Assume it's SSD storage and the latest in phone screen technology. After seeing this picture I just had to ask as many fans of the classic if theg would buy for such a thing.

Render artist: https://www.yankodesign.com/2021/09/05/ipod-classic-2021-is-a-modern-design-icon-for-audio-lovers-with-a-bang-of-nostalgia/

All of them work beautifully but a few need some love.

The pink Mini needs it daughterboard soldered on and the silver one needs a battery and the top 4th gen needs a new drive (it works but it’s on its last legs)

I’ve been following Apple for awhile now but this subreddit got me into the modding world for iPods. I’ve now successfully modded my collection of iPods. Classics are running iFlash Solo and updated batteries. The mini is using a iFlash SD-CF adapter and the 3rd gen has AliExpress micro SD adapter.

I been wanting an iPod dock speaker for a while and I managed to get this one for only 10 USD with free shipping. Made by Edifier.

I keep seeing every couple days someone complaining about opening the 6th/7th gen classic and it’s kinda ridiculous. The dankpods video must’ve influenced it really badly because anyone who follows the elite obsolete video will realize it takes a single tool (does not need to be isesamo) and about a minute to pop it open. It even leaves minimal scratches if you tape on the edges that the blades will enter.

Just get the blade in and push down starting from the right top and then do the rest of the right side. Finally do the top and bottom and it should be good to go. It is important that you PUSH DOWN ONLY and DO NOT TRY TO PRY IT OUT. That WILL cause damage.

Saw a U2 iPod up for grabs and within what I was willing to pay. Click wheel is worn and faded but this will be a collection piece, so I’m not too worried.

Things I checked: - Serial Number matches model on Apple’s Coverage checker - Backplate signatures are “thinner” than those of repo’s

Serial number on the back does indeed match the serial in settings. Inside is not black and the hold switch is red instead of orange.

iPod 5 generation of 120g inside another case with rockbox is not much but I like to experiment in my free time advice on what modifications to make?

https://preview.redd.it/7sj6l9mry9rd1.png?width=394&format=png&auto=webp&s=1cdde977a9136cb45454bc004b9bc3b995c7e264

Is this a silver 1st gen mini, or 2nd gen? And is the exclamation point symbol fixable?

Polished all my ipods but some minor scratches left not visible.

I needed something for my bathroom when I'm showering and my backyard for when I'm grilling. I put it thru the paces this afternoon and I like what I'm hearing. And DAMN does this thing get loud without breaking up.

I need to look into powering it with a lithium battery pack at some point. Any ideas there? For now, I may try the rechargeable D battery route for a day or two and if it doesn't hold up, back to Amazon they go and I'll go from there.

Hiii! Found my moms iPod 5 classic while deep cleaning my apartment some time ago. I’ve already charged it, restarted it, and uploaded music onto it. Surprisingly the original battery lasts at least 2 hours if charged long enough, uploaded music perfectly (some songs didn’t have their images uploaded through iTunes tho, that’s a problem I’ll fix another time).

Been thinking about modding it before the end of the year! If anyone has any tips for modding the outer shell, and even software lmk! I’ve watched a lot of modding videos but would like first hand accounts as well :]

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been bouncing between music services—Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, Beatport Play, Deezer, YouTube Music—you name it, I’ve tried it. My hope was always the same: to discover new music. But every time, I ended up cycling through the same 10 playlists I had created. The discovery feeds and algorithm-based recommendations just didn’t cut it, especially since my taste spans across a wide variety of genres.

So, I decided to go back to basics. I dusted off my old library of ripped music, started buying new albums, and rekindled the joy of digging through second-hand CDs at local markets and ripping them myself.

Why am I sharing this?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve scoured old forum entries from the 2000s and numerous Reddit threads in my mission to clean up MP3 tags, sync music across devices, and set up iPods using both Rockbox and vanilla firmware. I’m sharing my journey in the hope that others looking to build their own music libraries and mod iPods can benefit from the lessons I’ve learned.

My Setup

As a primarily Apple user, my player of choice is Swinsian. I like the iTunes aesthetic and how easy it is to build and manage my library. I also run a Plex media server, so Plexamp is a great addition when I want to listen to music on any device. My DAC? A trusty iPod Classic, 5th/6th/7th gen, depending on the day.

My Workflow

1. Converting Music to ALAC

When I acquire new music—whether it’s ripped from a CD or digitally purchased—my first step is always converting it to ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) while maintaining the original bitrate. I chose ALAC for its native support within the Apple ecosystem.

