iPod How many of you are actually still using your iPod Classic as your main listening device?

[speedyraf]

My fifth generation iPod nano with 8GB goes strong with audiobooks, podcasts, notes, etc. It's great for carrying around on the bus, train or when waiting somewhere. Fortunately, it still works with the current iTunes and Mojave.

 

[Banditfist]

I work in a DoD environment. They finally allow us to bring in devices without bluetooth communications. Alas, classic iPods are the solution! I can bring in my entire music collection. I had 3 classics sitting around all in working order.

 

[danimal303]

Is there any reason as to why you choose a CF card rather than a SD card?

I happen to have more CF cards on hand as I use mostly SD in my cameras now. I see no need to go to SD in the iPod Video 5th as there is room to spare in the case and I don't need more storage. I think the CF may still have a slight edge in reliability but I haven't had a problem with either format in many years.

 

[judyg951]

I have one, but I'm not even sure where it is right now.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I have a 5th gen in the black classic housing with 256GB.

How do - or did - those of you on this thread manage to acquire & install a 256 SSD (or 512 SSD) for an iPod classic?

I'm both impressed and envious.

 

[jagolden]

Never had a classic, had a third party player. My first Apple player was a 1g shuffle "stick". Still have it, still works fine, but you can see the increase in audio quality in the Apple players over the years.
Have 3 other shuffles and two nanos. Main player though is my phone.

I feel the second gen shuffle was the best shuffle they made, the last gen they made was junk and I never use it.

Also, unlike most, I loved the squat shaped nano. Watched many seasons of tv shows on that late at night when I couldn’t sleep. Still a favorite but don’t use that frequently. Mostly just charge it up when a big storm is coming and we’re liable to lose power so I have plenty of entertainment. Save the power banks for the phones and iPads.

 

[tkermit]

*raises hand* – 14 years old and still going strong. Never gonna give it up. Of course it's a Frankenpod at this point, running Rockbox off 256GB of CF storage in place of the original 20GB hard drive. With Rockbox supporting gapless playback, album artists, FLAC and *gasp* CoverFlow (not to mention handling playlists way better than the original OS), there isn't really anything I'm missing anymore. Pairs very well with Swinsian, too.

Nothing beats the click wheel and, believe it or not, I even love the grayscale LCD and the fact that it remains perfectly readable in direct sunlight.

This guy gets it:

 

[irishtike]

I rotate through a mini with a cf card in it, and a 5th gen U2. Though since it’s Christmas time, I have my red gen 2 nano in the truck, it only has Christmas music on it.

 

[Avenged110]

How do - or did - those of you on this thread manage to acquire & install a 256 SSD (or 512 SSD) for an iPod classic?

I'm both impressed and envious.

I used an iFlash solo (https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-solo/) and a Sandisk microSD card. That said, I'm using a black and white 4th gen. so installation was extremely simple.

 

[ApolloBoy]

I still use my 160 GB Classic on a constant basis despite having a phone with an audiophile-grade DAC and FLAC files, and occasionally I'll bring out one of my other iPods if I feel like it. I second Avenged about the 4th gen iPods too, they feel very nice and I really like the big click wheel. Plus they're ridiculously easy to mod and repair, I've gotten them down to a science now.

 

[1rottenapple]

Wonderful. I use a modded iPod 5.5G myself, with a 128 GB flash memory.

Sometimes I think the only way of avoiding the constant screws by Apple would be staying on an old version of iTunes.

Ya I think that’s the key. I feel like ive lost music. I think having a desktop Mac that’s stuck with the old iTunes might be key for me.
[doublepost=1544593746][/doublepost]

*raises hand* – 14 years old and still going strong. Never gonna give it up. Of course it's a Frankenpod at this point, running Rockbox off 256GB of CF storage in place of the original 20GB hard drive. With Rockbox supporting gapless playback, album artists, FLAC and *gasp* CoverFlow (not to mention handling playlists way better than the original OS), there isn't really anything I'm missing anymore. Pairs very well with Swinsian, too.

Nothing beats the click wheel and, believe it or not, I even love the grayscale LCD and the fact that it remains perfectly readable in direct sunlight.

This guy gets it:

View attachment 808409

Have you upgraded the battery? Is it possible on that. I second simplicity. I had a clsssic that I gave to family and the album covers were unnecessary in my honest opinion

 

[kipwheeler]

I don't know if it's my "main" iPod, but I use the iPod classic in the weight-room each week. Its battery isn't what it used to be, but it has that sturdy metal frame that it makes it a bit more crush-resistant than the iPod touch I use in the car, plugged into stereo.

 

[woodenbrain]

How do - or did - those of you on this thread manage to acquire & install a 256 SSD (or 512 SSD) for an iPod classic?

