iPod Classic 5

[Gigantic]

while doing some spring cleaning, I came across my GF's iPod Classic 5 30gB, which she has't used in a decade & a half. To my surprise, it powered up, so I charged and loaded it up with files and plugged in my nos KLH Ultimate One cans. I had the original, thumb drive iPod shuffle back in the early oughts, but the ear buds that came with it were less than impressive and I wasn't compelled to trade up to a better model. I was not prepared for how good its Wolfson DAC and amp circuit actually is with decent cans- what a revelation! The only limitations are battery life, which is to be expected, given this device is close to 20 years old and it would be great if I could fit all 500gB of files I have, on it.

I understand that there are mods available to replace the battery with larger mAh capacity and add up to 2 terabytes of storage; have any AKer's done this? Sources on Reddit claim that this is not difficult to DIY, which the biggest challenge being getting the case open. There are also companies who will do it for you. I'm curious about the reliability of these mods & it would be great to have a DAP with extended battery life for going completely offline.

 

[swechsler]

FWIW, I bought one of those kits a long time ago, and I'm usually good with this sort of thing, but the tiny finicky connectors gave me a headache and I finally gave up. I'd look for some Youtube videos from someone that's done it before committing.

 

[shrinkboy]

getting the case open almost busted my thumbs and all but ruined the case on my 2009 169gb Classic. I never got it open, btw, I sent it to a gent here on AK, Gary Klainer, and he did the re-casing and other mods for a nominal fee.

 

[HB3]

A guitar pick will help to open the case. I've changed a few batteries and attempted to switch the hard drive over to an SSD card. That failed miserably. I found that it was better to buy an iPod that had these things done already. The vendor gave me credit for my old iPod. Ebay is a good place to look for this.

 

[gridleakrick]

I prefere the 4th generation color display ipods for doing mods to. They are MUCH easier to open than later ones and take mods like SSDs and larger batteries quite well. My current go to ipod has a 256GB SD card which holds a LOT of songs and battery life is much improved plus song access is quicker.
Rick

 

[gadget73]

I did a battery in mine a bunch of years ago. Wasn't overly difficult, I bought a kit that came with the battery and the thin metal tool to get the case popped open. Once inside it was just 2 wires soldered to a board and some double sided tape. Mine still runs its original 160gB drive, though I haven't really made much use of it in a good while.

 

[taskerc]

I've done two - a new controller board for the SSDs and batteries each time - takes some patience but when done they are AWESOME - better battery life, way lighter, certainly more drop proof and the Wolfson DAC is just so very good. I have one at 256gb and one at 500gb - they will probably get buried when I do .....

 

[ASPEC]

I have been running a 500gb ssd upgraded classic in my truck for the last 3 years and no complaints.

 

[Frankie's Market]

I switched out my battery and upgraded the memory to 256 gb.
That said, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos, ordered the battery, various parts and tools ( I think) from Elelete Obsolete Electronics and was successful in moding to Gen 5 ipods.
I suggest getting the thin metal spatula for opening the case and a pair of leather gloves to avoid stabbing yourself.
I would suggest doing a search for maximum practical memory , I think some users have had problems with huge memory storage.

 

[hpm40]

As mentioned previously, a gentleman named gklainer sells modded iPod Classics on this forum from time to time. I snagged one a while back which was modded with Rockbox system and still contained the Apple system, and also included a new and larger mAh battery. Gary also supports what he sells. I would highly recommend contacting him if you are in the market.

 

[WillVT]

I have one of those. It sat in a drawer for the past decade or so. But I recently got a used Volvo that has iPod controls, so now it sits in there full time, and any time I want to listen to all the music I collected over 10 years ago, I have access and control through the car's system.

 

[Apreggiator]

Some of those older gen devices do sound great!

Regarding maintenance and modification on smartphones and media players: Not everyone is good at this finicky kind of work.
If you're not sure, find someone with experience without a doubt.
If you're good with finicky work though, look through an online disassembly video of this device, then you'll know if this is for you. (..or not)

P.s. There are indeed also memory mods! (Search for iFlash mod) I'd do that for sure if you open up the thing anyway.

 

[AngryWelder]

I have done this mod. It is pretty easy to do if you have the right tools. Ifixit has a pretty good breakdown DIY series on opening up and working on the 5th gen Ipods. My advice is to buy 4 or 5 of the metal tools that you use to open the thing up. With that many stuffed around the Ipod its pretty easy to open up and do the work on. I would not add Tb SD cards to thing. It's actually very surprising how much data the Ipod will compress into a 256gb SD card. I don't know what magic the Ipod does but I have way more than 256gb of data stuffed on that SD card so a little goes a very long way.

 

[RosDav]

while doing some spring cleaning, I came across my GF's iPod Classic 5 30gB, which she has't used in a decade & a half. To my surprise, it powered up, so I charged and loaded it up with files and plugged in my nos KLH Ultimate One cans. I had the original, thumb drive iPod shuffle back in the early oughts, but the ear buds that came with it were less than impressive and I wasn't compelled to trade up to a better model. I was not prepared for how good its Wolfson DAC and amp circuit actually is with decent cans- what a revelation! The only limitations are battery life, which is to be expected, given this device is close to 20 years old and it would be great if I could fit all 500gB of files I have, on it.

I understand that there are mods available to replace the battery with larger mAh capacity and add up to 2 terabytes of storage; have any AKer's done this? Sources on Reddit claim that this is not difficult to DIY, which the biggest challenge being getting the case open. There are also companies who will do it for you. I'm curious about the reliability of these mods & it would be great to have a DAP with extended battery life for going completely offline.

I've done the same sort of upgrade on an older iPod Classic, and the storage side is generally the easy part once you have the case open. The usual approach is replacing the hard drive with a flash adapter such as iFlash and then using a larger battery while everything is apart.

The big thing I'd watch is the battery rather than the storage. A genuine, good-quality replacement is worth paying for; some of the very cheap “high-capacity” batteries aren't actually close to their advertised capacity and can cause problems as they age. I'd also check that the particular iFlash/storage combination is supported by the 5th-gen firmware before buying everything.

And yes, opening the Classic is the part that can turn a simple upgrade into an expensive one. The case clips are extremely tight, so patience and the correct thin tools matter. If you're comfortable working on small electronics, it's a reasonable DIY project, but I'd definitely back up anything important first. For a 500 GB offline library, a flash conversion makes much more sense than trying to keep the original hard drive alive.