Arduino Voice Messenger - Shield vs. Electret Microphone design decision

Using Arduino Project Guidance
1

Hello, complete newby here!

I would like to prototype a communication device that empowers users to make and receive audio messages. It should:

  1. Record short audio messages
  2. Send them over the internet (i.e. to some API from a smartphone app like threema)
  3. Playback short audio messages received from smartphones

I got an arduino uno but am not sure where to start. Should I buy an audio shield (like this one), work with an electret microphone (like here) or do something altogether different? Too ambitious?

Tytyty! :slight_smile:

2

I don't know anything about that audio shield but the Arduino alone needs a lot of "help"... I doesn't have a DAC and or much memory. The 10-bit ADC is OK for voice messages but it's not for "high quality" audio.

You can build a microphone preamp but it's also economical (and easier) to buy a microphone board with the microphone and preamp built-in. Electret mics have to be powered, and the Arduino can't read negative voltages so the output has to be biased. Those features have to be built-into the preamp.

3

Check this out:

This is just an example. You can check it in other companies as well...

4

Thank you, alex5678 . I think I will go for that adafruit shield. I was not aware of this solution but it seems to tick all the boxes. Thank you very much!

@ DVDdoug: thank you for your thoughts on this topic. I think I will go for a shield first and once that solution runs do something more crafty - possibly building a pre-amp for the electret.