Seeed Studio’s “ReSpeaker XMOS XVF3800 with XIAO ESP32S3” board is a 4-mic array board with XMOS XVF3800 voice processor and ESP32-S3 wireless MCU for standalone operation, but it can also be used as a USB microphone array for computers and SBCs.
The Respeaker mic array family was first introduced in 2016, and new models have been launched over the years, like the ReSpeaker Core v2 and ReSpeaker Lite Series, with audio improvements and different feature sets. The ReSpeaker XMOS XVF3800 with XIAO ESP32S3 is the latest variant, and Seeed Studio claims it offers a “clearer voice capture, even in noisy environments.”
ReSpeaker XMOS XVF3800 with XIAO ESP32S3 specifications:
- Wireless module – XIAO ESP32S3
- Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8
- CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ 240 MHz
- Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM
- Wireless – Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth 5.0 dual-mode (classic + BLE) connectivity
- Storage – 8MB SPI flash
- Antenna – u.FL antenna connector (connected to the main board’s built-in antenna here)
- USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming
- Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8
- Audio
- Chip – XMOS Volcafusion XVF3800 4-mic voice processor
- TLV320AIC3104 audio codec
- 4x digital microphones
- Sensitivity – -26 dBFS
- Acoustic Overload Point – 120 dBL
- SNR – 64 dBA
- Up to a 5-meter range in all directions
- Audio Output
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- Speaker connector for up to 5W speakers
- 3.5mm Headphone jack
- Maximum Sampling Rate – 16Khz
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- Features – Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), beamforming, dereverberation, DoA detection, DNN-based noise suppression, 60dB Automatic Gain Control (AGC)
- USB – 1x USB Type-C port (not on XIAO ESP32S3) for power and connection to host
- Expansion – 20-pin GPIO header
- Misc
- Reset and Mute/unmute button
- 12x WS2812 user RGB LEDs for visual feedback, Mute LED
- Power Supply – 5V via USB or pin header
- Dimensions – 99 mm (Ø) x 4 mm
The XVF3800 voice processor must be loaded with the I2S firmware to work with the ESP32-S3 module, while the XIAO ESP32S3 board can be programmed with the Arduino IDE with code samples for I2S, RGB LEDs, audio playback, and GPIO control provided. You’ll find more technical details and instructions to get started on the wiki. Eventually, it might also support ESPHome and integrate with Home Assistant’s Voice pipeline.
In USB mode (with USB firmware on the XVF3800), it is compatible with a wide array of hosts, including Raspberry Pi, NVIDIA Jetson, and PCs running Windows, Linux, or macOS. You would not need the version with the ESP32-S3 module in that case. Since it will show up as a standard microphone array, it can be used with Audacity or arecord/aplay programs, or xvf_host for more advanced features.
Target applications include Smart Voice assistants integrating with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Home Assistant, and other mainstream voice platforms, conference systems (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc.), audio processing development, robotics voice interaction & control, and industrial voice control in noisy and complex environments.
The ReSpeaker XMOS XVF3800 with XIAO ESP32S3 4-mic array board can be pre-ordered on Seeed Studio for $54.50, or $49.99 if you don’t need the ESP32-S3 module, and there’s also a model with an enclosure for the latter for $53.90. The Repeaker XMOS XVF3800 can also be found on AliExpress for $56 (no case, no XIAO ESP32S3), but only older models are listed on Amazon.
Thanks to Hedda for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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