$10 Full Control MP3 Player

erco · 2012-07-04 12:30

$15 with shipping, from a seller in Richmond CA! They take Paypal, I ordered one.

http://www.mdfly.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_53&products_id=284

Anybody order from MDfly before? Plenty of other good deals there too: http://www.mdfly.com

localroger · 2012-07-04 14:55

I don't need the MP3 player -- have both a Rogue Robotics uMP3 and an assembled and working Daisy, neither of which I've ever used, but MDfly looks like an interesting little shop. Too bad some of their most interesting stuff is tragically out of stock.

Publison · 2012-07-04 15:33

And a whole lot cheaper than a VMusic2.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/FTDI/VMUSIC2/?qs=vnwGVgFuQiYCrKscKT8PIQ%3d%3d

I I used these all the time, but I like the SD option better.

Guess I owe you another dollar.

GordonMcComb · 2012-07-04 18:40

localroger wrote: »

I don't need the MP3 player -- have both a Rogue Robotics uMP3 and an assembled and working Daisy, neither of which I've ever used, but MDfly looks like an interesting little shop. Too bad some of their most interesting stuff is tragically out of stock.

Yes, their stock levels tend to be low and as most (all?) of their stuff comes from China it can take a while to replenish. For example, this particular part can be found here:

tendaelectronics.com

No idea how much these are from the factory, but MDFly's price looks pretty good knowing what similar items are at wholesale from these sellers. I say go for it. Give this guy da biz.

-- Gordon

skylight · 2012-07-04 18:40

how does the module interface with an sd card though, what are the connections ie rx to ?

erco · 2012-07-04 18:53

SD socket as pictured on the back, specs as noted on the page at http://mdfly.com/Download/Module/AU5121Sspec.pdf

erco · 2012-07-04 18:56

localroger wrote: »

I don't need the MP3 player -- have both a Rogue Robotics uMP3 and an assembled and working Daisy, neither of which I've ever used...

Surprising... aren't you the guy who listens to shuffling MP3s while reading eBooks?

GordonMcComb · 2012-07-04 18:59

Assuming the board uses a VLSI VS1xxx chip, SD support is part of the chip. Your serial commands tell it what file to play. The VS chips are programmable, and typically either one of two types of programs are used with it. One type plays tracks based on push buttons, and is intended for stand-alone operation. The other is serial-based and intended for use with a microcontroller or other host.

Kenichi (MacTuxLin) and I have been looking at a similar product that VLSI makes themselves. It goes for about $6.50 in qty of 100, plays Ogg rather than MP3, and has all of the pins on the chip exposed. For embedded sound applications, Ogg is just as easy -- easier in fact -- than MP3, as the encoder is not encumbered by Technicolor's (was Thomson's) patents.

Now, here's the thing about ANY board designed around the VSLI chips: most of the guys developing these boards do it wrong, and there is a lot of potential for damaging the chip depending on how things are wired to it. Be very careful how you connect the board if you're using an external amp, especially one that shares the same power supply with the module. They're intended to drive headphones, and use a differential output that isn't designed for connecting to ground. The VLSI-designed Ogg module shows the correct way of designing around their chips. I'd have to look at the schematic for this board to know if they added the proper DC blocking and sigma delta reconstruction components on the line outputs.

-- Gordon

erco · 2012-07-04 19:40

Here's a 26-page thread on this item in another forum... will sift thru later!

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?16353-mp3-playback-module

GordonMcComb · 2012-07-04 22:06

Scanned it briefly and it looks like the usual issues with shared power supplies, noise, and trying to drive what's probably a headphone output into a common-ground line input. For $10 retail maybe these boards aren't using the VLSI chips, which are licensed MP3 players -- can't say for certain stuff from China is licensed. In any case, it does look like some of the respondents have come up with solutions to the problems.

That said, for a little more money (about $25 in quantity of 1, plus shipping from Finland) this one is a lot more fun:

http://www.vlsi.fi/en/products/vs1000module.html

(I don't know of a US-based reseller. I've always wanted to buy a hundred of the things, which at that quantity cost about $6.25 each, and sell them for a reasonable markup. Never could keep ~$650 in my bank account to do it!)

