...I see a lot of references to the 'SOMO 14D' sound replay module, but I thought ~$25 for a module
with the specs it has was just a wee bit too expensive. The modules is made be 4Dsystem in my
own locale (.au), and the forums on that site suggest the module's main IC has all it's identification
sanded off, and thus nobody knows what it is... well... I think I do...
...searching around for a comparable module, I came across the following ;
http://emartee.com/product/41540/MP3%20Sound%20Module%20Mini%20SD%20Card
..albeit the PCB design is different, pinouts are not the same, and you have to ensure you order the
right control mode preprogrammed into it... but otherwise, it's functionally identical to the SOMO 14D,
<half the price, and likely they're both using the same (or very similar) IC -- the WTV020-s(SOP20) ..
.. so you can grab the documentation from the above page and use them for reference...
...this also means that much of what applies to the SOMO 14D applies to the 'WTV-020-SD-mini'
(as marked on the PCB) from emartee.com -- that means you can use the 'SOMO Tool' from the
4Dsystems website (it's a free download) to produce the 4bit ADPCM '.ad4' compressed audio files
used by these modules, and sketch examples all work 'as expected' for both...
http://yapan.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/arduino/examples/SOMO_14D_Test/SOMO_14D_Test.pde
...be mindful that this IC was primarily designed to deliver audio content at or about the sound
frequency of the human voice, and as such the dynamic range of the audio output is limited. And
it's mono only. If you want a talking project that has a 'vocabulary' of up to 512 voice/sound samples,
that can babble on like any scifi teevee robot/computer/ship for about $10 ... this is you =) If you want
a something to replay music in stereo at a more acceptable fidelity for listening, don't use these modules,
you'll be disappointed -- buy something better....