Audio Category - Page 30 of 36 - CNX Software

September 3, 2016November 25, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Allo Sparky Audio Kit Combines an ARM Linux Board with Amplifier, Audio DAC, Reclocker and Capacitance Multiplier Boards

Last year I wrote about Allo Sparky SBC Linux and Android development powered by Actions Semi S500 quad core Cortex A9 processor, which mostly differentiates itself from the competition by the many add-on boards for audio, VoIP, and IoT (WiFi+Bluetooth+Zigbee ). While most of development boards are manufactured in China, Allo company is based in India, and all boards are manufactured there, which could be a benefit to Indian readers who want to avoid potential custom issues with other boards. The company has shipped me their complete audio development kit, and I’ll first check out the hardware, before taking time to experiment with the kit in a few weeks or months… I could find 6 different boards in the kit, which I detailed below, as well as a 5V/3A power supply with AU and EU adapter, a micro USB adapter, a micro SD card apparently pre-loaded with Ubuntu 12.04, a […]

August 27, 2016August 27, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Getting Started with ReSpeaker WiFi IoT Board’s Audio Capabilities, Voice Recognition and Synthesis

ReSpeaker is a development board combining an Atmel AVR MCU, a MediaTek MT7688 WiFi module running OpenWrt, a built-in microphone, an audio jack, and I/O headers to allow for voice control and output for IoT applications. That means you could make your own Amazon Echo like device with the board and add-ons, use it as a voice controlled home automation gateway and more. The board was launched on Kickstarter a few days ago, and already raised $100,000 from about 100 backers, but I’ve received an early sample, so I’ll provide some more information about the firmware, and shows how to use with some Python scripts leveraging Microsoft Bing Speech API. You’ll need a micro USB to USB cable to connect your to computer (Linux, Windows, Mac OS…), and a speaker to connect to the board. Linux (OpenWrt) boots in a few seconds, and once it’s done all RGB LED will […]

August 2, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Embedded Linux Conference & IoT Summit Europe 2016 Schedule

Embedded Linux Conference & IoT summit 2016 first took place in the US in April, but the events are now also scheduled in Europe on October 11 – 13 in Berlin, Germany, and the schedule has now been published. Even if you are no going to attend, it’s always interesting to find out more about the topic covered in that type of events, so I had a look, and created my own virtual schedule with some of the sessions. Tuesday, October 11 10:40 – 11:30 – JerryScript: An Ultra-lightweight JavaScript Engine for the Internet of Things – Tilmann Scheller, Samsung Electronics JerryScript is a lightweight JavaScript engine designed to bring the success of JavaScript to small IoT devices like lamps, thermometers, switches and sensors. This class of devices tends to use resource-constrained microcontrollers which are too small to fit a large JavaScript engine like V8 or JavaScriptCore. JerryScript is heavily […]

July 26, 2016July 27, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Music802 Linux Audio & IoT Board is Powered by Atheros AR9331 SoC (Crowdfunding)

When Link Card evaluated processors for a Linux audio IoT board, they considered candidates like Allwinner H3 and Ralink RT5350, but eventually went with Atheros AR9331 due to cost, simplicity, features, and power consumption reasons for their Music802 board based on LC930 system-on-module. Music802 board specifications: SoC – Atheros AR9331 MIPS 24K WiSoC @ 400 MHz System Memory – 64MB DDR2 Storage – 16MB SPI Flash Audio – Cirrus Logic WM8960 Codec; 2x 3.5 mm jacks for Line IN and headphone; optical S/PDIF output; on-board microphone Connectivity – 2x 10/100M Ethernet ports (WAN & LAN), 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with 1x IPEX antenna connector USB – 1x USB 2.0 host, 1x micro USB port for power only Debugging – 3-pin 2.54mm pitch header for serial console Expansion – 16-pin 2.0mm pitch header for GPIO, UART, I2C, etc.. Misc – Power, system, and 2x user LEDs, 1x reset button, 1x power switch […]

