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

 

[Nintendewd]

Years late to the party lol.. I'm very interested and even moreso impressed by the enginuity of this mod and you folks able to make it work. Do you have any photos as a guide reference for installing / setting up this switch between BT & speaker audio?

Any other notable updates to this or other hardware mods you've done since last post I'd also be very interested to see @EddCase

Thank you!

 

[coconutmallman]

Years late to the party lol.. I'm very interested and even moreso impressed by the enginuity of this mod and you folks able to make it work. Do you have any photos as a guide reference for installing / setting up this switch between BT & speaker audio?

Any other notable updates to this or other hardware mods you've done since last post I'd also be very interested to see @EddCase

Thank you!

I’m about to attempt this mod as well, I’ll try to document my progress!

 

[coconutmallman]

Don’t mind my bad soldering but I managed to get all the solderwork done up on the chip. Tomorrow hopefully it should be done, or mostly. Let’s hope I finish it tomorrow for my sanity’s sake

 

[coconutmallman]

Ok so it’s basically 100% working now, with the chip and wiring all contained within the 3ds! I just have to work on two things:
1. Resoldering and rearranging the wires so that the case actually fits on the back
2. Figure out how to get rid of the very prominent background static. I’ve shielded the battery compartment with aluminum foil and have shielded most of the power cables running to the battery as well, yet the feedback persists. I could use some help on that…

 

[EddCase]

It's been such a long time since I played with this mod, I'd forgotten a lot of what I did. If you found it interesting you might want to look at this post on reddit of a much more complete mod than the one I did



I don't think I ever managed to completely get rid of the background hum/hiss completly I sold that N3dsxl some time ago. I eventually modded an
external grip case to have the bluetooth module inside which also had the added benefit of an extended battery. I didn't take any pictures or a write up of that mod though.

 

[Nintendewd]

I'm trying to come up with some M/F wire plug connectors for doing these mods. i did find some, but im not certain about size matching. any recommendations?

EDIT:// apparently im not allowed to post web links to better explain what im looking to use them for. sorry guys

 

[coconutmallman]

I'm trying to come up with some M/F wire plug connectors for doing these mods. i did find some, but im not certain about size matching. any recommendations?

EDIT:// apparently im not allowed to post web links to better explain what im looking to use them for. sorry guys

I can send you the ones I attempted to use but I couldnt make everything fit with a connector, so the headphone Jack cables are soldered in but the power for the Bluetooth chip is removable. I just finished this mod I’ll post something in a bit.

Female end: https://www.pololu.com/product/1012

Male end: https://www.pololu.com/product/965

Post automatically merged: Sep 6, 2023

It's been such a long time since I played with this mod, I'd forgotten a lot of what I did. If you found it interesting you might want to look at this post on reddit of a much more complete mod than the one I did



I don't think I ever managed to completely get rid of the background hum/hiss completly I sold that N3dsxl some time ago. I eventually modded an
external grip case to have the bluetooth module inside which also had the added benefit of an extended battery. I didn't take any pictures or a write up of that mod though.

This is so cool! All the cutouts are super clean, especially the led indicator. Thanks for making this initial guide, though. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without. I just have to do some wire rearranging in order to eliminate the (albeit minimal) case bulge. I wish I had an ips screen(s) but they themselves are impossible to find, and consoles that are confirmed to have them are $$$. Oh well, I still love my 3ds

Post automatically merged: Sep 6, 2023

All done. A few things that have to be tweaked but I’m pretty happy overall. Latency is far lower than I thought (idk why but it was a lot worse earlier). Next up is wireless charging and usb-c, but first I’ll have to put in a switch for headphone-Bluetooth switching and find a place for the led indicator for the bt chip. Onwards to my own “ultimate” 3ds!

 

[Nintendewd]

I can send you the ones I attempted to use but I couldnt make everything fit with a connector, so the headphone Jack cables are soldered in but the power for the Bluetooth chip is removable. I just finished this mod I’ll post something in a bit.

awesome, thank you so much for linking these! i was trying hard for something as compact as possible for that exact reason. ive not picked up anything yet but still looking as bluetooth was going to be a later add-on.

