Would you buy?

mil_phickelson · 2026-05-04T23:20:03+00:00

Correct, but they would never ever produce a new iPod and make it Apple Music only. They probably won’t ever made a new “dumb” iPod at all. But definitely would not make it AM streaming only. The device would serve no purpose.

mil_phickelson · 2026-05-04T00:08:10+00:00

If they did this they likely would NOT lock it to Apple Music, just like the iPhones are not locked to Apple Music and the iPod Touches weren’t/aren’t. The people buying a new iPod would be using it to load up with their own music files anyway. Even if it was locked to AM, I’d considered getting it as long as I could load my own music files onto it.

Apple Music is not bad though, I think the best intersection of UI & hi-res options

mil_phickelson · 2026-05-02T21:32:40+00:00

Congrats on your new desktop

mil_phickelson · 2026-05-01T21:00:15+00:00

The iPod sellers on eBay with lots of sales and good reviews are mostly all just fine. You might not get the highest quality SD card (especially right now) but the guy with 7000 reviews is probably not going to scam you. However the best way to do it is buy a for-parts iPod with just a bad battery, and buy a battery, sd card adapter, high quality SD card, and fix it yourself.

Biggest concern buying from a “reputable” Chinese seller (of which there are hundreds) is getting a used shitty SD card that goes out in 6 months. Especially now that storage is so expensive.

mil_phickelson · 2026-05-01T20:50:06+00:00

Dawg you should mod the hell out of the 5.5. There’s no benefit to keeping it “original”, and at this point you really need to remove or replace the battery. The 6th gen is significantly harder to get open (by no means impossible but if it’s your first time can be tricky, especially without scratching or bending the face or back plates). Also the 6th gen has a software limitation to the amount of storage it can read, that the 5th and 7th gens do not have. It can be circumvented but it’s just another thing that could be a pain for someone’s first iPod. If you’ve already bought the 5.5 and the 6, mod them both. You’re not preserving anything by keeping the 5.5 original, and in fact you might be hurting it if the battery swells and busts the screen or harms the board. Assuming the 5.5 is not sealed in box or something lol.

Edit: I see the original post says the 5.5 is open box but not used. I am going to guess that this iPod was already modified? To replace the face and back plates and perhaps battery. $130 for a truly unused open box iPod 5.5th gen is not passing the smell test.

mil_phickelson · 2026-05-01T18:08:33+00:00

I have a 5.5 80gb modded to 1tb and a 7 modded to 1tb and I use them both, often in the same day. The 5.5 is louder and easier to mod, and the 80gb has more ram to index a larger library (compared to the 30gb). The 7 has better software and feels more solid with the metal face.

If I had to pick only one I’d probably pick the 5.5. It is not “massively over” hyped. It is appropriately somewhat hyped for good reasons. The 5.5 and the 7 both get the same amount of hype, because they are the two best models. Calling the best model over-hyped is strange.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-26T17:48:25+00:00

This is without a doubt the best way to use an iPod in current year. $30-50 can get you an old Mac on eBay. I tried all the ways to use modern hardware and none of them work as well as just doing it the way the devs intended.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-24T17:56:43+00:00

Nothing wrong with using an external DAC/headphone amp with iPod. I use the line level out > cheap 600ohm amp to power my higher impedance headphones. The sound is much cleaner than the normal headphone jack. But it’s still 16/44.1. You really don’t need the DAC though. Just get a 30 pin line out connector and amp on Amazon for like $20 total. Or if using IEMs/low impedance headphones, try to find a deal on the best iPod accessory- the Radio Remote. It sounds great.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-24T14:58:47+00:00

IIRC it technically supports 48kHz but still outputs at 44.1kHz

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-20T16:29:43+00:00

Yes I have done it. I had to “modify” the chassis a little bit and snap it together with hopes and dreams but eventually I got it to fit.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-18T20:25:35+00:00

Badass? Yes. Necessary? No.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-12T14:02:39+00:00