I'm both impressed and envious.

There are services that will still do it by mail. Not exactly cheap, maybe more than double what the parts (battery, memory, adaptor) would cost. but more peace of mind for me than risking breaking stuff. I used rapidrepair last July. Got a 192GB SSD with a new battery with no fuss and works great. Note I went for 192GB and not higher because there is a max song limit on the Apple IPod OS. If you want more, gotta install Rockbox, which means no iTunes sync.

 

[darkane]

I still use my 160GB every night in bed listening to music for 1/2 to hour. The battery is still great!

 

[Eggtastic]

If the nano 7th gen supported spotify I would jump on it in a heartbeat. I always worry about working out with my X. I don't like the arm band so I am as careful as possible. I also don't run haha so it works for weightlifting / uphill treadmill / and biking.

I also snowboard. Any tumble I take is a risk plus if its very cold out it won't function properly.

 

[Slix]

I use my 4th generation (with a 64 GB SD card fitted inside) every day in my car and to plug into speakers sometimes for music around the house. The battery is great, and I like having all my music on one dedicated device still. Plus, the click wheel on this model is amazing in my opinion. I have a bunch of other iPods but this one gets the most use as of lately.

 

[Mdwall]

I'm still rocking along with my iPod classic 160 gig hooked up via cable to my car. It's the only way to travel in my opinion. Besides my cars multimedia interface can handle everything that a touch screen needs to do for navigation of the menus (thanks Connect!)

I don't care for the touch screen on a handheld player honestly its easier to use the click wheel but I'm a dinosaur I guess. It already got a new batter a while back and when she gets ill again I'm sure I'll just fix the ol' girl up and send her out to the front lines all over again.

 

[AnonMac50]

Out of all the iPod Classics I have, the only ones I have that are still working are my 5.5 80GB, and my 6 160GB (which I bought after it was discontinued). I use one when I’m out and about and one in my car connected using the built in dock connection all the time. My dad also purchased two after they were discontinued and he uses both in his car now (different USB ports).

 

[puma1552]

I still have my 7th gen 2009 160 GB, still works great, still holds a charge, still looks brand new.

I retired it as my primary player when I got AirPods and begrudgingly moved to usung my phone, but my classic still gets played daily in my car.

These iPods seem to sync so much better with iTunes than iOS devices, NEVER a problem syncing this device.

Apple still offers $299 out of warranty service fees and $149 battery service on these. Wish I knew how many cycles were on the battery.

 

[musicmachine]

currently using two 7th gen classics, absolutely love them. use them in car and at work. still love the fact i can use click wheel without taking out of pocket considering i work on a production line. would love if apple would revive click wheel iPod. like an anniversary iPod pro

 

[iRock1]

*raises hand* – 14 years old and still going strong. Never gonna give it up. Of course it's a Frankenpod at this point, running Rockbox off 256GB of CF storage in place of the original 20GB hard drive. With Rockbox supporting gapless playback, album artists, FLAC and *gasp* CoverFlow (not to mention handling playlists way better than the original OS), there isn't really anything I'm missing anymore. Pairs very well with Swinsian, too.

Nothing beats the click wheel and, believe it or not, I even love the grayscale LCD and the fact that it remains perfectly readable in direct sunlight.

This guy gets it:

View attachment 808409

I know that people who have the iFlash mod love Rockbox, but I just can't give up the stock firmware. To me it's part of the experience. It's a pleasure to use from a nostalgic point of view, it's beautiful, it's simple and it's easy to use.

You get a lot of features with Rockbox, yes, but to me beauty and easy of use are the main reasons why I still use an iPod. It's about both hardware and software combined.

[doublepost=1548465511][/doublepost]

How do - or did - those of you on this thread manage to acquire & install a 256 SSD (or 512 SSD) for an iPod classic?

I'm both impressed and envious.

Stop being envy, get the adaptor, a memory card and do the mod by yourself .

I'm a dumbass when it comes to doing manual stuff. But even I was able to replace the hard drive in less than 20 minutes. It's a very easy mod. Totally worth it.

 

[Clix Pix]

I am still using my iPod 5G in the car to enjoy my music. A long time ago I had replaced the original factory head unit in the car with one with an aux connector for using the iPod (old 30-pin connector) and it is still working fine. Car is getting older, so is the iPod, but both are still going strong, at least for the time being!

 

[togruber]

Hi,
I am also a fan of the original user interface. It is the pure Apple design language that fits to the minimalistic hardware design.

Regards
Torsten

 

[alissa914g]

I use my iPod Classic to this day. Main reason is convenience. It's very easy to switch songs on this device my feel when driving and through the click sounds.

