DIY guide for LOD

[Morgan Wu 0]

Hi all,

 

I consider the guide is 90% complete. There may be still some small details here and there that i can fill in. The guide can be accessed at PureTones Audio

 

PART 1

 

3.5mm plugs, or TRS connector

 

 

1. Sleeve: usually ground (it IS ground)

 

2. Ring: Right-hand channel for stereo signals, negative phase for balanced mono signals, power supply for power-requiring mono signal sources

 

3. Tip: Left-hand channel for stereo signals, positive phase for balanced mono signals, signal line for unbalanced mono signals

 

4. Insulating rings

 

Ipod Dock Connector

 

Below i think is the best schematic diagram i can find for our purpose. For more information, visit http://pinouts.ru/Devices/ipod_pinout.shtml to see what the other pins does.

 

 

To make your LOD iTouch and iPhone compatible, you got to short pin 11 and 15. I will show how this is done later in the guide.

 

(For complete version visit: Connectors and Pins)

 

PART 2

 

Now for some hands on action.

 

There are 2 ways to start making the LOD. Most people actually start from the dock connector side. I prefer to start from the plug. Just read my guide from the back if you are more comfortable with that.

 

Before you start, you got to take a hard look at the connector and figure out which are the ground, left and right pins. The picture below uses Neutrik as the example. It is roughly the same for all plugs. The tip leads to the left channel, ring leads to the right, and sleeve leads to ground.

 

 

Shown below are some pictures i took when making a connector. Solder the wires one by one. The trick to hold the plug and wire in place is to use blue tack. In the picture i also use a old socket to hold the plug. Its a good alternative for those without a bench vice.

 

Generally, i solder the ground first, then the left and right. You do not have to worry about the wire and solder protruding at the back. You can file it off later using the needle file so that it fits into the screw cap. However, for those without files, exercise care not to let the wire and solder protrude too much at the back. The cap may not fit because of the protrusion.

 

Edit* i have stopped using this method already, because of problems withe silver/copper dust. I now use a technique that fuses just the tip of the wires with the plug. It makes the whole thing much neater.

 

 

Your plug should look like that after you are done soldering.

 

 

I recommend a few things to be done after the soldering is done.

 

1) Use a heat shrink to wrap up the wires at the clamp area before squeezing the clamp shut. Be careful to use the right sized heat shrink, if not the clamp may not be able to even close. In some cases, the bundle of wires would be too big to even fit a heat shrink.

 

 

 

The picture above shows me testing and labelling the wires. It is not very obvious but the bulb is actually lighted, indicating a live connection. This method saves you from buying a multimeter to test hear the "beep".

 

After checking that all the solder joints work OK, its time to move on to braiding the wire.

 

(For complete version visit: The 3.5mm plug)

 

PART 3

 

Below are real pictures i took myself, forgive me for the lousy picures.

 

 

1. Prepare the wires

 

 

 

 

 

2. Repeat the whole process as necessary.

 

 

The end product.

 

(For complete version visit: The wire/cables (Braiding))

 

PART 4

 

 

Remove all the pins except 2,3,4,11 and 15. Refer to the page connector and pins for more details.

 

 

Insert heatshrinks into the wire.

 

 

Slide the heatshrinks over the soldered contact to prevent accidental shorting.

 

 

Solder pin 11 and 15 together for iTouch and iPhone compatibility.

 

*After taking all the photos above, i realised that i got too engrossed with the photos that i didnt braid it properly. The lose wires in the LOD are too long, they can be braided one more round. Hence after this photo i desoldered everything and redo.

 

 

Lay out the dock into the casing, and you are done!

 

Caution: The casing and dock connecter are designed to fit together perfectly. The casing is not designed to be uni-directional. It has a TOP and BOTTOM. As for how to differentiate i will leave it to the reader to find out. Just take note that if it does not fit together perfectly, DUN FORCE.

 

 

The final product before its finishing touches. The real thing is below.

 

 

(For complete version visit: Dock Connector)

 

**I did not post all the pictures because there is a limit on the number of photos i can post. The guide is not that complete compared the one in my blog, as i left out some pictures here. Especially the braiding part, my blog got a diagram to explain how to do it.

 

***BTW i did give credit to all my sources of information on the blog itself. Didnt include them here because that would make the post very messy.

Edited January 8, 2009 by Morgan Wu

[heady 0]

Hi Morgan Wu,

Thanks for the post. Just want to point out your pics are of a LOD to a 3.5mm stereo mini-phono plug. It is not an interconnect per se.

