DSP kit recommendations

[LiquidMetal]

Hello!

I am looking for some DSP kit recommendations to meet the following requirements:

* Price < 200 USD
* DSP/CPU with sufficient documentation
* C compiler
* Debug capabilities
* Availability of audio-FX samples (code+articles)

The ToneCore pedal meets all requirements except for the last one and considering the closed source nature of the kit I doubt this will change.

Thanks

[carrejans]

Hello!

I am looking for some DSP kit recommendations to meet the following requirements:

* Price < 200 USD
* DSP/CPU with sufficient documentation
* C compiler
* Debug capabilities
* Availability of audio-FX samples (code+articles)

The ToneCore pedal meets all requirements except for the last one and considering the closed source nature of the kit I doubt this will change.

Thanks

I don't know if you will find a development board with audio-fx examples.
You can find examples in this book: DaFX, written by Udo Zolzer

I use a cheap development board from Freescale (Motorola): Symphony Soundbite. (150 USD, if I'm correct)

They provide all the code for ADC and DAC, etc... So you can already pass the sound unaltered from the inputs to the outputs. This is done in Assembly. I also believe there is the same code in C; but I haven't checked that code.

[cctsim]

I got this ADSP 21369 based board for £290   

http://www.analog.com/en/embedded-processing-dsp/sharc/21369-HARDWARE/products/product.html

http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/product_highlights/40387002ADSP_21369_EZ_KIT_final.pdf

It meets all the specs you've mentioned except for the price. The processor is very fast (400MHz, 2.4 GFLOPS) and the board has tons of memory if you plan to implement delay/reverb effects. They provide also a "blockthrough" example in C that makes the implementation of audio algorithms very trivial. The license for the C compiler is valid for 90 days but can be easily extended to more. All in all a very professional board worth every penny.

[rotylee]

don't know much about DSP programming'
but was impressed by the jump in speed and capabilities between the 2136x series and the 2146x series
also no where near the price range
the newer sharc processor doubles performance

2136x = 413 MIPS
2 Mb SRAM

2146x = 980 MIPS
5 Mb SRAM

FIR, IIR, and FFT accelerators
16-bit wide DDR2 external memory interface

the ADSP-21467 has 4 Mbits of on-chip ROM with industry standard audio decoders
Audio decoding algorithms include PCM, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Prologic IIx,
DTS 96/24, Neo:6, DTS ES, MPEG-2 AAC, MP3, and functions like bass
management, delay, speaker equalization, graphic equalization, and more.
Decoder/post-processor algorithm combination support varies depending
upon the chip version and the system configurations.

* Some parts in the ADSP-2146x family are also available with an automotive temperature range. Automotive products in this family are: ADSP-21462W, ADSP-21465W, ADSP-21469W

The ADSP-21462W and ADSP-21465W processors provide the Digital Transmission
Content Protection protocol, a proprietary security protocol. Contact
your Analog Devices sales office for more information.

Please visit
www.analog.com for complete information.
a pdf on the processor
http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/online_training/SHARC_2146x_Slides.pdf
here is a on-demand presentation
http://em.avnet.com/evs/home/0,4582,CID%253D51125%2526CCD%253DUSA%2526SID%253D32214%2526DID%253DDF2%2526LID%253D32233%2526BID%253DDF2%2526CTP%253DEVS,00.html?SUL=adisharcadsp2146xeetb

[LiquidMetal]

Thanks for the suggestions. I checked the price of the DAFX book and found to be quite pricey, almost as much as the kit itself. The reason I asked for availability of sample code/examples boils down to much more basic question - is there a way to do DSP programming without having few PhD degrees in math? I checked many articles on DSP programming and it seems they are geared more towards mathematicians than engineers; therefore I started asking myself if this is really worth it. I studied FFT, z-transformation and signal theory but didn't really enjoy it. I like programming very much but when it comes to math I don't feel quite confident.

Another thing to consider is adding the price of a good math simulation package (Mathlab) to the overall expenses - so far it looks like $150-$200 for the kit, about $120-240 for books and from I've heard about $800 for Mathlab. I am not including expenses for third-party better C/C++ compilers/debuggers/IDEs available for the system. The initial investment of roughly $1200 doesn't look very appealing for a mere mortal DIYer.   

Anyway, to return to the original question - is it worth pursuing DSP programming as a hobby for people with limited math skills?

Thanks 

[carrejans]

I studied FFT, z-transformation and signal theory but didn't really enjoy it.
...
Anyway, to return to the original question - is it worth pursuing DSP programming as a hobby for people with limited math skills?

Then, probably not. 

[cctsim]

Octave is a free alternative for Matlab which does the job for me 100%:

http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/