It's reprogrammable, though the docs on programming the thing aren't always clear. However, the standard firmware does what the Tenda board does, so it'll work right out of the box. Plus the board is already engineered with outputs for line or headphone, with ESD protection, and supports internal flash, external SD, and USB. It's only for Ogg, though. Audacity outputs Ogg files without a hiccup, and like I said, doesn't need an external (and unlicensed) encoder, like MP3 does. To be "legit" you need encoding software with an MP3 license. As these aren't intended as generic music players, the fact that the audio files need to be in Ogg rather than MP3 is not an issue.

You know, the Propeller BOE can play WAV files for free, no added hardware needed. You know that, right?

-- Gordon

erco · 2012-07-05 06:22

Yep, I know that, Tough Guy! But you know me, I love rustling up a good bargain.

How about THIS one for $6 shipped? Somebody, STOP me!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160806790230?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Edit: Specs at http://www.gemmarduino.net/PM2/00200-014/MP3%20Module.pdf

Looks like left channel audio only.

Edit 2: More detailed specs at http://www.elechouse.com/elechouse/images/product/MP3%20Sound%20Mini%20SD%20Card%20Module/MP3%20Mini%20SD%20Card%20Module.pdf

skylight · 2012-07-05 11:11

erco wrote: »

SD socket as pictured on the back, specs as noted on the page at http://mdfly.com/Download/Module/AU5121Sspec.pdf

Thanks erco I didn't realise the holder was already attached to the board.

erco · 2012-07-05 13:14

GordonMcComb wrote: »

Give this guy da biz.-- Gordon

Heck, me giving YOU da biziness takes up a considerable amount of my time!

Ragtop · 2012-07-05 13:36

ARGH! You know how much I paid for an MP3 trigger board?

Ragtop · 2012-08-19 05:50

I got one of this and I just can't get it to work. I have 10 mp3 files on the SD card each one says it's number.
With this code it just repeats the first file over and over. If I go down to 1200baud it will play each one randomly,
which at least tells me it can play the other files.

I don't know if I am using the wrong serial object or just have a bum unit.

Which serial object did you use with it?

CON
  _clkmode = xtal1 + pll16x                           
  _xinfreq = 5_000_000

OBJ
  MP3    : "FullDuplexSerialPlus"
var
  long x  
PUB Demo 

  MP3.Start(-1,0, 0, 4800)
 
 repeat

  x:=0  
  repeat while x < 10
     x++
     MP3.hex(x,2) 
     waitcnt(clkfreq+cnt)

erco · 2012-08-19 07:57

I still haven't had a chance to try mine out, getting caught up on honeydos...

IIRC, some of these units are very picky about which brand of uSD card used.

MacTuxLin · 2012-08-27 06:43

GordonMcComb wrote: »

Assuming the board uses a VLSI VS1xxx chip, SD support is part of the chip. Your serial commands tell it what file to play. The VS chips are programmable, and typically either one of two types of programs are used with it. One type plays tracks based on push buttons, and is intended for stand-alone operation. The other is serial-based and intended for use with a microcontroller or other host.

Kenichi (MacTuxLin) and I have been looking at a similar product that VLSI makes themselves. It goes for about $6.50 in qty of 100, plays Ogg rather than MP3, and has all of the pins on the chip exposed. For embedded sound applications, Ogg is just as easy -- easier in fact -- than MP3, as the encoder is not encumbered by Technicolor's (was Thomson's) patents.

Now, here's the thing about ANY board designed around the VSLI chips: most of the guys developing these boards do it wrong, and there is a lot of potential for damaging the chip depending on how things are wired to it. Be very careful how you connect the board if you're using an external amp, especially one that shares the same power supply with the module. They're intended to drive headphones, and use a differential output that isn't designed for connecting to ground. The VLSI-designed Ogg module shows the correct way of designing around their chips. I'd have to look at the schematic for this board to know if they added the proper DC blocking and sigma delta reconstruction components on the line outputs.

-- Gordon

Just to add to what Gordon said, the UART control on the VS1000 module is extremely easy too.

