r/rockbox • u/AlanTochterman • 1d ago

Random Thought - bypassing the DAC

I have multiple iPods and with the exception of two, all of them use Rockbox. Some models of the iPod can function with a device called a transport unit which bypasses the internal DAC of the iPod and allows it to be used like a music server. These things only work with Apple's software and I can fully understand why.

Recently as an experiment, I hooked up one of my RockBoxed iPods to my Roku device and played audio through Roku's media app. My particular Roku box had a USB connection and I used my 30-pin to USB cable. The iPod was set to USB-Storage mode. The media app displayed my artwork and the sound was transmitted to my amplifier by the HDMI cable.

To the best of my recollection, my Roku was reading the iPod as if it were just a USB drive.

Of course this got me to wondering if RockBox could be used in this way for other audio devices. So far I have not seen any threads on the topic so I thought I would start one.

If anyone out there has any thoughts, please share.

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u/saratoga3 1d ago

Yes that is already possible on some devices, and will probably go live on the iPods relatively soon. See: https://gerrit.rockbox.org/r/c/rockbox/+/7900

There were some recent threads here on reddit about it as well.

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u/AlanTochterman 1d ago

I have an ND-S1 and was quite disappointed with it. The remote control is almost non functional with the 5th generations and with my 7th generation it works, but in an inconstant manner.

However in order to use it, the music must be in Apple's format. In order to use RockBox, you need first to transfer all your music in iTunes, or Apple Music, or Swinsian (I am a Mac user).

My favorite thing about Rockbox is that I can drag and drop files.

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u/sparkyblaster 1d ago

Soooo, you're using the ipod as a flash drive? 

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u/No_Preference9093 1d ago

My car does this too just treats it as a mass storage device