June 21, 2016June 21, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Fireduino Arduino Compatible Board Features Rockchip RKnanoD Dual Core Cortex-M3 MCU (Crowdfunding)

Rockchip RKNanoD dual core Cortex M3 micro-controller was introduced last year for IoT and audio applications, and the Firefly team, known for their FirePrime or Firefly-RK3288 development boards, has designed an Arduino compatible board based on the MCU with lots of audio ports, Arduino headers, and WiFi connectivity. Fireduino specifications: MCU – Rockchip RKnanoD dual core ARM Cortex M3 MCU @ up to 250 MHz (system core) / 500 MHz (calculate core) with respectively 640 KB and 384 KB RAM Storage – 4 or 8MB SPI flash + micro SD slot Audio 24-bit/192 KHz audio codec (built in MCU) with HW accelerator for APE, FLAC, OGG, and MP3 audio decoding 1x 3.5mm analog audio jack 2x 3.5mm LINE In jacks 1x On-board microphone DLNA wireless audio support Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi via Ampak AP6181 module Expansion Arduino header with I2C, SPI, ADC, GPIO, PWM, UART LCD interface (Intel 8080 […]

June 9, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

KS2 Android SoundBar Features Amlogic S905 Processor, a DVB-T2 Tuner

I’ve tested several Android TV boxes with digital TV tuners this year, including K1 Plus S2 T2 and U4 Quad Hybrid, but the manufacturers of K1 Plus have decided to design an Android 5.1 soundbar powered by Amlogic S905 processor and including a DVB-T2 tuner to catch live TV channels. KS2 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB flash + micro SD card slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz; composite video output (RCA) Audio HDMI, Line IN, digital audio input Speakers 2x 15W 2.5″ speakers 1x 20W 3″ subwoofer 1x bass diagram Audio Range – 20 to 20 kHz Signal to noise ratio – >= 85 dB Effective output power: 50 watts Video Codecs – 10-bit H.265 up to 4K60, MPEG/VC-1/AVS+/H.265 […]

May 26, 2016July 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

Updating Star Cloud PCG02U to Ubuntu 16.04 with WiFi and HDMI Audio Support

I completed my review of PCG02U Ubuntu TV stick a few days ago, and I was quite satisfied with the device, but since Ubuntu 16.04 was released last month, I thought it might be fun to upgrade to the latest version of Ubuntu. I’m go through the complete steps including building a new kernel for HDMI audio, and the drivers for WiFi, but you should be able to install Ubuntu 16.04 for Bay Trail and Cherry Trail processor with the image made by Linuxium and a USB stick. Star Cloud PCG02U OS Support and Warranty Before I go through the instructions, you may want to read the conditions on MeLE’s Aliexpress PCG02U page. They meant Ubuntu 14.04 instead of 14.0.4, but the important part is that if something goes wrong trying alternative OS, you may lose your warranty. Upgrade Ubuntu 14.04 to Ubuntu 16.04 Upgrading from one LTS version to […]

May 12, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Wintech SCT-R225 Plays and Converts Cassette Tapes and FM/AM Radio to MP3 on micro SD and USB Drives

Just last week, I wrote about a standalone vinyl to MP3 recorder, but another Japanese company has now launched a cassette tape and FM/AM radio player that can also record to MP3 on micro SD cards or USB flash drives. Wintech SCT-R225 specifications: FM/AM radio tuner with retractable antenna Cassette tape player Audio – Speaker and microphone, headphone jack Digital storage – 1x USB host for USB flash drives, 1x micro SD slot Misc – Control buttons Power supply – 100V AC to 6V DC power adapter or 4x AA batteries Dimensions – 188 x 36 x 98 mm Weight – ~ 406g without batteries One downside is that if you want to record FM radio to MP3, it would have to be recorded on a tape first, then from the tape to MP3. The tape to MP3 conversion also handles silence detection in order to record each song on […]