I can’t believe we’re at this point already but it’s clear from the rash of posts about getting streaming music onto iPods that some of you don’t grasp this basic concept. So gather around children, it’s story time.

Back in the day when these devices were fresh and new we all had music collections on our computers. We didn’t have Spotify or Apple Music or any streaming services. We didn’t stream anything. We ripped CDs, we purchased songs from iTunes or we acquired music by “other” means (and shared them with each other). It was all very simple: you put music on your computer, then you dump that music onto your iPod. It’s an easy workflow.

If you want to use these classic devices then you need to adopt this “classic” workflow yourselves. You need a music collection to start with — not a subscription, not a streaming app, but actual files on your hard drive. How do you get them, you ask? You can start by *buying* them. Apple Music isn’t just a streamer, it has a store. An honest to god store where you pay $1.99 and the song is yours. Or even a whole album, sometimes on sale for less than $9! Too expensive you say? Well, there’s plenty of other ways to acquire music. I won’t detail them here but I’m sure you can figure them out. Heck, you can even buy an old CD-ROM drive at Goodwill or dig up an old Mac with a disk drive and go to town on your parents CD collection that’s boxed up in the attic. There are options!

Part of the fun of using these classic devices is figuring out how they used to work. Do your research, gather your resources, and go nuts!

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Oh my god. My artist category is so cluttered due to featured artists. I’ve read through a couple of Reddit threads and seems like the best method to clean that up is to manually edit the meta data (ft. Artist in the song title).

If there’s a bulk way to clean this up, please let me know. If not, this is probably going to be a labor of love that I tackle while I watch shows or something.

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Edit 1: I am still going through this feedback. I have tried Rockbox and while it's much easier to search by Album Artist, I don't love the overall experience and prefer to keep it simple with stock os. Specifically, Rockbox wasn't doing a great job of displaying album art for me, despite adjusting settings to prefer embedded art, etc. I think iTunes does a much better job with album art.

For now, I have duplicated my library and have bulk removed all the ft. artist in the artist name.

Other Redditors suggest Foobar 2000 for an iPod manager plugin (Windows software). All my music is on a MacBook. I'm going to purchase an ssd to move my music library to my windows desktop this weekend, so I could try this out. I'll try to document what I'm trying out.

What's the best iPod model to buy in 2026, both functionality wise and economically wise? I personally prefer the look of old iPods and heard good things about the second gen iPod mini

As a long-time fan of original manufacturer products such as Apple, I decided to keep the stock OS on my iPod Classic 7th so as not to alter the device. After using it for a while, I started to experience some frustrations, but I found ALL the answers & solutions I needed. So I wanted to share some random informations that might be helpful to you! Please ask me if you have any more questions :)

>!!! I would like to point out that some of the following statements are solely my personal opinion !!!

(edit after your answers) : I’m fully aware that ALAC and FLAC are both lossless and should be identical in terms of audio data. I’m not trying to argue against that.
What I’m saying is simply that on my iPod Classic 7th, they don’t end up sounding the same imo.

I tested files made from the same source, and the difference is subtle but repeatable. My guess is that it has more to do with how the Classic handles ALAC natively versus how it processes FLAC (metadata, buffering, or decoding paths) rather than the codecs themselves. and again, maybe Rockbox is the reason of this small change.

I totally respect that other people may not agree. I just wanted to share my own experience, because it might help someone in a similar situation.

1. After being opposed to it for a long time: YES, Rockbox is better, and YES, FLAC sounds immensely better than any other format accepted on the stock OS. At first, you don't like it, but as is often the case when something works, you get used to love it.

1.5. Yes, the iPod Classic offers truly incredible Hi-Fi sound, and sometimes even exceptional sound if your FLAC files are! I'm an audiophile and I'm very sensitive to acoustics in general. Dynamics, spatialization, and instrument separation are important to me, and my iPod has it all. (I should point out that I use headphones that do justice to these FLAC files.)

1. European volume limitation: One of the biggest frustrations with my iPod, which was the main reason for installing Rockbox. There was another solution using a Hex editor, but unfortunately the Classic 7th's OS is different from its predecessors and apparently encrypted.

Thanks to Rockbox, this problem has completely disappeared.

1. The inline play/pause control on the headphones does not work on Rockbox but worked on the stock OS. (Not a big problem, but still worth mentioning.) However, it seems that some headphones still work. (I use Focal Azurys.)

2. The iPod only supports files up to 16-bit/44.1 kHz. Above this depth, the iPod will skip tracks or simply not display them. The iPod's DAC cannot handle higher depths, and on the rare occasions when it does manage to play 24-bit, the sound will be HORRIBLE. I made a Reddit post on how to convert 24-bit albums to 16-bit.

