Sounds good! Audio added to Raspberry Pi 400

23rd September 2021

Mick Elliott

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OKdo has added the DACBerry 400 audio input/output to the Raspberry Pi ecosystem. It has been developed in partnership with audio accessory provider OSA Electronics, specifically for the Raspberry Pi 400, and is available exclusively through OKdo.

The DACBerry 400 is the first accessory available for the Raspberry Pi 400 that provides audio capabilities.

OSA Electronics, a specialist in this area, provided the design expertise and manufacturing support. It complements OSA Electronics’ existing product line-up of audio accessory HATs for the Raspberry Pi format.

With no analogue outputs of its own, the Raspberry Pi relies on HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) expansion modules to provide features such as audio input/output. OSA Electronics has used its experience in this area to develop the DACBerry 400.

With up to two 3.5mm jacks across two versions of the product, it supports both audio out (headphones, line-out) and audio in (MIC, line-in). The DACBerry 400 connects to the Raspberry Pi 400’s 40-pin GPIO header and provides pass-through for further expansion. A protective cover will also be available.

“We have designed the DACBerry 400 jointly with OKdo, using the latest audio technology and best design practices,” commented Oriol Sanchez, Founder OSA Electronics. “We’re sure it will become a must-have accessory for Raspberry Pi 400 users, meeting their high expectations for audio capabilities.”

The Raspberry Pi 400 has become extremely popular with younger makers, providing a low-cost, all-in-one computing solution that is easy and fun to program. Adding audio in/out will bring a new dimension to that experience and will help retro gamers, coding clubs, schools and hobbyists to discover even more application areas.

With a sample rate of up to 96kHz at 32-bit, the DACBerry uses an integrated DSP to create 3D effects including equalisation and de-emphasis.

This is complemented by a DAC with 102dB SNR and ADC with 92dB SNR.

The low-noise design partitions the analogue and digital functions to achieve THD+N @ 1kHz of 0.006%.

“Providing the best possible entry into coding is important to OKdo,” said Richard Curtin, OKdo’s SVP Technology. “That’s why we worked with OSA Electronics to bring the DACBerry 400 to market, extending the product offering by making it fun and easy for those new to coding to add audio to their projects.”