[tritonus]

Most of you know iPods sold in Europe have a limited output (100 dB instead of 104 dB). I know of these workarounds:

for Mac
http://volumebooster.tangerine-soft.de/
for Windows
http://www.espen.se/?category=1

However, I was looking for a solution solving the actual problem and found this:
http://www.pochoirs.de/software_es.htm

"iMod" is freeware and kills the volume limitation on European iPods by altering the flash-based firmware. The only problem for us Mac users is that this is an app that runs on Windows. So I had to take these following steps:

1. borrow a friend's PC notebook
2. restore iPod with iPod Software Updater on Windows -> iPod now formatted with FAT32
3. run "iMod" on Windows-formatted iPod, push "disable limit" and "finish" buttons
4. sync with my iTunes library on my Mac, all songs are being copied to iPod (FAT32)

Works with my 4G iPod! Maybe this may be of some help for you out there.

Now, some questions/considerations:

a) I now have a FAT-formatted iPod. What are the disadvantages of that when using a Mac? Standard file format for Mac-formatted iPods is HFS+.

b) After firmware updates (by Apple), I will probably have to use "iMod" again, performing all the steps mentioned above. Correct?

c) Why is there no tool like "iMod" on the Mac? This is a big issues for all European iPod users. This was the only tool I had to use a PC for lately. Developers out there?

Thanks for sharing your experiences and suggestions!

[tritonus]

FYI, I also works with my girlfriend's 3G iPod 15GB. What a difference in output!

[albook]

iMod looks like exactly what I want, to bad its not available for Mac OS.
No way I let a buggy Windows computer touch my iPod! :no:

I know the source code was out as well, so lets hope someone with a little knowledge creat a Mac port.

[tritonus]

Originally posted by albook:
No way I let a buggy Windows computer touch my iPod! :no:

Yes, that was tough for me, too but it was definitely worth it. It breaks my heart to see "Format: Windows" in my iPod's "About" menu though.

[tritonus]

Originally posted by albook:
iMod looks like exactly what I want, to bad its not available for Mac OS.
No way I let a buggy Windows computer touch my iPod! :no:

I know the source code was out as well, so lets hope someone with a little knowledge creat a Mac port.

You might want to try this site:
http://gopod.free-go.net/index_en.htm

"Keep hope alive" ;-) Thanks to these guys:
goPod Copyright 2004 by JiB, kang & Alf - http://gopod.free-go.net/

I will try it right away (and format iPod back to HFS+ first).

[mysteriousal]

Hi There-

I simply highlighted every track in my itunes, went to Get info / options and bumped up the volume by a notch and a half.

This transfers to the ipod with no loss of quality. Works great!

[tritonus]

Originally posted by mysteriousal:
Hi There-

I simply highlighted every track in my itunes, went to Get info / options and bumped up the volume by a notch and a half.

This transfers to the ipod with no loss of quality. Works great!

That's a workaround and you're changing each file that way. I prefer goPod instead of amplifying each track (no loss of quality?).

[tritonus]

To all European iPodians out there:

goPod also works with my new iPod photo 60GB. Perfect!

Get it while you can:
http://gopod.free-go.net/index_en.htm