Meanwhile the pile of components for the prototype build is growing with some of them coming from eBay and some from a Colorado based supplier Arrow. I learned about Arrow from the certification program they offer to crowdfunding campaigns. My previous major project proudly features their approval badge. More importantly they have what I need and it gets to me ridiculously fast.
Some of the components will come from USB sound card dongles like the ones shown here:
I’ll obviously use the IC, 3.5mm audio connectors and possibly the 12MHz crystal. For crystal I’ll consider a different form factor especially for the portable version of the interface. Crystals are cheap and I got enough of different types that I can stock a souvenir shop in Sedona (ok, I’ll show myself out now).
For those following along, make sure you get the dongle type that has CM108 chip in LQFP package (with the visible leads) and not the type with the epoxy blob like in these:
Some of the components are still in the mail, but even if they don’t arrive before the PCBs, I have enough to start building and testing different aspects of the interface.
Stay tuned for more updates!