Hi,

I love my n3DS Xl but the one thing I really wanted was to be able to use Bluetooth audio, I though I'd share with you how I did it.

So things I used

iFixit Teardown
JETech Bluetooth Stereo Audio Transmitter and Reciever
Rimmel London 447 Barmy Blue Nail Varnish
No Clean Flux
0.35mm Rosin Core 60/40 Solder
Hakko FX951 Soldering Station
PH0 Screwdriver Bit
Craft Knife
Black Electrical Tape
3.5mm Headphone Jack from an old pair of headphones
KYNAR Wire
Micro Push Button Switch
3.5mm Drill Bit
Dremel With Cutting Disk

Step 1.

I took apart the Bluetooth Transmitter, the case is just held together with clips so a bit of brute fore and ignorance got the case opened, Inside there is the Circuit board and the 3.7v 150mAh rechargable battery

I desoldered, The Headphone Socket, TX/RX Switch, Battery and just used a pair of snips on the micro usb port to remove it. to make the board as low profile as possible

I didn't take any photos as I did this but you can get a good idea of the layout of the board in this picture



Step 2.

I bridged the two pads on the board where the TX/RX Switch used to be to put it permanently in Transmit mode see the pic in Step 1


Step 3.

I had to remove a little bit of the internal plastic of the n3DS XL case for the board to fit there was a small area next to the GameCard Slot and at the same time I removed one edge of the Headphone socket plastic to allow me to see the indicator lights for the JetTech board when it was mounted I just used the craft knife to do this. The board is held in place by compression it fits nice and snug in this area



Step 4.

The most fiddly bit of soldering was on the opposite side of the board where the on/off/pairing button is, I solder 2 wires to the button so I could extend it to be mounted to the rear of the case.



Step 5.

Using a very small drill bit and the Dremel I drilled a hole in the top edge of the 3ds case to act as a pilot hole to drill the 3.5mm hole for the micro push button switch

I used a litlle bit of double sided foam pad I had lying around to mount the switch to the case, I also use a triple thickness piece on the back side of the switch to cover the switches legs and also to help keep it in place when the case is closed



Step 6.

I had to do a little bit of testing around the audio jack on the n3DS as the point I initially thought was going to be the left audio point was incorrect

The Points I used

White (Left Audio)
Red (Right Audio)
Black (Common)




Step 7.

The n3DS XL uses a 3.7v battery , which is perfect as its the same voltage the Bluetooth transmitter works on I soldered to the following points on the Battery connector and connected them to where the Battery for the Bluetooth board used to connect.



Step 8.

Wire Routing and connecting the audio wires up




Step 9.

Used a Couple of pieces of Black Electric insulation tape on the back of the Bluetooth board not only to support the soldered connections but also to stop the possibility of a short between the Bluetooth board and the n3DS XL


Step 10. (Also future upgrade)

So to set the n3DS to output sound over the headphone jack you have a couple of options,

A. I cut up an Old headphone jack with my Dremel and a cut off wheel, Sanded down any sharp edges and then borrowed some of the Wife's nail varnish, I found the one linked at the top of this post to most closely match the Dark Metallic Blue of the n3Ds XL there maybe closer matches but I wasn't going to go out and buy something if I didn't need to. I painted the flat wnd with the nail varnish to match the colour of the n3DS

Inserting this small cut off headphone jack into the headphone socket works really well Switching between Bluetooth and the n3Ds's Speakers.



B. Alternatively you can put a switch/latching push button across these two point on the board I have some switches on order so I can update my mod once they arrive.



C. You could connect these 2 points directly with a short piece of wire but you wouldn't be able to get sound out through the n3DS's speakers any more.

externally the only thing you can see is the small hole where I drilled for the Bluetooth on/off/pairing switch

 

[chaosrunner]

is this possible with old3ds?

 

[GuyInDogSuit]

Sweet mod! I'd do this, if I actually owned a pair of Bluetooth headphones....

 

[Dennis G]

This would be perfect for Streaming with NTR, i could just send the audio from my 3ds to my laptop while recording with ntr streamer <3
i'll probally do this

 

[sweis12]

This would be perfect for Streaming with NTR, i could just send the audio from my 3ds to my laptop while recording with ntr streamer <3
i'll probally do this

Yeah. This hardmard + ntr would be so much easier and cheaper than a capture card.

 

[Ailuros27]

Why not just get a double-ended headphone cord of sufficient length? I could see bluetooth possibly being finicky for some users, as Bluetooth wasn't really designed to stream quality audio, and interference is often out of some users' control, especially in apartments. Still, this mod would be nice simply for the fact it's more convenient, as with a laptop you could sit on the couch or lie on the bed and not worry about cords being in your way.

