audio News - Page 21 of 22 - CNX Software

August 24, 2016August 27, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ReSpeaker WiFi IoT Board is Designed for Voice Interaction (Crowdfunding)

More and more devices are supporting voice interaction nowadays from your smartphone to devices like Amazon Echo, but so far, I had not seen development boards specifically designed for that purpose, and that’s exactly what Seeed Studio ReSpeaker board does by combining audio capabilities, WiFi connectivity, and I/O headers. ReSpeaker Core board specifications: WiFi Module – Acsip AI7688 Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n module based on Mediatek MT7688 MIPS SoC Storage – micro SD card slot USB – 1x micro USB port for programming and power Audio – 3.5mm AUX port, WM8960 audio codec, 2-pin header for external speakers Expansion – 2x 8-pin expansion headers for I2C, GPIO and USB 2.0 host connected to MT7688, built-in microphone. MCU – Atmel ATMega32U4 @ 16 MHz Misc – 12x RGB LEDs, 8x touch sensors, 3 push buttons Power Supply – 5V DC Dimensions – 70mm diameter Weight – 70 grams The board runs OpenWrt, […]

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 […]

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 […]

May 5, 2016May 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Phonoclipper PT-300 Plays Vinyl Discs, Records them to MP3 on USB Drives or SD Cards

If you are old wise enough to have a vinyl record collection, a Japanese company called Bearmax (or Kumazaki-aim in Japanese), has designed Phonoclipper PT-300 vinyl disc player and recorder that may make you want to listen your old songs again, or digitize them to MP3. PT-300 is powered by four AA batteries or 5V via USB, consumes about 3 watts, and output audio to a single 3W speaker, but you can also connect better speakers via two RCA audio connector. The top of the device features a small display, and control buttons. The vinyl drive system plays discs at 33 rpm or 45 rpm, and uses a sapphire needle. You can convert your vinyl records to MP3 files @ 128 Kbps on the SD cards (up to 8GB) or USB driver using the port on the side. The device measures 290 x 115 x 95 mm, and weights 950 […]

April 19, 2016April 19, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 35 Comments

HDMI Audio in Linux is Now Working on Cherry Trail mini PCs, OpenELEC 7.0 Image Released

Since Intel has decided not to officially support Bay Trail and Cherry Trail processors in Linux, and focus on other priorities, people who have tried to use HDMI audio in Linux with mini PCs or TV sticks based on the processors have always had issues. There’s a workaround for Bay Trail mini PCs with Linux 3.16 kernel, but so far I’ve never seen a Cherry Trail system working with HDMI audio in Linux. Luckily, Pierre-Louis Bossart has been working on support, and Piotr kasprzak has tried HDMI audio support with OpenELEC 7.0 and a patched Linux Kernel 4.5.1, and confirmed it to be working on Tronsmart Ara X5 Plus and Wintel 10 Pro mini PC powered by Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor. This can also be verified in the kernel log with dmesg:

[    6.417670] had: ******** HAD DRIVER loading.. Ver: 0.01.003
[    6.421553] [drm] mid_hdmi_audio_register: Scheduling HDMI audio work queue
[    6.459006] dw_dmac INTL9C60:00: DesignWare DMA Controller, 8 channels
[    6.485499] dw_dmac INTL9C60:01: DesignWare DMA Controller, 8 channels

[ 6.417670] had: ******** HAD DRIVER loading.. Ver: 0.01.003

[ 6.421553] [drm] mid_hdmi_audio_register: Scheduling HDMI audio work queue

[ 6.459006] dw_dmac INTL9C60:00: DesignWare DMA Controller, 8 channels

[ 6.485499] dw_dmac INTL9C60:01: DesignWare DMA Controller, 8 channels

If you want to try it yourself, you can download the OpenELEC image with the modifications. If […]

January 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 32 Comments

AudioCast M5 is a ChromeCast Audio Alternative with Local Audio Files and Multi-Room Support

ChromeCast Audio launched earlier this year together with ChromeCast 2.0 in order to bring ChromeCast experience specifically to audio files via your speakers or audio system. Wireless audio streamer are not exactly new, and I’ve reviewed a few including SoundMate WM201, and the company behind the SoundMate models, UyeSee, has launched a new AudioCast M2 wireless multi-room sound streamer that looks familiar… The main features of AudioCast M5 are listed as follows: Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n with WPS button Audio Output – 3.5mm stereo jack Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port Multiroom streaming – Stream same song to all speakers, stream different songs to different speakers, stream same or different song to different group speakers using a single smartphone . Streaming from phone’s internal storage, UPnP/DLNA server, online music service including Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and more coming with Tital, Dezzer, GoogleMusic, Tunein, etc… Stereo Pairing – Turn two […]

December 14, 2015March 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 42 Comments

Review of MINIX NEO U1 Media Hub

We’ve already seen that MINIX NEO U1 has some impressive hardware to offer with a good thermal solution, and high-end chips for storage and WiFi, as well as some neats additions like RTC support. But obviously the most important is to find out how the box performs, so I’ve put it through it spaces with video playback and features testing, as well as some benchmarks. First Boot, OTA Firmware, Settings and First Impressions The device has three full-sized USB 2.0 ports, which become four once we had the provided USB OTG adapter to the remaining micro USB port. So I’ve connected a USB 3.0 hard drive, the RF dongle for NEO A2 Lite air mouse, a USB hub with a USB webcam, a USB keyboard, and the RF dongle for Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, as well as USB powered speakers to the micro USB port. After inserting HDMI, optical audio […]