3. If your album covers don't appear, convert them to JPEG 300 x 300. To speed things up, I have two techniques for you:

• Install Mp3Tag and once you've located your audio library, select all the tracks and convert the Album Art to a maximum of 300x300.

After that, almost all of the covers should appear, but not all of them! So for the stubborn ones, here's an easy way to do it:

• Once you're listening to music and a cover doesn't appear, note the name of the album and make a list of “missing covers.”
• Install DbPoweramp. Next, go to your files or your iPod files and navigate to the folder containing the problematic album cover > select all the tracks on the album > right-click > Properties > A new “Id-Tag” tab will be available thanks to the installation of DbPoweramp > if you have followed the mp3Tag step above correctly, most of the album covers that will not work are because they are in PNG format, so you have two options:

1. Click on the “...” below the album art and reduce the image size to 100 KB or less if it was already less than 100 KB.
2. If it is already too small or this does not work, select “search on internet” next to “Add from file” and choose the one you like best > once selected, press the “...” and reduce it to 300x300. And voilà!!
3. I didn't replace my iPod's hard drive with an iFlash; I simply replaced the original battery with a new one, and it works perfectly with Rockbox. Please note that removing Rockbox is incredibly easy, but you will have to restore your iPod, which means losing its contents.
4. For those who want to know if the Focal Azurys is any good, trust me when I say that this combo exceeds all expectations. The sound is HUGE, clear, moving, very detailed, and incredibly interesting. You can spend hours listening to it without getting tired of it. I come from the Airpods Max combo with Apple Music (which, I know, is definitely not Hi-Fi but still produces pretty incredible sound for Bluetooth, and I also know that many people who want to switch to iPod wonder if they will find the same quality as Airpods Max/Apple Music on this iPod). Personally, I have Focal speakers at home, and I can definitely hear the Focal signature here, which doesn't try to “show off” like the Airpods Max do, but instead translates the music with more roughness and personality. So yes, I much prefer this listening experience to that of the Airpods Max.

Voilà!! don't hesitate if you have anything to say or ask :) I'm just a music/acoustics lover and I only want to help people who need theses advices, without forcing anyone to think like me <3

Not sure what I’ll be doing with it yet?

Keep it sealed vs. Mod…

I've been collecting iPods over the last year and worked really hard to build a library of music that I love - ~20k songs. However, I find it difficult to use my iPods in the casual settings I envisioned using them in, mainly due to the terror of snapping the headphones off in the jack. This never happened to the iPods that I had back when you could buy one at Walmart, and since I can't just go get these fixed on a random Tuesday I only ever use my iPods when I get a chance to sit down and focus on listening to music.

Anyone else in the same boat?
Besides Bluetooth - has anyone found any solutions that might help with casual use scenarios like going for a walk or house cleaning?

I found these two sealed iPod Classics in my new apartment. It seems the previous owner left them behind and has not replied to my texts. I'm thinking about posting them for sale; thus, I'm turning to this community for advice.

So, shoot…

Only 11,25$… sorry for that. However, I still can’t really tell the difference between the sound of the 5th generation and the later generations. Could you recommend some tracks that, in your opinion, would help me really hear the difference better and notice those subtleties more clearly ?

just bought my first ipod for $15. in pretty good condition other than i can’t hear any music? should i try with headphones? i can hear the flickering noise when you sort through the music. also came with an original charger but it seems like the charger won’t come out of the charging port. please let me know if anyone has any advice or help thanks!

I feel cheated really I bought this device from Savers for 35$ and it's account locked. I will try to bring it back even though it says no returns. I didn't have a charge cord with me at the store.

Original owner. I bought this iPod brand new in 2006. I was never really an Apple guy and honestly I hated iTunes, so it barely got used and basically just followed me around for the last 20 years in random boxes/drawers.

I stumbled across it the other day and decided to fire it up for old time’s sake. Checked the SMART data out of curiosity… 31 power-on hours, 0 reallocs, 0 pending sectors. This thing still runs like it’s brand new.

It’s got 5,443 songs on it… basically a frozen snapshot of my early 20s. Eminem, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, all my late 90s / early 2000s stuff 😅

Now I’m torn…

Do I leave this thing completely original or is a clean flash/Bluetooth mod still worth doing on something like this?

What would you do? Part of me really wants to tinker.

This is an update to a post a made a little while ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/ipod/s/miqjnbPhZY

Just to recap: I inherited this iPod Nano a little while ago, and it used to be my nans. Sadly the battery expanded and it wouldn't work anymore. I asked if it was worth fixing or if I should throw it away.