Next up is wireless charging and usb-c, but first I’ll have to put in a switch for headphone-Bluetooth switching and find a place for the led indicator for the bt chip. Onwards to my own “ultimate” 3ds!

these are what id wanted to get into first as well! just waiting on the usbc port i ordered to come in now

I don't think I ever managed to completely get rid of the background hum/hiss completly I sold that N3dsxl some time ago. I eventually modded an
external grip case to have the bluetooth module inside which also had the added benefit of an extended battery. I didn't take any pictures or a write up of that mod though.

what BT board did you end up using on the second one? i currently have the exact same that was used in the majoras mask one you linked, but am hesitant to move forward with putting it in if i will inevitably be plagued with background noise. is there a more current one thats small enough / compatible with N3DSXL? i feel like theres got to be something out there later than BT 4.1 that'd work

 

[rawpie]

has anyone had issues with the audio being really quiet from the bluetooth chip?

 

[coconutmallman]

awesome, thank you so much for linking these! i was trying hard for something as compact as possible for that exact reason. ive not picked up anything yet but still looking as bluetooth was going to be a later add-on.

No problem! I ended up only using one connection due to space constraints

these are what id wanted to get into first as well! just waiting on the usbc port i ordered to come in now

The usb c port im going to order finally came back in stock! https://www.tindie.com/products/giltesa/usb-c-mod-for-nintendo-3ds-all-models/

what BT board did you end up using on the second one? i currently have the exact same that was used in the majoras mask one you linked, but am hesitant to move forward with putting it in if i will inevitably be plagued with background noise. is there a more current one thats small enough / compatible with N3DSXL? i feel like theres got to be something out there later than BT 4.1 that'd work

Yeah, I would like to know the board type too. I’m not completely satisfied with how my project turned out and if I can make it cleaner i will. can you link the board do you have now tho?

Post automatically merged: Oct 8, 2023

has anyone had issues with the audio being really quiet from the bluetooth chip?

If anything I just turn up the volume in my headphones, tho I haven’t tried doing this with any headphones that don’t have volume control like AirPods (I lost mine over the summer ). It’s the slight static that kinda sucks

 

[coconutmallman]

Hey @EddCase in the bt modded majoras mask console, it looks like you used a 5 pin switch at the top, but I can’t be sure since the pic cuts off. I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find one myself so I was wondering if you knew where I could buy it? Also: what were the functions of the button and that switch(?), wanting to know because I would like to be able to switch between headphone jack and Bluetooth (you mentioned needing a switch for that) and the switch doesn’t look like it does that. Lastly, and this is a stretch lol, would you happen to have some sort of wiring diagram for it? It would definitely help

I wanna try and make a tutorial on my progress so any info abt it would help. Thanks!!

Post automatically merged: Dec 1, 2023

awesome, thank you so much for linking these! i was trying hard for something as compact as possible for that exact reason. ive not picked up anything yet but still looking as bluetooth was going to be a later add-on.


these are what id wanted to get into first as well! just waiting on the usbc port i ordered to come in now


what BT board did you end up using on the second one? i currently have the exact same that was used in the majoras mask one you linked, but am hesitant to move forward with putting it in if i will inevitably be plagued with background noise. is there a more current one thats small enough / compatible with N3DSXL? i feel like theres got to be something out there later than BT 4.1 that'd work

i found the board on aliexpress, it’s dirt cheap: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805246236381.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

 

[EddCase]

Hey @EddCase in the bt modded majoras mask console, it looks like you used a 5 pin switch at the top, but I can’t be sure since the pic cuts off. I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find one myself so I was wondering if you knew where I could buy it? Also: what were the functions of the button and that switch(?), wanting to know because I would like to be able to switch between headphone jack and Bluetooth (you mentioned needing a switch for that) and the switch doesn’t look like it does that. Lastly, and this is a stretch lol, would you happen to have some sort of wiring diagram for it? It would definitely help

I wanna try and make a tutorial on my progress so any info abt it would help. Thanks!!

Post automatically merged: Dec 1, 2023

i found the board on aliexpress, it’s dirt cheap: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805246236381.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

That wasn't me, you'd have to contact the creator through their reddit post that I linked to.

 

[coconutmallman]

I just finished my second revision of this Bluetooth mod and it’s so much better than what I first did! I managed to find all the materials I needed that weren’t listed by people (thanks Google lens) and it turned out great

I’ll post a short video overviewing how undid it on my YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@coconutmallman?si=I0C47FmK3xOZhHtZ)

 

[Alriel]

Hi everyone, do you know another Bluetooth board ? Because the the j-tech transmitter is currently unavailable in Amazon .