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

 

[Dennis G]

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

do you also have the problem that when the lid is closed and you use the bluetooth button or if the bluetooth is enabled that the 3ds will crash when going to sleep?
i have to disable the bluetooth before closing the lit otherwise it will poweroff instantly, it only happens when going to sleep if i boot with bluetooth enable it will stay on with closed lid but when it's powered on then and goes to sleep it poofs off :s

 

[EddCase]

No I've not had that issue, there really shouldn't be any reason for it to interfere its really no difference to having headphones connected when the 3DS goes to sleep. maybe something interfering with your hard mod?

 

[Dennis G]

No I've not had that issue, there really shouldn't be any reason for it to interfere its really no difference to having headphones connected when the 3DS goes to sleep. maybe something interfering with your hard mod?

it's about power, when pressing the pair button it's also the enable button so it gives power and when the 3ds is at sleep meaby it takes less power and then when you press the bluetooth power button and it takes the 3.7v it needs something interfere's with the power of the 3ds at that moment? i'll post a vid later about it

 

[stratman71]

I opened my N3DS XL to do this bluetooth mod( tapping into the battery 3.7v pins and headphone jack, only), the mod was sucessfully soldered in and powered up, however, the 3DS would no longer power up giving me only a brief flash of the blue led and no screen activity. I desoldered the mod and checked for bad fuses, this board is not labeled for f1 and f2 so the ones I checked had a dark green appearance and tested ok. Hooking up the wall power adapter gives a solid orange charge light but still no power to device and same blue led blink. My ribbon cables all seem tight and untorn and I see no bridged connections or stray solder on board. Any ideas where to troubleshoot next?

 

[leerz]

I opened my N3DS XL to do this bluetooth mod( tapping into the battery 3.7v pins and headphone jack, only), the mod was sucessfully soldered in and powered up, however, the 3DS would no longer power up giving me only a brief flash of the blue led and no screen activity. I desoldered the mod and checked for bad fuses, this board is not labeled for f1 and f2 so the ones I checked had a dark green appearance and tested ok. Hooking up the wall power adapter gives a solid orange charge light but still no power to device and same blue led blink. My ribbon cables all seem tight and untorn and I see no bridged connections or stray solder on board. Any ideas where to troubleshoot next?

http://gbatemp.net/threads/new-3ds-xl-fuse.416208/

 

[stratman71]

After days of checking cables and fuses, Update on my no power/flash of blue led issue: I have Luma CFW and I didn't have the micro SD in, sliding the card in and trying again powered right on. Derp.

Using all the recommended parts in the OP, Bluetooth mod working great, albeit with some crackling once in a while which I'll troubleshoot later!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Halvorsen]

Do you do builds for people?

 

[Dennis G]

Do you do builds for people?

i can but i'm across the ocean, but the op was aswell

 

[Kyubnyan]

Mine won't turn on when I push the button. when I took off the plastic on top of the button it came off so I just soldiered to the pads below it, could this have something to do with it?

Edit: image links http://imgur.com/YhCT4Ps and http://imgur.com/hc98DuT

Edit 2: pic without glue http://imgur.com/CnLeWxN

 

[j82k]

Is anyone else getting some annoying buzzing noise with this mod when using the bluetooth connection?

When I power the bluetooth transmitter with an external battery the noise is gone. So it seems to be some intereference with the 3DS circuit.

 

[dsearnack]

thank you, @EddCa helped me get mine setup, as it should have been from the beginning. I used a different unit, and lost R bumper but then flipped the ribbon cable and solved that issue. Works like a charm!

 

[VashTS]

is it possible to just add a switch that does the power to the bluetooth module and the headphone jack bridge simultaneously?

i kinda want to do this mod but not sure about needing the headphone plug, kinda lame

also doesnt this make battery life horrible?

 

[dsearnack]

is it possible to just add a switch that does the power to the bluetooth module and the headphone jack bridge simultaneously?

i kinda want to do this mod but not sure about needing the headphone plug, kinda lame

also doesnt this make battery life horrible?

The battery that came with my unit was 200mah and rated to last 6+hrs - I have not noticed a big change- plus mine is usually only on bluetooth when its sitting on the qi charger (used mostly with streaming though ntr boot)

Im not certain the size mah of the battery in the new unit but will advise when it arrives, fedex will try to re-deliver today.

As for switches a momentary switch has been installed on a few other users mods (there is a video I posted wen i did this mod tha shows a switch) and I may install one with my next upgrade and would include pictures. Im debating modifying the wrist lanyard section with a status led and bluetooth power switch

For the headphone jack bridge you could use a smd on/off switch and I've also debated one of these in the install but like that I could listen to two pairs of headphones with my current mod (wired and bluetooth)

I have ideas for a sound dock - just dreaming and ideas on paper at the moment

 

[M0tl3y]

Is anyone else getting some annoying buzzing noise with this mod when using the bluetooth connection?

When I power the bluetooth transmitter with an external battery the noise is gone. So it seems to be some intereference with the 3DS circuit.

I just finished this mod today and I'm getting a buzz as well. Did you ever figure out how to isolate the issue? I'd like to clean up the interference for a cleaner audio.

 

[NitroCipher]

Are normal headphones still usable after the mod?

 

[Essometer]

Does anyone know how bad the lag is with Bluetooth headphones?

 

[PriMieon]

Hello I have a question. How do you connect you y Bluetooth headphones they don't have a gui and the Bluetooth chip if it doesn't have a gui as well?

 

[zervotheprotogen]

I love this and would love to do it to my N3DS XL, but, am I correct in understanding that now the only headphone you can use with your 3DS are bluetooth? Like you can no longer use wired headphones on your 3DS? Ideally I'd like to be able to use either kind of headphones with my 3DS like I can with my smartphone, though I'm not sure that would even be possible with a 3DS.

You probably have gotten an answer by now, but yes you will still be able to use regular wired headphones. It's probably best to have the bluetooth module turned off while using them but i'm not sure. However it is possible to use regular headphones still. The dummy aux plug is there to trick the 3ds into thinking you have a headset plugged in, so it starts outputting audio to the audio jack instead of the speakers. The bluetooth module basically "listens" to the audio jack port, it doesn't steal the signal or anything. You can still use headphones just as you would before modding it. I don't know much about audio and stuff, but i think it's best not to use bluetooth and headphones at the same time. Sorry for the bad explanation.

EDIT: If you bridge the two connections described at the end of the tutorial the audio jack will NOT work. If you want to be able to use regular headphones and bluetooth devices without a dummy plug, i would suggest putting a switch between the two points.

 

[zervotheprotogen]

this is great. how's the battery life?

Not sure, but you can turn the bluetooth module off when you aren't using it.

Does anyone know how bad the lag is with Bluetooth headphones?

The bluetooth mod shouldn't affect performance at all. It isn't interacting with the software in any way. The only thing that is affected is the battery life. Audio might lag though, i'm not sure. I used another bluetooth transmitter and my audio is fine but it may vary.

will this work on old3ds?

You can make it work on a regular 3ds. However i'm not sure if you will be able to fit it, in that case it's probably easier with the XL version. You could make it work on DSi and stuff as well, however you probably won't be able to fit it and i don't know what the battery voltage of a DSi is. You could make this work on pretty much anything with an audio jack.

 

[rawpie]

i just finished doing this mod and even when soldering the 2 TX/RX points together with a wire OR solder bridge, it doesn't go into transmit mode and instead is in receiver mode, to verify it is, it shows up every time on my phone as headphones when i check what mode its on, when i put the device on pairing and pairing on my headphones they do not connect and idk why. can someone help me?