I'm off-loading a bunch of these (about 50pcs or so) at very low price so PM me if any one is interested.

Cheers
Kenichi

NB_Nesquik · 2012-09-21 19:49

hello,
How would I connect the MP3 player module from mdfly.com to a basic stamp homework board and what would be a sample program? I have read the specs of the player on the website, but I dont understand where the signal from the board would go to on the player.

Also, I want to play the audio through a set of 8ohm .2W speakers. Will these work with the player?

Thanks

erco · 2012-09-21 19:59

Still haven't tried mine yet. Buried. You'll probably need to add an audio amplifier (but I'm not looking at the specs right now).

NB_Nesquik · 2012-09-22 10:56

@erco
Have you tested the player fom ebay yet? Do you have a sample circuit or code? Also if I used the one from ebay, I wouldnt need an amplifier circuit if im running 8ohm 1/4w speakers, right?
thanks

erco · 2012-09-22 11:52

No, no and dunno. Sorry, I better start experimenting more than posting!

Jeff Haas · 2012-10-21 02:39

I got a couple of these Tenda boards a year or so ago, and got it working with a BS2 (actually, an EFX-Tek Prop 2, which uses the BS2). Once you understand it, it's fine. The quality of the sound played back is quite good. Here are my notes:

- Best version of the docs is this PDF is at: http://www.warf.com/download/5029_98... V2.1 .pdf - Refer to section 4.2.4. Serial Mode.

1. You'll want to name the mp3 files like this:
001firstsound.mp3
002nextsound.mp3
etc.

Copy the files to the SD card, then use a utility called Drive Sort at http://www.anerty.net/software/file/DriveSort.php - this sorts the FAT on the SD card. Why do you need to do this? Because the card doesn't read file names, it only plays the first file, the second file, etc. It only takes a moment to use Drive Sort and it's a major help.

I was using an old 32MB card which WinXP didn't want to format as FAT32. I swapped for a newer 1 Gig card, formatted that as FAT32, copied some files onto it, sorted via DriveSort and Tada! Music!

2. How to set up with the Tenda TDB380:
- Pin 20 on Tenda board connects to V+ (for 5 volts power, which works fine)
- Pin 19 on Tenda board connects to GND and to GND of headphone jack
- Pin 18, 17 on Tenda board connect to left and right of headphone jack (see schematic of your headphone jack for connection details).
- Pin 16 is only necessary if you want the Tenda board to communicate back. I don't bother.
- Pin 15 on Tenda board (labelled RXD in the Tenda PDF) connects to Pin 15. This sends serial commands to the Tenda board.

Proper Basic Stamp 2 serial command format:

SEROUT 15, 188, [00]

SEROUT is "Serial Out" command
15 is Pin 15
188 is Basic Stamp 2 code for baud rate of 4800/N/8 (see Parallax docs if you don't understand this)
[00] is, finally, the command for the Tenda card. 00 is "play random file" (see Tenda PDF). 01 will play file 1, etc. Note that for Basic Stamp 2, you use square brackets, not parenthesis.

' ==================================================  =======================
'
'   File...... Tenda mp3 board sound test.BS2
'   Purpose...
'   Author.... Jeff Haas
'   E-mail....
'   Started...
'   Updated...  Dec. 14, 2010
'
'   {$STAMP BS2}
'   {$PBASIC 2.5}
'
' ==================================================  =======================


' -----[ Program Description ]---------------------------------------------
'
' Tenda TDB380 MP3 sound board test
'

' -----[ I/O Definitions ]-------------------------------------------------
 MP3   PIN     15    'Pin 15 of Tenda TDB380 connects to Pin 15, W header of EFX Prop-2

' -----[ Program Code ]----------------------------------------------------

Main:

SEROUT MP3, 188, [233]   'Lower volume for headphones

SEROUT MP3, 188, [03]    'Play track 3
PAUSE 6000               'Pause 6 seconds before next command
SEROUT MP3, 188, [01]    'Play track 1
PAUSE 6000               'Pause 6 seconds before next command
SEROUT MP3, 188, [05]    'Play track 5
PAUSE 6000               'Pause 6 seconds before next command

$10 Full Control MP3 Player

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