This is a Cortex-M4 DSP board for development of audio DSP applications such as Guitar effects.
This repository contains the hardware design as KiCAD files and sample software that implements some naive guitar effects. For info about the software and how to load it, look at fw/README.md. For more on the hardware, keep on reading below and also look in hw/README.md.
The board is based on a STM32F405RG microcontroller (192KiB RAM, Cortex-M4 with DSP and floating point instructions) and a WM8731 audio codec.
The stereo audio input is pre-amplified in an opamp before the signal reaches the ADC. This step is required to get a high input impedance suitable for connecting to an electric guitar or other passive systems. A WM8731 audio codec is used to digitize the audio signal and feed it over an I2S bus to the STM32 MCU, and to convert the resulting signal back into the analog domain. The codec chip includes an amplifier so the board is capable of driving low-impedance loads such as headphones.
Note that this isn't quite a HiFi system, though it should be good enough for casual use. For example, there is some theoretical crosstalk between the L/R channels on the input side (although you won't hear it), the codec isn't particularly fancy and expensive, and the USB power supply isn't very well filtered. If the audio input is clipping because whatever you're feeding in is too high level (more than, say, 1V RMS), attenuate it a bit with a resistor divider first.
The board is designed to be deployed in an effects pedal or box or in the wiring compartment in an electric guitar. To avoid ground loops it should run from battery power or an isolated power supply (not mains earth referenced).
The acceptable input voltage is around 4 to 9 V and the current draw lands at about 80mA (168MHz, 25% CPU awake) — that should give you about 24 hours runtime on 4 AA cells.
There is also a micro-USB connector on the board that can be used to provide power. Note that the USB bus power is connected to the power input terminal, so avoid connecting another power supply (such as a battery) at the same time as USB. The USB power from a computer can be quite noisy, so it may be a bad idea to use it from an audio quality point of view. Also, connecting the audio output to the same computer or another grounded system will create funny ground effects that add additional noise components. Note that there is no inrush current limit on the USB power line, which is in conflict with requirements in the USB standard. This might make some USB hosts turn off the port, although most seem to be just fine with it.
- Micro-USB connector
- 2 LEDs (green and amber, 3mm throughhole) or 2.54mm header
- 2.54mm header with power, 6 analog capable GPIO pins, UART RX/TX and 1 digital pin
- 3.5mm stereo audio output jack (headphone amplified)
- 3.5mm stereo audio input jack (high impedance)
- optional stereo line-out header
- ARM SWD debug/programming connector, 10-pin 1.27mm pitch
There are no MIDI ports on board, but the exposed UART pins could be used to hook up MIDI connectors with a few external parts.