Getting at least decent audio output?

Other Hardware General Electronics
1

Hello,
I'm trying to get decent audio out of an esp32.

I currently am running from this amp [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096ZM9LL5/] and this speaker [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LN8ONG4/]

and my audio quality is extremely soft. I found another tutorial that managed to get me louder audio but it broke apart/crackled a ton. Can anyone help me find the proper hardware? If anyone has any suggestions on a tutorial to go with it that would be create as well.

2

For clean audio you need a good DAC and a low pass filter before the amplifier. The ESP32 has neither.

3

It appears to be working correctly, you are getting about 0.32 watts out at 'full power'. That power level is in the earphone level. Look at the amplifier specifications and it states 4 or 8 Ohm, you chose a 40 Ohm speaker. More voltage will give you more output but depending on the failure mode it can damage your Arduino.

4

I got a 4 ohm. The title just merged it like "4Ohm"

5

"9dB".
Have you tried placing the speaker in a box, a plastic cup, or something?

(Could you upload your sketch? I might give it a go to see what's possible.)

6

Here is the tutorial I followed : ESP32 I2S Part 3 - Playing Wavs from SD Cards - XTronical

I am running slightly different hardware. I'm also only running one speaker/amp.

I'm having a heck of a time finding wav files that work. Literally only 2 out of dozen that I've tried worked...1 super soft...one loud but horribly crackly and the rest just made a solid tone.

7

My results are definitely not headphone level. Barely whisper.

8

He's using a sparkfun (MAX98357A) DAC board that has a power amp built in.
Are you using a DAC module?
The amazon board is just a power amp.

You have different boards. Maybe it's speed, stereo vs mono (other troubles noted).

SparkFun I2S Audio Breakout - MAX98357A - DEV-14809 - SparkFun Electronics
See "gain selection" -- 100kohm from GAIN to GND → 15dB. Your boards have a GAIN terminal too.

9

The gain actually helped a lot. The tutorial had set it to a low gain for some reason. I didn't realize...I just did what they said. Thanks very much