Where to start?

[blbuford]

Hey guys, I've been doing a fair amount 'lurking' around this forum and found a bunch similar topics to the one I'm about to ask, but I never could pull enough information to answer the "Where the hell do I begin?" question. I'm a Computer Science major, so I'm quite comfortable with programming and learning new languages. After about two weeks worth of research on micro-controllers, DSPs, and FPGAs, my mind has come to rest on FPGAs. I'm looking to make a guitar looping station, and I want it to have at least CD quality sound which knocks out all the boards with 10 and 12 bit ADCs. Is FPGA the way to go? Will they have enough I/O pins to interface with multiple IC's (multichannel ADC and DAC; SD Card; external RAM)? I'm looking for some room for growth as well. Any comments or suggestions?

[Taylor]

There were some good suggestions regarding hardware in this thread:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=80036.0

Would love to see what you come up with. I doubt I can help much as my DSP knowledge is limited to the Spin FV-1 chip, which won't work for a real looper, but I've wanted to build a quality looper for a long time and would be excited to contribute however I can.

And, welcome to the forum!