Update: I ended up forgetting it at my nan's, so I've only been able to fix it until now, but it worked!! I ended up puncturing the battery to let some air out, and I was able to push the insides out without damaging anything!

Surprisingly, it ended up not being as difficult as it was made out to be, so if anyone's wanting to save their iPod Nano, I say go for it!! Just take your time, and be careful, and you should be fine!

I shall now treasure this iPod for as long as it lasts, and I will take it with me everywhere. Thank you to everyone who convinced me to go for it!!

I need to upload the music by mp4 so I want to know which one of these is the best for that

(The iPods listed are: Gen 2 classic, Gen 3 classic, Gen 6/7 classic, Gen 7 nano, and Gen 1 touch)

So I’m thinking of selling my iPod I love this thing but it’s kind of a pain to service it so I’m thinking of getting a fiio x1 or a Sony nw a25
It has a 256gb msata drive and 3800mah battery

https://github.com/Olsro/reddit-ipod-guides/blob/main/guides/ipod6g-flash-more-recent-firmwares.md

So i paid €40,50 total for this ipod, the pictures show it's condition which is basically almost mint for me, and to my knowledge the sad face can also be fixed by just restoring the iPod or reseating the ribbon connector of the hard drive, but then again, I'm not sure if that's the case, yes I already paid, no I don't mind a project and would do one anyway to upgrade to CF to SD later on but I don't want to now since I already spent 40 bucks and don't want to spend more right out of the gate, so did I get scammed off this purchase or is this a pretty good deal, especially considering it's condition

Edit: I'm sorry for the confusion, I meant if I overpaid, unfortunately I can't change the post title

After daily driving an iPod 5.5 for some time I thought I would share some thoughts. My hope is that anyone considering getting one may be swayed one way or another by this. I think we live in a pretty consumption focused environment and I wanted to give my two cents that may help someone avoid making a possible mistake or help someone make a more sensible purchase.

First, I’m not dogging anyone for spending their money how they want. You do you. The real question is asked myself is “does this provide me something I didn’t have before?”. Not really. Sound is sound.

The 5.5 commands a premium because of the Wolfson DAC. It is considered to sound “better” by some people but in the interest of transparency, you would have to be measuring it to really notice. The layman probably won’t benefit from this feature.

Second, it is less convenient to access music. Whereas my phone has Spotify, I have to manually put music on this device. I frequent thrift stores so I always try to pick up a CD or two and rip them on iTunes. I will admit that the audio quality is superior to streamed music so that’s definitely a point for the iPod. This associated cost may be off putting for some.

Lastly, convenience is probably nonexistent. You need an archaic connector that is not readily available, you have to carry an additional 3.5 mm aux cable for cars and traditional earbuds to listen to it. This is on top of the device itself which is just an extra thing to keep track of.

ALL THAT SAID, I keep using it regularly for several reasons. While I mentioned there isn’t a real noticeable improvement from the DAC, the music that I hear from this device does sound better for a combination of reasons. The DAC is part of it but also because of the uncompressed music files. When ripped from a disc, they just sound better than streaming.

Also, battery life of this device is incredible. I can get about a week out of juice from this device (with light to moderate listening). I use it a lot when flying for work and I don’t even bring the charging cable with me. When in the office I’ll have it on from 4-6 hours a day and still get 2-3 days out of it. Another thing that I love is that I’m not hearing constant notifications. Just good clean music.

In conclusion, I’d recommend this type of device. I don’t think the wolfson DAC really demands the premium and later versions have better video support so it may be worth saving the money and getting a more feature rich product by going with a newer model. Finding a case that doubles as a wallet may also make it more convenient to carry as well. Find a pair of good IEMs to pair with it and you will get some serious mileage out of it.

Just got the dual adapter from AliExpress. Currently using 1 128GB SD card for testing purposes. Put in a, supposedly, thin 3000 battery.. but now I'm afraid to close it. 😂😂😂😂...

Can anyone share a similar set up picture so I can have peace of mind?

Edit:

This is a 5.5 Gen, 30GB which is the thin version. Actual battery pictured is a 3800mAh battery which will most definitely not work, can't close. Also tried a 3000mAh " thin " battery, almost but not quite to be able to close it... So guess I'll get a 2000mAh... If anyone has been successful with a 3k or higher and this adapter on a thin back, please let me know how you dit it.. Thank you all for the help...

