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New? VMUSIC2 MP3 Player from FTDI to interface with Propeller! — Parallax Forums

New? VMUSIC2 MP3 Player from FTDI to interface with Propeller!

DavidMDavidM Posts: 630
edited 2007-11-21 21:56 in Propeller 1
Hi,

Is anyone familiar with this MP3 Player device ( I think its fairly new) from FTDI , The price is quite good ( about AUD$ 59.00 for 1 )

VMUSIC2

product Page..

http://www.vinculum.com/prd_vmusic1.html

Pic of the BOARD ONLY ( which is inside the unit )
http://www.vinculum.com/images/vmusic-1f.jpg

Specs on the decoder here..
http://www.vlsi.fi/datasheets/vs1003.pdf

Command set for the player here..
http://www.vinculum.com/documents/fwspecs/Vinculum Firmware User Manual V2.2 Rev 2.pdf


I was thinking of interfacing this with the Prop instead of the uMP3 Player by Rougue Robotics(which is double the price!)
One thing I find is that Rouge robotics do not respond to emails, But FDTI are very responsive)

Q1 ) How does a USB Flash drive differ from a SD card? (Speed etc)

Thanks

Dave M

Comments

  • AleAle Posts: 2,363
    edited 2007-11-21 11:43
    A1: Different protocols, electrical and physical. Speed wise, if you can access the 4 bit modus in SD, should not be that difficult. Anyways you may need up to 36 or so kbytes/s for the most demanding mp3. That you get easily via SPI from a SD, no need to mess with a USB drive.
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,793
    edited 2007-11-21 13:22
    I'm going to try using the $4 Juicebox as a Prop controlled MP3 player...
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2007-11-21 15:58
    The VMusic2 works very nicely with the Propeller. Here's the thread: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=677691.
  • DavidMDavidM Posts: 630
    edited 2007-11-21 21:45
    Thanks Mike,

    I should have done a search first, but I only just discovered this product yesterday and assumed it was new. Looks like you had some fun with it!

    Is the sound quality Say for bit rate for MP3 at 256/320 any good?, the uMP3 by rouge is quite good quality

    Thanks

    Dave M
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2007-11-21 21:54
    I've used both the uMP3 and the VMusic2. I can't tell any difference in sound quality, but I really didn't test for that and I'm mostly using voices although there's a little music mixed in. I wouldn't expect to hear any difference.

    My main issue with the uMP3 was reliability since these sound installations have to run unattended for weeks. The show in the thread I mentioned just came down after running perfectly for a month. The previous version with the uMP3 had to be restarted every day when the gallery opened or it would hang up, usually by the 2nd or 3rd day with a missed communication between the uMP3 and the Stamp that was controlling it. The folks at Rogue Robotics were nice, but were never able to fix the problem.
  • DavidMDavidM Posts: 630
    edited 2007-11-21 21:56
    Hi Mike,

    Are you saying that "you feel" the VMUSIC2 is "MORE RELIABLE" than the uMP3?

    Dave M
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