pocket when travelling. I replaced the battery last year so it now lasts more than 25 minutes.

I think the Nano internals are all board connected? So would that mean upgrading the flash would require soldering etc. not just spunging a micro-connector apart? The system is in a separate chip, so switching a drive might be easier than if the flash did both. A Nano to 128gb (if possible) might be pretty nifty, especially if used in a car. You could stick it anywhere.

The current Nano is almost perfect for so many reasons. The size is ideal. It is just an iPod so doesn't have WiFi and all the other stuff. If only I could get it in more than 16 GB. You are right, if you could upgrade that puppy to 128 GB I'd buy 4 of them and do it all of them.

Yes, I've looked at their headphone amps. There is one that will strap onto an iPhone 5s that looks cool.

OT but speaking of headphone amps, I've been looking at the Schiit Magni 2 Uber as a way to create a mini-system with a super range bluetooth input + some nice sounding Bose amplified speakers that I think could use a bit more push to sound great. My wife is against having a visible stereo anywhere in the living/dining room area, and so far the bluetooth input + Bose speakers sound very good and take nearly no space. Not high fidelity but enough. Any experience?

None at all. We are now "sort of empty nesters" and just finished a reno of the kitchen and family room. Finally got rid of the old component system that no one ever used any more. At the moment it is either my iPod and Fiio amp (currently using E12A) with my RHA t20i iem's or the burgeoning Sonos system.

We are not audiophiles but really like to have music playing so starting to look at and explore some of these choices. I am not a big fan of Bose but I am sure there are lost sou choices that work.

I will now start paying attention here to see what gets suggested that I could work with ......