RPi 5 Quad Stereo Sound with PCM5102A

Inspired by the news that HiFiBerry are releasing an 8-channel DAC board for the Raspberry Pi 5, but slightly disappointed they've sold out of their beta-test programme, coupled with the news that Rene has added 4-channel I2S support for circle, and seeing that the HiFiBerry dac8x is essentially four PCM5102A modules and a high quality … Continue reading RPi 5 Quad Stereo Sound with PCM5102A →

Educational DIY Synth Thing – Part 3

In the first part I described the concept and basic design parameters I was looking for and then in Part 2 I looked at the detailed electronic design for a board based on the ESP32 WROOM module I have. In this part I go into detail about the code. Part 1 - This introduction and … Continue reading Educational DIY Synth Thing – Part 3 →

ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Build Guide

Here are the build notes for my ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments! If you are new to microcontrollers, see the Getting Started pages. Bill of Materials ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth … Continue reading ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Build Guide →

ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Design

For the context of this PCB design, see: Educational DIY Synth Thing. The build guide can be found here: ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Build Guide Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments! The Circuit The key design decisions … Continue reading ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Design →

Educational DIY Synth Thing – Part 2

In the first part I described the concept and basic design parameters I was looking for. In this part I go into detail about how I'm going about implementing them with an ESP32 WROOM board. Part 1 - This introduction and high-level design principles. Part 2 - Detailed design of an ESP32 based PCB. PCB … Continue reading Educational DIY Synth Thing – Part 2 →

Educational DIY Synth Thing

For a while I've wondered if it was possible to find something that could be used to learn about the basics of analog synthesis. This is the first part of a series of posts looking at the possibilities. Part 1 - This introduction and high-level design principles. Part 2 - Detailed design of an ESP32 … Continue reading Educational DIY Synth Thing →

Selecting Microcontrollers for Music

I was browsing some of the newer ATtiny chips the other day and started to make a note of some of their properties and it made me realise I actually have quite a few different microcontrollers at my disposal and many more I could be having a look at. But having committed to not attempting … Continue reading Selecting Microcontrollers for Music →

ESP32 DAC Envelope Generator – Part 2

Following on the back of my ESP32 DAC Envelope Generator and in particular my note at the start that it was essentially the code algorithm and none of the electronics that might make it useful, I started to try to find the simplest possible circuit that Just Might Work as a voltage controlled amplifier (VCA) for … Continue reading ESP32 DAC Envelope Generator – Part 2 →

ESP32 DAC Envelope Generator

I'm continuing my series of experiments with the ESP32 by considering how I might use the twin DACs onboard the WROOM module as a Lo-Fi, 8-bit envelope generator. I've not looked at envelope generation before, so this is a good excuse to see what it is all about. Important Note: This is NOT an envelope … Continue reading ESP32 DAC Envelope Generator →

ESP32 and PWM – Part 3

I'm continuing my look into the ESP32 and PWM. This time I'm adding in some analog control to introduce an element of frequency modulation to the synthesis. Part 1 - All the theory and research around PWM and the ESP32. Part 2 - Generating different waveforms on multiple channels. Part 3 - Introducing analog control and frequency … Continue reading ESP32 and PWM – Part 3 →