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looking for solutions to embedded audio playback for custom lightsabre PCB..

Canobi

Jul 25, 2014
87
Joined
Jul 25, 2014
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87
Hi all

I've been making custom/replica props in my spare time for about 5yrs now and increasingly I've begun to add simple electronics to them, but this just isn't enough for me anymore

I enrolled onto an electronics engineering course so I can fill in the massive blanks in my knowledge as well as put years of practical to use for my own stuff (started stripping/soldering PCBs when I was about 9, liked it so much most of my working life as a solder monkey, inc SMD/reflow).

Got enough knowlege together now that I've started designing my first complex PCB which I'll also be etching and fabricating myself.

So far I have integrated charge management (MCP73833) and soft latching switch which I refined for the circuit.

My next step is embedded sound, and this is proving a whole lot trickier than I was expecting.

I have Googled extensively on playback ICs/integrated playback and keep getting datasheets for a lot of units that aren't in production anymore though still sort of available (like Nuvoton's ISD family).

I actually have an ISD2540, though after reading verious threads on just as veried forums regarding this family, it soon became clear that the documentation for them is sketchy at best, most notable of them was the incorrect pints compared to the actual physical locations, so a little worried I'll just go and let the magic smoke out being green still and it wasn't cheap.

I'm trying to avoid modules as that defies the point of challenging myself to do all the work, though I have looked at what chips they used for them to see if they can be had on their own (and whether I can find documenting etc) and coming up blank (sometimes find the ic but no support, and visa versa). Biggest challenge for me when trying to buy some of them is that I'm not a registered business that needs thousands of units per month.


So, what are you guys using these days for embedded sound playback?

Is there an IC family I don't know about that can play more than one sample at a time (2 is fine in my case), or a technique/rout I'm overlooking?

Any suggestion/help in this area would be most appreciated.

If anyone here has experince with the ISD family, I'd like to hear from you too.


Here's a WIP pic of the last saber I made (light but no sound):



And my current build which I want to make the PCB for:



Thanks in advance for looking :)
 
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