 

[Dennis G]

Why not just get a double-ended headphone cord of sufficient length? I could see bluetooth possibly being finicky for some users, as Bluetooth wasn't really designed to stream quality audio, and interference is often out of some users' control, especially in apartments. Still, this mod would be nice simply for the fact it's more convenient, as with a laptop you could sit on the couch or lie on the bed and not worry about cords being in your way.

i have an aux cable, but as you mention, i have a laptop myself, and i'd like to record even when not sitting behind the pc, or what ever and i love modding my n3ds, so the more stuff i can do the better and i'd make ntr fully wireless which is not a huge deal but is awesome none the less =)

 

[xdarkmario]

i was going to do this but i got lazy when i figured out how convenient the AUkey is, i just plug it in when i need it now

 

[Dennis G]

AUkey

what is an aukey, what i find is a external battery, but that's not related to this topic, am i missing something?

 

[Dennis G]

i just bought a jetech transmitter from amazon i'll be here in like a week, i'll report my progress then

 

[xdarkmario]

what is an aukey, what i find is a external battery, but that's not related to this topic, am i missing something?

Well semi related, a aukey is just another brand of Bluetooth transmitter. I was going to pop it open and try but I turned out to like it for other purposes.

~xperia Z1~

 

[Dennis G]

Well semi related, a aukey is just another brand of Bluetooth transmitter. I was going to pop it open and try but I turned out to like it for other purposes.

~xperia Z1~

you don't know how much that picture in your post is teasing me everytime i see you post ;P, i want a red n3ds xl sooo bad but we only have blue ones in europe :,(

 

[xdarkmario]

you don't know how much that picture in your post is teasing me everytime i see you post ;P, i want a red n3ds xl sooo bad but we only have blue ones in europe :,(

Lol I was in the opposite position I wanted the blue one here in usa

~xperia Z1~

 

[Hayleia]

is this possible with old3ds?

will this work on old3ds?

There's nothing to stop this working in any 3ds, however you'd have to find your own location to install the bluetooth audio transmitter into and still be able to close the case up, I only have a n3DS XL so cant comment on wether it would fit in an o3DS I can only say it would probably be very tight if not impossible on a standard 3DS or n3DS It only just fitted within the n3DS XL

 

[Dennis G]

i've just "finished" this mod, i'm missing a button, so atm i can't start the bluetooth transmitter but i really got this up and running, i love this, i need to order some kind of button or something that i can find in the netherlands but dang this is badass i'll post a video in a second

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

 

[Dennis G]

So to set the n3DS to output sound over the headphone jack you have a couple of options,

A. I cut up an Old headphone jack with my Dremel and a cut off wheel, Sanded down any sharp edges and then borrowed some of the Wife's nail varnish, I found the one linked at the top of this post to most closely match the Dark Metallic Blue of the n3Ds XL there maybe closer matches but I wasn't going to go out and buy something if I didn't need to. I painted the flat wnd with the nail varnish to match the colour of the n3DS

Inserting this small cut off headphone jack into the headphone socket works really well Switching between Bluetooth and the n3Ds's Speakers.

View attachment 41484

B. Alternatively you can put a switch/latching push button across these two point on the board I have some switches on order so I can update my mod once they arrive.

View attachment 41485

C. You could connect these 2 points directly with a short piece of wire but you wouldn't be able to get sound out through the n3DS's speakers any more.

externally the only thing you can see is the small hole where I drilled for the Bluetooth on/off/pairing switch

View attachment 41478

Would it be somehow possible to send audio while having audio from the 3ds, like placing the wires on the audio port that goes to the speakers of the 3ds instead of the headphone jack? i just want to use this as a way to stream =)

 

[Dennis G]

Almost definitely, no.
This is basically a re-wire (alternative wiring, you may call it) for the speaker circuitry.

Yes it does fit Nand hard modded n3ds xl's

 

[Dennis G]

Just to clear some things up, You can still use your standard headphones in the 3ds, bridging these 2 points would put it in bluetooth/headphone only mode (No Sound from SPEAKERS)

using the small cut off piece of a headphone jack is just so the 3DS redirects the audio from the speakers to the headphone jack, which is also where the bluetooth audio is now wired in to. when you remove the small piece of headphone jack it reverts to using the speakers.
if you wanted to connect a switch accross these 2 points and place that somewhere in the case, (I've done that today to mine) you can just use the switch to turn it between bluetooth/headphones and the speakers.

Oh and I've not noticed a huge amount less battery life whilst this is on, and when its in standard mode using either normal headphones or speakers its exactly the same as if it wasn't installed

where did you place the switch to toggle between headphone and speaker audio? could you picture it?

 

[EddCase]

where did you place the switch to toggle between headphone and speaker audio? could you picture it?

next to the right shoulder buttons, basically opposite side to where I placed the on/off/pair switch

i used one of these switches https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008MU0D6Q

 

[Dennis G]

next to the right shoulder buttons, basically opposite side to where I placed the on/off/pair switch

i used one of these switches https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008MU0D6Q

aah dang that's where i have located my hard mod :s btw, i've put a hole in the bottom plate and sealed it with hotglue to make an visible light, picture's will tell more then words here

makes pairing easyer and will be sealed then the cover is on it
so your latch to switch between headphone and speaker's is where i have my usb port right?:

 

[EddCase]

that's really nice, yeah sometimes it can be a little difficult to see the pairing light, but in general it works well enough.