User defined soundcard over SPI

Patchbox OS
1

Hi I am looking to expand patchbox beyond the PiSound card.

I want to add a couple of MCP4822 12 bit DACs for midi to cv and maybe extra audio channels along with midi in out and through.

Is there any good resource on how users can create their own soundcards to use with patchbox?

Thanks.

2

All the information for Linux in general should apply. :slight_smile: Pisound uses the SPI bus on CE0, so you should aim at using CE1 for ChipSelect (if you want it to work together with Pisound).

3

Thanks, @Giedrius. I want to use it instead of Pisound.

I am currently trying to find python tutorials on SPI DACs. I’m probably wrong to assume that I could connect a MCP4822 to the pins a PiSounds DAC would be and expect it just to work? I’m suspecting the same to be true for MIDI dins.

It is probably out of place to ask for details about the PiSounds design and if I would be able to design my own version with extra I/O.

4

Yes, you can’t connect things like that to Pisound, it wouldn’t work. You should connect stuff to Raspberry Pi’s GPIO header, and you have to run the necessary software for the connected hardware to work the intended way. You may likely have to write the code yourself.