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What is the most compact mp3 player chip that a hobbyist can implement ?

Ehsan

Jun 12, 2014
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I am trying to design a compact mp3 player that can be used while I jog, the only restriction is that the design must be small in scale.

I searched online and I found STA013 chip. It is available in SO28 and TQFP44 packages.

Do you know of any other possibilities ? maybe smaller chips with some on board flash memory?

I only need 128MB or 256MB to store one or two hours music for my one session running.
 

Harald Kapp

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Nov 17, 2011
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This chip requires an additional microcontroller. So does the STA013.

The AT8xC51SND1C includes µC and MP3 decoder, but lacks the audio DAC.
The AT89C51SND2C does include the DAC plus lots of other features.
I found these Googling "mp3 decoder microcontroller".
 

Ehsan

Jun 12, 2014
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Thank you Herald,

The above chips will surely do the job, but they are 100-pin BGA chips! I have never soldered a chip in BGA package and I am not even sure my PCB board factory can produce a board to handle it.

I only have a hot air and a good soldering iron, will I be able to properly solder this ? Any tips on BGA is great.
 

Ehsan

Jun 12, 2014
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Oh I did a bit of research and it seems I as an individual designer I should forget about BGA. Equipments are expensive and home made remedies are not reliable.... Am I right ?
 

Harald Kapp

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I know someone who solders BGA at home - not to be recommended for the average user.
Sorry, I didn't look at the housings, only the functions.
 

Ehsan

Jun 12, 2014
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Thank you Olive and Herald, my purpose of doing this is to learn, so it is better not to go for a already designed and soldered solution.

I am thinking to shift my project from a mp3 player to designing a BGA rework station. I will update my progress as I go along...
 
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