Review of Arylic BP50 Bluetooth 5.2 preamplifier with TIDAL Music

Arylic BP50 review

Arylic has sent us a sample of their low-cost BP50 Bluetooth 5.2 preamplifier for review. It features an ESS Saber ES9023P DAC chip and Qualcomm QCC3040 Bluetooth chip with support for aptX, aptX HD (High Definition), aptX LL (Low Latency), and aptX AD (Adaptive). It offers many input-output connections such as phono preamp MM/MC, optical, Line-in, subwoofer output, and HDMI ARC. You can find the full details about the specifications in the aforelinked announcement. Arylic BP50 unboxing Let’s start our review with an unboxing. Our package came with the following items: Arylic BP50 Bluetooth 5.2 preamplifier A 12V/1A power supply 2x Bluetooth antennas (3dBi) A remote Control A user manual As a reminder, here are the ports on the back of the preamplifier as shown in a stock image from the company. Test setup For this review, we’ve connected the Arylic BP50 Bluetooth preamplifier’s Line-Out port to the CD Audio […]

Haxophone – A Raspberry Pi-based electronic saxophone with mechanical keys (Crowdfunding)

Raspberry Pi Saxophone Mechanical Keys

The Haxophone is an unusual Raspberry Pi expansion board that transforms the popular SBC into a travel saxophone using mechanical keys. The hackable musical instrument is open-source hardware and OSHWA certified and comes with mechanical keys which makes it easily repairable, customizable by changing keycaps or the firmware, and at a price point cheaper than commercial digital saxophones with custom molded keys. Haxophone key features and specifications: Custom Raspberry Pi HAT PCB Tactile-feedback 5-pin mechanical switches Mechanical keycaps Airflow pressure sensor Built-in audio amplifier compatible with Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W Serial console for hacking Weight – 180 grams OSHW certifications – PT000005 You’ll find KiCAD hardware design files, assembly instructions, documentation, and the software and firmware used with the Haxophone on GitHub. There are two main software components, first haxo-rs Rust-based driver for detecting key presses and breath in order to convert them into notes, and fluidsynth synthesizer […]

Arylic A50+ review – An entry-level wireless stereo amplifier

Arylic A50+ wireless amplifier review

The Arylic A50+ is a stereo audio streamer with a built-in power amplifier and support for wireless networks such as WiFi and Bluetooth as well as wired connections such as Ethernet, Analog RCA Line In, optical S/PDIF input, Subwoofer Out, and USB host port. All you need to do is connect the Arylic A50+ amplifier to passive speakers, and you can then easily stream music from streaming services such as Spotify, Tidal, or Qobuz in high-definition audio with the company’s 4STREAM app or another compatible app. Multiple A50+ wireless amplifiers can also be connected through your house to enable multiple rooms and/or zones support.   Arylic A50+ unboxing Arylic A50+ wireless amplifier teardown We can open the device after loosening four screws and have a look at the various electronic components used in the design. The main board, named Up2Stream A50Pro, consists of 5 important integrated ICs: Those include:   […]

MacroFAB FX Development Board is an Open source Audio Electronics Prototyping Platform (Crowdfunding)

A couple of years ago, I wrote about a Linux multi-effects guitar pedal, and if you are interested in such audio projects, another company called MacroFab, specializing in manufacturing & assembling PCBs & electronic device, has now designed open source FX development board for audio electronics prototyping, that can be used for audio effects “guitar” pedals, and let you design your own tones. Key features of FX development board: Potentiometers 9V battery holder ¼” Input and output jacks connected to breadboard True bypass 3PDT switch User selectable power supply connections Dual solderless breadboards with power rails selectable by jumpers Adjustable 9 V power supply Power supply with 2.1 mm dc input jack for use with AC-to-AC wall wart; +/- 15 volt @ 200 mA power supplies with over-current protection; +1.25 to 9 V @ 150 mA adjustable power supply; Split voltage rail (1/2*9 Volt Rail) @ 15 mA for use […]

$49 Dashbot Car Dashboard Assistant is Powered by C.H.I.P Pro Allwinner GR8 Module (Crowdfunding)

Most companies specializing in development boards may sell a few accessories for their boards, but usually leave product design to their customers. Next Thing Co. does that too, but the company also produces some products like PocketCHIP portable Linux computer & retro game console, and more recently Dashbot, a voice controller assistant for your car’s dashboard powered by CHIP Pro module. Dashbot hardware specifications: CPU Module – CHIP Pro with Allwinner GR8 ARM Cortex A8 processor @ 1.0 GHz, 512MB NAND flash, 256 DDR3 RAM, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 External Storage – micro SD slot Display – Red LED display Audio – 32-bit audio DSP for beamforming & noise suppression; fairfield audio pre-processor with 24-bit ADC; high fidelity MEMS microphone array (106 dB dynamic range) USB – 1x USB host port Power Supply – 5V via USB port or 12V via power port (aka cigarette lighter) + backup LiFePo4 […]

Review of PocketCHIP Hackable Handheld Linux Computer

It’s not that easy to describe PocketC.H.I.P in a couple of words, as it’s so versatile. It’s a Debian based portable Linux computer with a resistive touchscreen and battery, but also a retro gaming console thanks to PICO-8, as well as a hardware development platform for IoT application with expansion header providing access to I/Os including GPIOs, I2C, SPI, UART…, and WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Furthermore you can easily dismantle the device, in order to use the CHIP board, based on Allwinner R8 Cortex A8 processor, for a different project. So when Next Thing asked me if I was interested in reviewing Pocket CHIP, I was pretty excited, but when I received it, I scratched my head as there are so many ways to review the item, and it works out of the box with the firmware pre-loaded inside the internal flash, so a getting starting guide would have been […]

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 […]

UyeSee SoundMate WM201 Wi-Fi Music Streamer Features Actions Semi AM8253 SoC

EZCast dongles are wireless display dongle supporting Miracast, DLNA, Airplay, and EZCast protocol, and are all based on Actions Semiconductor AM8251 MIPS processor. The company has now designed AM8253 SoC specially for audio applications using these standards, and found in upcoming products such as UyeSee WM201 Wi-Fi music streamer. UyeSee WM201 specifications and features: SoC – Actions Semi AM8253 32-bit RISC processor @ 600 MHz with built-in 24-bit 96 KHz DAC System Memory – 64 MB DDR3 Storage –  128MB for firmware, and micro SD card for audio files Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi (150 Max). WPA, WPA2, and WPA2 Mixed security Audio Ports – 3.5mm audio jack, optical S/PDIF Wireless Audio Standard – Airplay, DLNA, Qplay and Ezcast Audio Format – MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, APE, OGG, WMA, DTS, AC3 (Dolby Digital), ra, AIF, AIFF, M4A(ALAC), MKA, MIDI,, TTA USB – 1x USB host port, 1x micro USB port […]

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