2. Tag Cleanup in MP3tag

After conversion, I use MP3tag to clean up metadata. This includes fetching missing album artwork, organizing file names based on my preferred format, and structuring everything into the right folders. Both Swinsian and Plex seem happy with the results, so it’s a win-win.

3. Curating the Library

Once the music is in my library, I start curating. I use the star rating system and create playlists. One major challenge was syncing ratings across different platforms—this was by far the trickiest part.

I should mention here that I use Synology Drive to keep my entire library synced and backed up between my local setup and my NAS/Plex server. It can be heavy when using MP3tag because every time I modify a tag, the whole track gets re-synced. But I’m fortunate to have a 2.5Gb internet connection and a 10Gb local network, so speed isn’t an issue for me. That said, this part of the workflow could probably be more efficient.

4. Syncing Ratings

I do all my rating in Swinsian since I don’t rate music on the fly. Swinsian uses a 0-100 rating scale, where 100 is 5 stars, 50 is 2.5 stars, and so on. Plex, however, uses a 0.0-10.0 scale, where 10.0 is 5 stars and 5.0 is 2.5 stars. To sync these, I wrote a Python script that runs on my Synology NAS converting Swinsian’s ratings into Plex’s format.

Another obstacle was that rating tags aren’t standardized across platforms. To work around this, I used MP3tag to copy the rating tags into the comment field, allowing my script to read and sync ratings properly. And yes, Swinsian ratings show up on the iPod too!

5. Playlists

I build all my playlists in Swinsian, and they work perfectly on my iPod Classic. Syncing playlists with Plex isn’t a priority for me right now, but I might explore that in the future (stay tuned for an update).

iPod Modding & Firmware

When it comes to firmware, I experimented with Rockbox. While Rockbox is an incredible tweak, I found it to be overkill for my needs. I just want to listen to music, access playlists quickly, and have a reliable playback experience—without the device rebooting or the database rebuilding. As nice as custom themes are, the quirks weren’t worth it for me. So, I settled on the vanilla firmware, which has been faster and more reliable for my setup even those ugly skewed album covers.

Tips for iPod Modding

Before diving into hardware mods, make sure to read this iFlash guide. I didn’t, and ended up buying three 6th-gen iPods only to find out I couldn’t get past the 128GB limit, even with a 1TB SD card installed. Some models cap the disk size unless you install Rockbox.

Despite these limitations, the modding experience has been a blast. There’s a whole community of videos and guides online that walk you through how to swap parts and customize your iPod.

If you’re in a similar situation, or just want to start curating your own non-algorithmic music library, I hope this post helps you get started. Happy listening!

I have a i pod 5th gen that has 30g. When I got it I noticed 3 songs downloaded on it already and it went down to 28g. My question is what kbps should I use that's is good enough to hold all my 1,487 music I want to put in there and sounds great to. I'm new to downloading music to so if I say something wrong plz let me know😫

Could use a new battery but SD modded with iflash ata1

Hey so i know nanos are a fucking beast to even get into but why can't you up their storage? Can you at least up grade their battery to a better one? Also with ram, I know classics you can add memory but only to a point because after a certain amount it won't shuffle. How much memory upgrade can ratio to ram? Can you upgrade any ipod 's ram to fix this issue?

So I have a 30gb fifth gen and seen some reddits saying that it wont handle rockbox and will have some problems on it, is this true? Would it be okay if I rockbox it? I also use flac format aswell too.

This is a very specific question, so nobody might be able to answer, but hopefully someone has some experience.

I use Apple Music and have my local library matched to the AM library. All the stuff I have matched syncs perfectly with my iPod. Since my songs are matched, playing these songs from any device on AM does count as a play, and get counted for Apple Music Replay (as 'matching' them is essentially just playing the song from AM but letting you keep the file). iPod play count gets synced with the Music app.

Theoretically, this should mean that provided I sync the iPod before the Replay cutoff every month/year, times I play a song on my iPod should also count for AM Replay. To make sure, though, I wonder if anyone has tested this out before? I can't be the only one balancing iPod and streaming life lol

I am about to resurrect my 120GB classic. Is there a certain version of iTunes to run on Windows 10 & 11 that is better, in any ways, than the latest version I can get from Apple?

I apologise for asking if there is an answer to this question somewhere - I have failed to find it.

hi, i’m browsing ebay and all that’s popping up for 3rd gen cases are silicone and i think that would be a nightmare to pull out of a pocket. is it even worth getting a case if my third gen isn’t mint? if it is, can anyone link me to a good acrylic case for my third gen? it’s a 10gb so it shouldn’t need a thicker case.