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[on:]

Hi

I was wondering if you could offer some advice on a project I'm about to embark upon.
I'm a networking student interested in building a device to test the feasibility of converting input from musical instruments such as guitar, and sending this over Ethernet in a basic form to a PC running capture software.

My tutor suggested an Arduino may be a suitable platform for knocking up a proof of concept but im a little weary that the capabilities of the AD converter is not suited to high quality audio.

Can anyone advise me

1.If I stick with the on-board converter would this make a suitable basis for a pre-amp? http://www.maplin.co.uk/lm386n-1-2963
 
2.Is there a way of using/can you recomend a higher quality ADC product to directly input serial data to the Arduino at rates up to 4608Kb/s (192khz 24bit)

Please bear in mind I'm new to electronics

[Reply #1 on:]

Can anyone advise me

1.If I stick with the on-board converter would this make a suitable basis for a pre-amp? http://www.maplin.co.uk/lm386n-1-2963

The LM-386 was not designed to be a audio pre-amp and is a rather poor choice for a pre-amp. It was/is an audio output chip for low power applications like transistor radios, cassette decks, etc. driving a small speaker. It's not a bad chip, but certainly not of the highest audio quality and specifications.

 From the same era the National LM-387 ( http://www.experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/Datasheets/LM387.pdf ) was designed for audio pre-amp applications and had better noise specs, etc.

 Today most quality pre-amp circuits are just designed with the plentiful and better avalible op-amps which can be selected for whatever specific specifications are important for a specific application.

My favorite source for audio circuits is the Elliott sound products site. Here is the section on pre-amp circuits:

http://sound.westhost.com/projects-2.htm

That web site is just full of very useful information that applies to much more then just audio applications.

Lefty

[Reply #2 on:]

2.Is there a way of using/can you recomend a higher quality ADC product to directly input serial data to the Arduino at rates up to 4608Kb/s (192khz 24bit)

No the serial output of ADs is in the SPI form.
However, the built in one is good enough for proof  of concept, just send 16 bit samples. However I am not so impressed by the actual concept Ethernet is not a real time protocol.