Fuze to iPod Dock adapting

MP3 players Sansa Fuze
1

Got quite deep into my Fuze to Klipsch iGroove SXT modding. NOT EASY! Major mods are needed to adapt to iPod accessories with dock connectors. Some highlights:

  1. The iPod and Sansa connectors are different mechanically. The Fuze has a large and small outer tab guide and the iPod is the same on both sides. The large tab on the Fuze needs a light filing or the iPod dock connector needs thinning to get the connector contacts centered.

  2. Lineout connection is a breeze but the Fuze needs the enable jump and L/R channels swapped to be correct.

  3. Charging is a major problem. The iPod dock uses the Firewire power pins to charge. In the Klipsch this is 15 volt and will boil the Fuze if connected to the USB power pins. I’m going to try putting a 5 volt regulator in the 15 volt feed to get the USB charge activated for the Fuze. This must be done inside the Klipsch due to space requirements.

  4. All unused wires and cross connected pins must be disconnected. Some of these have the 15 volt on them and may fry the Fuze if fed into unknown, lower voltage inputs.

  5. No FM antenna connection for Fuze on its connector. This is already known, but a connection can be made on the headphone jack ground to get it. This could be done in several different ways, but could get ugly.

Basically, right now I have lineout feed from the Fuze and sound working on the Klipsch. Do not have charging capability until I try a regulator circuit mod. FM antenna will probably be a tapered spring to fit up in the headphone jack and connected to a boombox type rod antenna mounted on the back of the Klipsch.

2

Hey - well done! 

It seems that you have encountered the same problems I found with the ipod connectors.  It’s useful to know what/which pins are providing the charging but I guess different units could supply the voltage via different pins if I read the ipod schematics correctly.

I have got as far as making up one Line Out cable using an original Sansa connector. 

I must admit that the size of the ipod female connector I am using to make the gender-bender/ipod-to-Fuze connector is proving to be difficult - the pins are minute!

Keep us posted!

3

Yes, the connector pins are tiny and very close spaced. These projects are not for a novice when it comes to soldering.

Note also that when viewed from the front of the players, the pin numbering is reversed. The iPod is 1-30 and the Fuze is 30-1. This does make the lineout lineup nicely, well…almost. The iPod uses 2,3,4 and the Fuze uses 29,28,27. The L/R channels are swapped though and need to be flipped if you want it to be correct.

Internally the Klipsch utilizes a 14pin cable from the dock connector to the main board:

Starting at red stripe wire (assumed wire #1)

1,2 - go to 19,20 on IPod Firewire power + (is 15 volt + supply on Klipsch)

3,4 - go to 29,30 on iPod Firewire ground (is 15 volt supply ground on Klipsch)

5 - to 3 on iPod lineout R

6 - to 4 on iPod lineout L

7 - to 2 on iPod audio/video ground

8 - to 10 on iPod S-video luminance (Klipsch has S-video out jack)

9 - to 9 on iPod S-video chrominance (Klipsch has S-video out jack)

10 - 13 on iPod serial line RxD (assumed for Klipsch remote iPod functions)

11 - 12 on iPod serial line TxD (assumed for Klipsch remote iPod functions)

12 - 1 on iPod internal motherboard ground

13,14 - connector body (shield) ground also connects to iPod 15 internal ground

Unfortunately the Klipsch does not use the iPod USB power pins on the iPod (5 volt), so getting the USB charging circuit on the Fuze to work will take some modification of the Klipsch itself to generate a 5 volt source in place of the 15 volt source.