 

Regards.

[Morgan Wu 0]

Ah i see, that means i got to change all the wordings in my guide.. Thanks for pointing it out nevertheless, damm paiseh now.

[Stereo_Electronics 0]

A regular black heatshrink over the neutrik 3.5mm would make it look better.

 

 

[Morgan Wu 0]

Ah, thanks for the recommendation. I am still experimenting with different looks. I am currently looking for a very clean look, hence the lack of heat shrinks. But some of my friends already told me it looks better with heat shrinks and stress relieve.

 

And hey, you guys want to start a discussion about using solid core or stranded wires? I dun see it being a sticky here. I think its a really interesting topic, and i wonder what the engineers think about this.

[kookie 0]

nice cables..mind telling me where you got them? and how much per meter?

 

here are some of mine cables i did when i was free..

 

 

using silver and vampire wires

[alvin1118 0]

A regular black heatshrink over the neutrik 3.5mm would make it look better.

 

agreed, transparent heat shrink is nice too

 

 

[Morgan Wu 0]

I listed all the sources on my guide. I used 18 AWG mainly for cosmetic purposes.. Its very difficult to work with, so i dont recommend them.

 

The guide is still under compilation, i need to get photos for wire braiding right now, but no money to buy wires. so i am thinking of using normal wires for the guide. I haven't update the guide because its exam period right now.

 

The thing is, there are so many different opinions on the wires, i would like to hear some expert opinions from material or electrical engineers. From the journals i read, skin effect would be significant only for frequencies over 100 Mhz, and solid cores are better conductors for frequencies under that. On top of that, skin effects are significant only for AC currents. Hence more attention is paid towards skin effects in high voltage transformers.

 

Audible sound waves have frequencies not exceeding 20Khz, so what are the frequencies that are being carried in the LOD? And the signal from the ipod, are they DC or AC currents? Can someone with the knowledge share?

 

Alvin1118,

 

I see the Neutrik plugs you use have a nickel cover but gold plated plug, I like it! Did you combine a black plug with a nickel plug or its being sold somewhere?

[kookie 0]

you might get some answers to your question on this link -

 

http://pinouts.ru/PortableDevices/ipod_pinout.shtml

 

and yea, i interchanged the pin between two neutrik plugs.. the nickel and the black neutrik pins

 

they dun come in seperate packages though so end up buying a batch of black neutrik gold with nikel neutrik.. ,the wires were ordered from states though, vampire- one of the best copper best cables for IC...

 

18g wires braided into your neutrik.. did u end up filing the opening of your neutrik to enlargen it for the wires..?

Edited November 15, 2008 by kookie

[Morgan Wu 0]

Yeah i know that link. Its just that i used pin 1 as ground, and most people use pin 2.

 

My friend's ipod 4G got static when using my LOD. But there is no static when i use my LOD with my ipod classic. Then he got no static when using his ultimate link silver reference (obviously). And ultimate link uses pin 2 as ground. So i am just curious if there is any difference between using pin 1 and pin 2.

 

Yup you are right, i filed the opening to enlarge it. I dun like switchcrafts, too big for my taste. I am going to use an even slimmer plug for my next LOD.

 

The idea to interchange them is smart. Just that now that single plug costs 2 times, lol. May do that for my future LODs, it seriously look so much better.

 

What gauge you used for your LOD?

Edited November 15, 2008 by Morgan Wu

[kookie 0]

i use 22

[kookie 0]

i also use pin 2 as a ground instead of pin 1, so i'm not sure if the static sound is generally related to the pin 1 ground? most diy users i know says there is no difference using pin1 or pin 2..but obviously they are all using pin 2.. LOL

[Morgan Wu 0]

Interesting.. I try out pin 2 for the next one. I am getting some neutrik plugs from farnell on tuesday, going there to pick up my soldering station (muahahaha) (cheap one though).

 

Anyone here wanna get anything from farnell? I can meet at cityhall almost everyday.

[Morgan Wu 0]

I still got material and parts left for one more silver LOD, should be taking and posting more pictures in the guide after i finished it.

 

Gonna try out a loose braid too, see how it sounds.

Edited November 16, 2008 by Morgan Wu

[blackmouth0 0]

nice cables..mind telling me where you got them? and how much per meter?

 

here are some of mine cables i did when i was free..

 

 

using silver and vampire wires

 

hmmm, you are really very free then look at what you had made..haha !

 

cheers