Feel the noise on a Raspberry Pi Pico - learn to play .wav and .mp3 files in CircuitPython 

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you! Cheers!

Audio can be a bit tricky because there isn’t an audio out port on the zero, which is why I usually use a pi 2 in class. However I’ve switched to a Pico since it’s even easier to use. Feel free to check out the fully playlist at http:://bit.ly/circuitpython-tutorials

So glad you like it. Stereo is a bit more complicated. You can house audiomixer docs.circuitpython.org/en/latest/shared-bindings/audiomixer/index.html if you scroll through the playlist you’ll see a primer on using audiomixer. I hope to have a new video on this at some point in the coming weeks. Here is the Adafruit doc on audiomixer docs.circuitpython.org/en/latest/shared-bindings/audiomixer/index.html

The speaker is STEMMA and not STEMMA QT so I’ve avoided it. That might be a good alternative for some projects. I have used this one successfully for some projects. www.adafruit.com/product/3885 I’m finding many folks have speakers with 3.5 mm audio plugs so the two alligator clip method works well. I’ve also ordered 50 breadboard friendly jacks that will likely be useful for many of my students’ builds. Do let us know how the other speaker works for you.

Definitely check out Adafruit Discord for more help. They are great! I am currently on sabbatical.

I've never tried this, but I'd check with folks on the Adafruit Discord Channel. The support there is great & there are likely folks who have worked with audio input. See adafru.it/discord. Good luck!

Yes but you’ll need to use AudioMixer. See tutorials later in the playlist. I’m sure Adafruit has some good examples of this, too. Cheers!

Yes. That’d definitely help. You can see the hamburger speaker I use in class. It’s only about $8 and can be easily clipped to a board. Look in the playlist for full examples.

Yes, the pops are annoying. I haven’t found any way around this. Some have suggested trying AuduoMixer and lowering the volume briefly in the intro. I haven’t explored this to see if it’s really an option or not. Let me know if you find a solution. I may look into audiomixer as I build out the “Disco Button” I just posted about on Instagram and Mastodon. Would be nice to have pop-free music for this. Cheers!

Michael. It turns out audiometer doesn't support mp3s, but will play wavs. In my "Disco Button" project, I'm switching to wavs & audiometer. This seems to get rid of the pop and crackle, improving playback. Since I've added an SD card, I can use wavs without problems. I haven't created a full tutorial on this, but likely will at some point, but you might be able to go through this code to get a sense of how this works. Audiometer is created to be able to play multiple sounds simultaneously, but here I'm using it to play a single wav, but since it's smoother this is likely a better choice. Cheers! github.com/gallaugher/disco-button/blob/main/demo_of_wav_audio_mixer_no_pops

@@profgallaugher Thanks a lot！will give it a try when my SD card module is shipped.🤝

I've been learning a lot about this stuff these past few days. I was getting random ticks when using AudioMixer - both when a song was actively playing as well as when it stopped. They weren't in the proper place, either. I found that if I reduced the frequency rate using Audacity from 22050 to 16000 the ticks went away & the AudioMixer technique worked perfectly. This seems like a really good technique to use. I'll definitely do a lesson on this once my schedule clears up. Good luck with the SD card. This is also a real advantage in getting decent sound projects working on the Pico. Cheers & Hack On! BTW: If you want a "Make Something Awesome" sticker, DM me with a mailing address. I send them out to different folks each week, free of charge.

⁠@@profgallaugher Good to know！I have got my SD working now. But with PWMAudioOut, both wav and mp3 having pops randomly. Will give lower sample rate a try. Haven’t played with Audacity before, good opportunity to learn. BTW, I am outside US so probably we can only do online comm😛, but thank you nonetheless!

As long as you code the buttons and files properly, absolutely.

Make sure your sound file is formatted as mentioned. If it’s not mono or 22khz or smaller you’ll run into probs. You can also try other pins to see if your pin is an issue. Try other wires, as well. Finally you can check your speaker by trying some of the other code in the playlist that also uses sound. Good luck!

It's working now! I redo the wiring, then use the audio settings you recommended (Mono, 22050 Hz, and 16-bit PCM), and it now works. Thank you very much.

Check out the playlist. The DJ board will let you out in whatever sounds you want and play them simultaneously. bit.ly/pico-tutorials

It is built in when you install CircuitPython so you won’t have a module to drag into lib. To find the avail modules that are built in for your board you can enter the following at the REPL prompt help(“modules”) You can also find a matrix listing them for each board at docs.circuitpython.org/en/latest/shared-bindings/support_matrix.html Also if you scroll down when you find the .uf2 at CircuitPython.org you’ll also see a list of built ins for that board. Good luck!

@@profgallaugher Thank you for the reply I followed everything and It all makes much more sense! thank you im trying to run the program but no audio out unfortunate hopefully i can get it to work tomorrow

figured it out haha works great thank you so much :)

MicroPython uses different code, different installation procedures, etc. I work with CircuitPython for the reasons mentioned at the start of the video series - well supported, easier to use, etc.

Thankyou so much for your quick reply.Just one more thing.I am using micropython for servos leds ect.would i benefit by switching over to circuit?

I find CP much easier and straight forward. It's also super-well supported & there's lots of great help on Adafruit's Discord channel. You can start here to see the content I've created that will take you through motor use with CircuitPython: bit.ly/circuitpython-tutorials. And the first lesson in that series mentions why I work with CP & choose that for my university courses. Good luck!

Lots of ways to do this. Songs don’t have a fixed size / length, but the longer the song recorded with a higher fidelity, the more space it’ll take up. But if you scroll through the list you’ll also see how you can add an SD card to the Pico and then you’ll be able to play gigabytes of sound files.