Sprout: Open Source motherboard that brings iPods back to life (certainthings.studio)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

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https://www.open-electronics.org/sprout-the-open-source-motherboard-that-brings-ipods-back-to-life/

Sprout is an open source replacement motherboard that brings third- and fourth-generation iPods and the iPod Mini back to life. It installs without soldering and reuses the original shell, monochrome display and click wheel. In place of the old electronics come Bluetooth, USB-C, a high-fidelity DAC and microSD storage. The project is by Certain Things and blends the tactile nostalgia of early-2000s Apple design with today’s connectivity: a dedicated music player that does one thing, but does it well.

Assembly doesn’t require a soldering bench. The board takes the place of the original logic board inside the same shell, so the display and click wheel stay the ones you already have in your hands.

https://www.crowdsupply.com/certain-things/sprout-pi-mainboard

https://certainthings.studio/sprout/

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[-] MalReynolds@piefed.social 4 points 19 hours ago

Cool, but to be that guy, how's the DAC and can I get bluetooth LDAC (guessing not seeing as they don't claim it)

Still, make old stuff work again, re-use, good

[-] jaygray91@piefed.zip 4 points 13 hours ago

I quickly checked their site. While scrolling, I guessed it will be either CS43131 or the newer one that I don't recall the model number.

Can you guess how I can say the DAC model now?

It's a well proven and widely used DAC for all sorts of cheap and expensive dongles, DAC amps, and even boutique audio players. Though my quick look I didn't find of they're also using additional opamps or other amp circuitry. But still, if everything else on the board is well built and assembled, it's going to be good at worst.