u/elmemphis1986

Ok so here is my take on what I think is the best taptic engine por ipods 5ths and 6/7ths and also the minis.

In my first mod for my 5.5gen I first used a generic taptic engine "0619AAC" I think it is inside many Chinese cheap phones but it worked great but it felt weak. You could feel the vibration but it was gentle. Not bad but then I got a 6th gen and a mini. So after researching many taptic engines available in Ali I found the taptic from a Google pixel 7 pro. This had great reviews as being a good vibration on the pixel, it's small, it works on the required voltage, and has easy soldering pads. It also already has adhesive on the back. And it is cheap AF. So I proceeded to add it to the 6th gen and after I felt the new taptic it is amazing, I tried to fit this on the mini but it is thick, so I swapped the one on the 5.5th to the mini and it fitted like a glove, and now the 5th feels amazing.

This engine is strong, easy to install, fits below the audio jack so you can add a big vertical battery or if it's a fat battery you can put it on the side of the jack.

I'll post photos, videos and give you the links to Ali

Pixel 7 taptic:

https://a.aliexpress.com/\_mtODY5N

0619AAC taptic:

https://a.aliexpress.com/\_mLDLK6P

It escalated quickly after I finished the 5.5 that I had to get a mini and a 6 or 7. Hopefully I could get a cheap 6th only 25 bucks as this was in a bad shape, it had a good board and frame, everything else is new. The 5.5 is moded with aluminium plate, the original frame broke so I got a 6th gen frame to pull this mod. The mini was in a good shape, only problem is that one audio channel is broken, but line out from the 30 pin is ok to use a bt module. I'm waiting on my Wymod V2 for BT but now I'm using my DIY BT 30 pin module. I named them ahsoka, mando and Grogu as im a big fan of those 3, in still in the search for a good laser edging place where i can tatoo some beskar texture and ahsoka face lines. I render with AI some ideas.

Ok so here is my Version 2 of the BT module last time it was using the battery included in the BT module, I added a 3.3 to 5 volt booster in order to provide power from the ipod.

I'm using a Vaorlo T66 5.4 Bluetooth module and a 30pin to Aux adapter, plus the small voltage booster.

I'm using also Rockbox fork Rockpod UI/UX, I don't know if volume increase in line out is available on normal rockbox, but this one let you control the volume of the line out via clickwheel, also my headset have included volume control but it does not let you control the ipod, those are 2 independent volumes.

This is a 5.5 gen ipod not a 6/7th gen, I moded the faceplate so I don't know if the advantages of the lineout volume is available on the other classic gens.

I can upload the photos there is no need for squematics it's very simple, the audio lines are in the same order as the aux jack and from the 30 pin, you need pin 18 and ground to get 3.3 V, you get that into the booster to get 5V and you supply that to the 5V pin on the usb C pin.

It was originally a U2 special edition, It was almost in mint condition because my wife' grand father used It only on his car, and he just leave It there with a leather case until he needed to upload more songs. One day that happened and it slipped from the pocket when entering the car and he ran over the ipod. The screen was broken, and also the frame. He never fixed it because he got an iphone and never came back to it. My father in law keep it for almost 10 years and one day I asked something random and he mentioned he got a U2 ipod he never fixed because it was expensive back then. He gave it to me and I started restoring it last year but I had a Loooooot of issues, the faceplate I bought was low quality and the click wheel was miss aligned. In order to do the convertion you need to swap the plastic of the clickwheel to the 5th gen PCB, but double sided tape does not work for this, you need a more sticky tape, so it keept popping out of the frame. then the battery connector fall off, and this is where I almost threw the towel.

Fortunately it was still fixable and order new parts for everything. I think the HDD was ok but because of the other mods I needed to change it.

I changed the frame for a 6th gen, this is what makes the faceplate to fit, but you need a really good quality faceplate, as the mother board needs to fit the corners, if this is a low quality face they don't machine this part with a small tool, is a tight corner. Also the clickwheel plastic needs to be good as I tried 3 different and some have big gaps. I can link to the different parts I got from Ali.

The SSD and the battery came together and for cheap, I think this SSDs work really well on low capacities like 128 GB, they start to fail when using larger capacities. My SSD is 128GB and the battery is 2000 mah.

Finally the last think I just did is the taptic engine, I didn't wanted to use the iphone one as I think is so unreliable where you need to solder the cables. I used a generic linear motor 0619AAC (you can find it like that on Ali) and this was small, it is quiet and the vibration is not strong but you can feel it, is just a small and sutil vibration. I love it also the sound it makes is really quiet I can use it in the night in bed.

I can recommend using those ring holders for the finger, it can be used as a stand and I feel safer holding it.

The face plate was supposed to be space gray but the color is a bit blueish, i got mad at the beginning but after putting everything together I loved it. You can look for "Retroboomin Store" in Ali, seems they make good quality parts, you can look in the comments of the plates.

I'm using rockpod UI/UX it's a fork of rockbox. I can recommend a lot as this makes the interface more simple, clean and friendlier.

I hope you liked it.

Hey guys, I'm reposting this as the previous for some reason the photos got mixed. I built this Bluetooth module from a Vaorlo 5.4 bt module, it has SBC and AAC codecs, and this pack of 2 "30pin to aux" adapters. One adapter I just shortened the cable and soldered an L shaped plug just in case the 30 pin mod didn't worked, but it worked beautifully. The 30 pin fits inside the Vaorlo shell and you just need to cut the hole of the 30pin and solder the 3 wires to the jack inside the module. But I'm still using the module battery it is a small 140 mah 3.7 V battery. I can see that the 30 pin adapter has extra pins and even the adapter have some pads that probably work, but I don't know which pads I can use to feed the module, also, I think the ipod delivers 5V and the module battery is 3.7 V. Also I think I can use the usb C to charge the ipod too. But that's way ahead of my knowledge. If someone can help me figure out we can create an open source BT/USB-C charging module. By the way this whole contraption cost me around 15 bucks. 7 for the BT module and 8 for the 2 adapters pack.

Here is the BT module: https://a.aliexpress.com/\_mLKiX5d

Here the adapters https://a.aliexpress.com/\_mMyEYV1

Hey guys, I just created this Bluetooth module from a Vaorlo 5.4 bt with SBC and this pack of 2 aux adapters. One adapter I just shortened the cable and soldered an L shaped plug just in case the 30 pin mod didn't worked, but it worked beautifully. The 30 pin fits inside and you just need to cut the 30 pin hole and solder the 3 wires to the jack inside the module. But I'm still using the module battery it is a small 140 mah 3.7 V battery. I can see that the 30 pin adapter has extra pins and even the adapter have some pads that probably work, but I don't know which pads I can use to feed the module, also, I think the ipod delivers 5V and the module battery is 3.7 V. Also I think I can use the usb C to charge the ipod too. But that's way ahead of my knowledge. If someone can help me figure out we can create an open source BT/USB-C charging module. By the way this whole contraption cost me around 15 bucks. 7 for the BT module and 8 for the 2 adapters.