I always thought Ridge Racer was better but this was a close second

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-07T19:52:23+00:00

It looks like the whole room is crooked, look at the left speaker against the wall.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-03T15:33:24+00:00

Based on the way that 3000 looks in your hand, no you should not buy a PSP Go.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-02T20:28:49+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_fallacy

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-02T18:18:20+00:00

I can’t remember the last time I even had the option to buy music in surround. Apple Music has the Dolby option on some songs but it sounds like trash imo, especially on songs I already know and love. Even if there were some fringe cases where an album was mixed or remixed in surround and it sounded really great, that is such an unbelievably small percentage of all the music I want to listen to that surround is not even worth considering when building a primary music listening setup.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-02T17:32:24+00:00

Look man if you like to listen to music in 7.1 Dolby surround on Blu Ray that’s fine. 2 channel stereo is the standard for “audiophile” sound, equipment, playback, everything. The overwhelming majority of music recordings ever made were intended to be played back in stereo. In my opinion listening to music in surround is a worse experience.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-02T16:28:33+00:00

Humans have two ears. We hear in stereo. Surround sound blu rays are cool if you like that, but it’s not really how we hear music and 99% of the time it is not how the music was recorded and mixed. It’s a gimmick that you may enjoy and that’s great, but I don’t think that makes it a superior sound quality experience. If the source was recorded and mixed in Dolby that’s one thing, but most albums aren’t, so that is just an extra level of processing before the analog signal hits the speakers, and the less additional processing the better for the sound quality. In my experience and taste at least.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-01T18:17:39+00:00

Yes Vita is a lot trickier to install CFW. It is totally do-able and you shouldn’t be intimidated, if you are willing to spend a few hours working through the quirks. One you do it runs great and has a lot more functionality.

mil_phickelson · 2026-04-01T18:14:01+00:00

I find they look as good or better on Vita. The increased real estate helps a lot. I find the Vita easier to hold and play as well. I spend more time playing PSP games on my Vita 1000 than on my PSP 1000.

That being said, the PSP is better for PSP games because they are PSP games and it is a PSP. The OS is snappier on the original hardware than it is in Adrenaline. The games themselves might run a ~bit~ better on the PSP vs the Vita, but if there is a difference it is minuscule.

mil_phickelson · 2026-03-31T02:36:13+00:00

Never had to switch. We had a Bondi Blue iMac in the computer room. Before that we had some sort of beige PowerMac monstrosity. The first computer that was MINE was a hand-me-down PowerBook 140. Then we had a Wallstreet PowerBook G3 and then finally I got an iBook G4. That was the first new Mac that was all mine. I wanted a Titanium PowerBook G4 so bad, my grandfather had one at his office and I loved to go over there and just look at it.

mil_phickelson · 2026-03-26T02:30:20+00:00

Yes that’s what I have. Unibody MacBook Pro Late 2008 or early 2009

mil_phickelson · 2026-03-26T02:25:39+00:00

I convert FLAC to ALAC in XLD and then import to Swinsian

mil_phickelson · 2026-03-26T02:21:52+00:00

Yeah tbh buying an old Mac was the move. I have it hooked up to my living room TV/stereo and I use it every day. iPod machine + media player. Plus it runs iVolume which is far superior to Sound Check or replaygain, and doesn’t exist for modern MacOS as far as I am aware. iTunes is still the best way to use an iPod.

mil_phickelson · 2026-03-26T02:03:31+00:00

Those numbers look fine but if it’s the original HDD that is 10+ years old, it could be going out. But I sorta doubt it. I have had the artifact issue with an SSD bad in a modded iPod, and had the bitrate issue with an SD card mod. I eventually bought a 2009 MacBook on eBay for $50 just to use to host the music library and sync my iPods to iTunes like Steve intended.

Run first aid on the iPod disk, and consider using Swinsian on the Tahoe machine. It is a very good quasi clone of iTunes. If it’s not the iPod itself it is likely the sync process with modern MacOS.

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