But the main reason I use it is because I picked up some parts from China and the US to upgrade the drive inside of mine to use a RAID-0 array of micro SD cards to give me storage up to 1.6TB. Put in a larger back, and a 3000mAh battery you can easily find on eBay, and then I got a new mainboard for 2.0.5 to upgrade my 1.0 mainboard, and I now have a player where you can hit play for audio and come back to it in 14 days and it still has power left over. That thing is incredibly battery efficient. The reason it doesn't last long normally is because the hard drive sucks down a lot of power. Replace it with micro SD cards and an iFlash.xyz board and it's extremely battery efficient. No issues when playing back video, hires, audio... nothing.

One thing the iPod Classic does is smart playlists. If you set up the playlists right, it will recalculate them on the fly. No other player I've used can do this. I discovered this on a long road trip where I had a Not Recently Played playlist and noticed that the count decreased as I was driving when I'd jump out and jump back in. So with my extended battery life, I can charge this and synchronize it once a month and I'm fine.
[doublepost=1548592986][/doublepost]

I have a 5th gen running 2 256gb sd cards for a total of 512gb. I also have a stack of other 5th gens I'm waiting on to mod. My next ipod I will probably do a 1tb, a 512gb ssd.

Watch out when you go over 1TB though. On mine, it won't format the drive if it's over 1TB in size.

To get around this, you have to restore the iPod in iTunes and wait for it to throw an error (which it would do at 50% of the progress bar). Unplug the iPod and it will say, "Connect To Power." (this is because they want you to be on power for the firmware install..... Instead of connecting it to power, boot into disk mode and format the drive from your PC as 16kB clusters (or however the disk format works in a Mac -- I've only tried this on a PC). When that format is done, unplug it from the PC and reset it. Connect it to power and then it will finish the firmware install on the formatted drive. The unit will now report all storage free.

And I had to do this when I first got 1.2TB and now that I'm up to 1.6TB. Just keep this post in mind in case you break the 1TB barrier because I first thought it wouldn't accept it until I played with it a bit and figured it out. You can definitely go over 1TB..... I think the limit on a PC is 2TB because of the FAT32 partition limit at 16kB/sector. I guess a Mac formatted iPod can go further.
[doublepost=1548593374][/doublepost]

There are services that will still do it by mail. Not exactly cheap, maybe more than double what the parts (battery, memory, adaptor) would cost. but more peace of mind for me than risking breaking stuff. I used rapidrepair last July. Got a 192GB SSD with a new battery with no fuss and works great. Note I went for 192GB and not higher because there is a max song limit on the Apple IPod OS. If you want more, gotta install Rockbox, which means no iTunes sync.

Rapid Repair is expensive but I hear they are good. I used to buy an SSD until I discovered iFlash.xyz

You can get an iFlash Quad and use up to 4 micro SD cards. It will take up to 400GB cards just fine. I haven't tried the 512GB cards yet since they're not readily available, but if I get one, I'll definitely give it a try.

But most importantly on the upgrade..... if you don't have an iPod 5th generation (5.5 too) or a 7th generation, do not go over 128GB. So if your iPod classic (6th generation) is not running firmware 2.0.4 or 2.0.5, going over 128GB will yield you nothing unless you use Rockbox. The system can't address it. You can get a 2.0.4 or 2.0.5 mainboard on eBay easily enough and you can just swap them out.... but keep that in mind if you try it.


The iPod Classic is not hard to open. You pretty much have to pry it open on the edges and once you get it open, it just comes off. Nothing too involved..... but it can bend the base plate if you do it badly enough... but you can bend it back or just get a new plate. Just be careful when you take it apart not to pry apart where the screen is or near the ribbon cable on the left side (when looking it from the bottom).

Lauren
[doublepost=1548593632][/doublepost]

I still have my 7th gen 2009 160 GB, still works great, still holds a charge, still looks brand new.

I retired it as my primary player when I got AirPods and begrudgingly moved to usung my phone, but my classic still gets played daily in my car.

These iPods seem to sync so much better with iTunes than iOS devices, NEVER a problem syncing this device.

Apple still offers $299 out of warranty service fees and $149 battery service on these. Wish I knew how many cycles were on the battery.

You can buy a 3000mAh battery with a large backing to the unit for about $20 on eBay. Considering your stock battery is probably 650mAh, this gives you at least 4x playback time..... for $20.

 

[Avenged110]

That thing is incredibly battery efficient.

If it wasn't for the sound quality, I would probably use one of the newer classics for their power efficiency. While I still think the monochrome 4th gen. is the best iPod, I mostly stick with the 3, 4, and 5.5 for the sound.

One thing the iPod Classic does is smart playlists.

Never knew that. That's pretty handy.