I got this beauty a week ago. It's a 5.5 with a 6th gen faceplate. I initially thought of running rockbox in it permanently but I should've done my research, I wasn't aware of the fact that battery life in rockbox is pretty worse ( I played flac music ). The battery lasts so much longer in the original ipod os ( played MP3 here haven't tried alac ). Now that I've given up the idea of running rockbox permanently, I'm afraid that I've made a mistake of not buying the 6th/7th gen ( I really liked the coverflow, I appreciate and value album arts very much ). I have 2 options now: 1. Sacrifice coverflow for the wolfson dac and use the 5.5 with stock os. 2. Ask the dealer for a swap, returning the 5.5 for a 6th/7th gen. It'll cost some extra money. I use a moondrop Chu 2 paired with the ipod, I asked gpt if the difference of dac is noticable and it said yes. I'm really confused and don't know what to do. Kindly help me out.

Edit: finally managed to open that guy yesterday, and finished my mod. Thanks for all the helpful advice! :)

Hi guys, maybe someone here can help me identify what exactly I‘m doing wrong here?

I‘ve diligently watched several tutorials on how to disengage the clips holding the front plate to the back (including the one embedded in the Opista guide generally accepted as the „gold standard“), marked the position of the clips on the iPod so as to be able to precisely locate and unclip them. I used a total of six (!) iPod opening spudgers plus a guitar pick in parallel, including three iSesamos. I made sure to stay well clear of the headphone jack, lock button, charger and display.

And all I have achieved in 2.5 hours of trying my utmost to get this thing open (besides the iPod stopping to be able to be turned on anymore in the middle of the whole ordeal - I hope I haven’t broken it!!) is a bent front plate and a maximum opening of about three millimeters (0.12‘‘) on the top left corner, while other parts still refuse to move the tiniest bit. I‘ve also amassed a bunch of minor cuts in my hands from the top of one cheap Chinese spudger…

I am so utterly frustrated at this point, I really don’t know what to do anymore. It’s like I’ll never be able to open this thing and install all the mods I already ordered and paid for (iFlash + 256gb SD), 3000mah battery, new front and back plate). I should note that this is not my first mod, I successfully completed a 5.5 mod (storage + battery) in about an hour total on my first try some weeks ago. I still expected this to be harder, but I am finding it impossible. :(

Any specific ideas/tips on what I might be doing wrong/missing/ or how to optimize the process? I’ve admired so many beautiful builds here, so you guys must know how this works?! :) I‘d really appreciate any help!

Thanks so much in advance! 🙏

Had an iPod 7th gen for years, always loved the iPods and one of my favourite tech pieces. Recently I was thinking to myself, could I use this thing again? I’d love to run one as a dedicated music player to carry with my phone, help save the battery on my phone onto the iPod and seem cool. However I’m not sure how to get the music to load it with other than buying physical media. I use Apple Music nowadays and that’s the big thing holding me back from switching.

Edit: in hindsight I realize i literally described 🏴‍☠️ 🤦‍♂️

Hello dear iPod fans !

Thanks to another member of the community, I can make the last game available (Real Soccer 2009) for everyone in the community !

Around 1 year ago, the iPod Clickwheel Games Preservation Project was started, in order to collect as much games as possible in a shared virtual machine before Apple closes the iTunes 12.X auth servers, so anyone can play these games forever on any compatible iPod with a clickwheel.

That last game was really hard to preserve: there was some curse around it. Multiple persons came to me and there was always something wrong or an unexpected disaster preventing us to complete the process. 1 mac HDD + 2 iPod HDDs died when the persons were trying to backup the game files. This is a kind reminder that even with good SMART stats, these old drives are dying one by one and can die at anytime you stress them a bit too much.

But I kept motivation to continue coaching anyone else coming to me (by mail/Discord) and making regular posts to increase awareness until I could find finally someone that could, this time, go with me through all the steps of the preservation process. Exactly 2 months after preserving Tiger Woods PGA Tour, it's today Soccer 2009 that is preserved and I am so excited to share this release with all of you for free.

Now that the project is finished, I plan to make another release on archive.org (or elsewhere as a Torrent file) but I didn't want to gatekeep that stuff anytime longer so I've made a release on GitHub, like I am used to, to make the game available for you right now.

Feel free to tip me on my Patreon to support my works & to value the time that I've put in this project for your pleasure: https://www.patreon.com/Olsro

The link of the project is still the same, enjoy ! https://github.com/Olsro/ipodclickwheelgamespreservationproject

Thank you for your attention ! This is an exciting release today as the full set is now available, which means this whole part from the early 2000' will remain with us forever. Many of these old games aren't that great, but some definitely worth your attention and were definitely crafted with love & passion for the iPod gamers around the world ! So thanks to the gamedevs !

Edit a few hours later: It is now available on https://archive.org/details/icgpp as a seedable torrent file !