All,
I want to thank all of you who have purchased the iMod and have posted your impressions here (and on
www.headfi.com "portable audio forum").
I decided to post this message in response to various emails that I have been receiving regarding the iMod. In no particular order:
1) As most of you are probably aware of,
www.smalldog.com is selling Apple Factory Refurbished 60GB iPod Photo units for only $209.00. I received many of these and they look like and operate like brand new units. A few weeks ago, they started out with over 600 units in stock and are now down to 177. Once this supply is gone, they told me that they will order more directly from Apple.
2) I have also received many emails from people asking if I can purchase the iPod from Small Dog to be sent directly to me for the iMod. If you send me payment for the iPod from Small Dog + shipping, along with your iMod payment, I will order the iPod from Small Dog for you. I have already done this for many customers outside of the USA.
3) Regarding lead-times, iMod orders have hit an all-time high (most likely due to the nice price offered by Small Dog as mentioned above, as well as all your feedback…again, thank you for this!) and I am still trying my best to finish orders within 2 weeks from when I receive your iPods for iMod. Red Wine Audio has also been very busy with Signature 30 and Signature 70 builds, along with modifications to the Olive music server... so the iMod lead-time may become a little longer in the near future.
4) I have also received a few emails regarding a 120GB Toshiba hard drive that is rumored to be coming out that will be the same size and pin compatible with the 60GB hard drive used in the iPod Photo. If and when it is available (I heard 2007), I will purchase one and see if it works with the 60GB iPods. If it does become a reality and does work, I am willing to install it at no extra cost to iMod customers as long as they purchase and ship it to me. For those who already ordered an iMod and are interested, simply send it back to me with this new hard drive and I will install it at no cost. The same holds true for batteries or any other part that might need to be replaced down the road... which brings me to another important note:
The iMod entails very delicate wiring and it is very easy to rip this wiring off of the mother board (ripping a pad off of the board and rendering it useless) if you are not extremely careful and know exactly what you are doing in there! This is why I highly recommend that you send me your iMod if you want to replace the battery or any other part for you (at no cost to you, except shipping, as long as you provide me with the replacement part). If I were to ever accidentally damage the unit, I would be 100% responsible and would take care of it (in a timely fashion).
If you open your iMod, I will no longer service it under warranty and you will pay for BOTH parts and labor for the repair!
5) As has been mentioned in earlier threads, the iMod will NOT be offered for any of the other iPod except for the 4th Gen iPods (monochrome display) and iPod Photo units.
I am NOT planning iMods for the iPod Video units.
6) I am not planning on modding any other DAPs… I just don’t have the time.
7) I cannot modify the iPod for S/PDIF digital output to feed an external dac. I have spent time researching this and it still appears that there is no S/PDIF digital output signal present in the iPod to tap. Yes, there are digital signals at the dock connector (serial and USB), but these are not in the S/PDIF format that you need to feed an external dac.
8 ) The iMod does NOT decrease the battery life in any way compared to the stock iPod. Actually, it may actually *slightly* improve it because I remove an opamp from the motherboard. I say *slightly* because the opamp only draws a few milliamps. I never done testing to see how much of a difference this makes to the battery... if any.
I want to thank you all again for your interest and support of the Red Wine Audio iMod. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Vinnie
