Audio FX Sound Board - 2x2W - Flash 16Mb

Audio FX sound board with hardware trigger

Do you want to add sound/audio effects to your next project? Without Arduino and without shield? Or maybe you don't know how to use a microcontroller? Maybe you just want to play an audio file by pressing a button. Do you want something small and portable?
If you were looking for such a product: know that there is a simple and affordable solution capable of triggering audio effects (files) without any need for programming :-)

Don't misinterpret our words. We love the MP3 Music Maker Shield, just like the classic Wave Shield that we can always count on. However, they both need an Arduino to operate. There are many types of ISD component (recording and listening solution on a chip) and recordable greeting cards but the sound quality is often deplorable. After a long design period, AdaFruit tried to produce the best sound effect board possible ... enough to quickly add sound effects to your projects! In the end, this board is certainly the best sound board (audio effect) for accessories and costumes!

Even better, this version IS EQUIPPED WITH A 2 x 2W Class D AMPLIFIER! If you don't need a version with amplifier then  see the version with the jack plug.

This product includes the Audio FX sound board, a connector row and a two-pole terminal block. It doesn't include batteries, speaker, breadboard or touch buttons.

The board has lots of incredible features making this board the easiest to use:

• No need for Arduino or microcontroller! This board is completely autonomous. You just need a power supply between 3 and 5.5V DC.  
• Incredibly small - with its 48.3 x 21.6mm, it can fit anywhere.
• Integrated storage space - great! You don't even need an SD card, this card has 16MB of memory on the board. That's enough to store a few minutes of compressed stereo, and maybe half a minute of uncompressed stereo. Double if you use mono sound instead of stereo. If you don't need as much storage space, there is also a version of this product with 2MB of Flash.  
• USB storage device (Mass Storage USB) - connect a micro USB cable to the sound board and the other end to your computer, you can then copy/paste them directly on the board as if it were a USB key. 
• Compressed and uncompressed audio - use Ogg Vorbis compressed files for longer recordings, or WAV files for uncompressed files.
• Great Audio Quality - Want to use 44.1KHz 16-bit stereo files? No problem! The hardware is capable of managing all sample rates and bits, in mono and stereo (see AdaFruit description)
• 11 triggers - connect up to 11 buttons or switches, each of which can trigger an audio file to play.
• Stereo output line - AdaFruit did a breakout of the audio output (line out) so that you can plug in headphone if desired.
• A 2 x 2W Class D amplifier - Immediately start your project, AdaFruit placed a stereo amplifier working with 4-8 ohm speakers (up to 2.2W with only 1% distortion).
• 5 different trigger effects - by changing the file names, you can create 5 different types of triggers. This should cover a large part of the projects without requiring programming.

What do these "trigger effects" mean?

The "trigger effects" allows to determine how the audio is played. Indeed, depending on the nature of your project, audio files should be played in this or that way. Adafruit has identified 5 different needs (the most common) which are included in the sound board. You just need to rename your file to get the desired effect. See the tutorial section for more information on this.

• Basic triggering.
  Name your file Tnn.WAV or Tnn.OGG to play the audio file corresponding to the trigger pin nn (the pin must be temporarily connected to ground).
• Trigger with hold - in continuous loop (Hold Looping Trigger)
  Name your file TnnHOLDL.WAV or .OGG to play the audio file only while the trigger pin is kept low (to the ground). The file is played repeatedly until the pin is released.
• On / off triggering - in continuous loop (Latching Loop Trigger)
  Name your files TnnLATCH.WAV or .OGG to start playing your file when you press the button momentarily and repeat it until you press the button a second time.
• Next file trigger (Play Next Trigger)
  Have up to 10 files to play one after the other by naming them TnnNEXT0.WAV until TnnNEXT9.WAV (or .OGG). Starts with file # 0 and each of the following each time the button is pressed. When the last file is played then it starts again with file # 0 
• Random trigger (Play Random Trigger).
  Operation identical to the previous case except that the file is chosen randomly between files # 0 to # 10. Name your files TnnRAND0.OGG up to TnnRAND9.OGG (or .WAV). Triggering occurs every time a button is pressed.

The sound board is designed to be simple: it doesn't have polyphonic functionality, can't play an MP3 file (MP3 is patented and the license is paying. The board uses a similar OGG format but free/non-patented, there are many free conversion software to convert MP3 to OGG). The board isn't reprogrammable or scriptable and it's not possible to obtain other types of triggers (however, there is a good chance that the available features correspond perfectly to your project).

Adafruit has more specifically designed its product for makers who want to make accessories, costumes, toys and other small portable projects. See the tutorial concerning all power options. You can power the board from 3 to 5V DC or a 3xAAA battery pack or Lipo battery (see our power section), it will work well.
You can even use the Lipo backpack for Trinket which will be placed above this special effect board all in one.