Construct Your Own MP3 Soundbox

Have you ever imagined building your own MP3 speaker for your school's science fair? In this project, we will teach you step by step for you to build your own speaker and use few resources and have fun with your friends.

Therefore, in this project you will learn:

• The operation of the DFPlayer Mini MP3 module;
• Build the basic control circuit;
• Solder your sound control card;
• Build the MDF speaker case.

Now, we will start the circuit assembly step by step.

• 01 x JLCPCB Printed Circuit Board
• 04 x JST Connector 1x2
• 01 x DFPlayer Mini

The DFPlayer Mini MP3 Player For Arduino is a small and low price MP3 module with an simplified output directly to the speaker. The module can be used as a stand alone module with attached battery, speaker and push buttons or used in combination with an Arduino UNO or any other with RX/TX capabilities.

The following are some operating characteristics of the DFPlayer Mini module.

• supported sampling rates (kHz): 8/11.025/12/16/22.05/24/32/44.1/48
• 24 -bit DAC output, support for dynamic range 90dB , SNR support 85dB
• fully supports FAT16 , FAT32 file system, maximum support 32G of the TF card, support 32G of U disk, 64M bytes NORFLASH
• a variety of control modes, I/O control mode, serial mode, AD button control mode
• advertising sound waiting function, the music can be suspended. when advertising is over in the music continue to play
• audio data sorted by folder, supports up to 100 folders, every folder can hold up to 255 songs
• 30 level adjustable volume, 6 -level EQ adjustable.

The DFPlayer Mini Module has several pins for different functionalities. However, in this article we will present your music control with two buttons.

From these two buttons it will be possible to play the songs and control the ring volume, as shown below. Next, we will present your basic control circuit.

The circuit shown above, is the basic circuit for performing the music control of the DFPlayer Mini device. As you can see, two buttons were used to control volume and music tracks.

The button connected to the IO1 pin will be used to play the previous track and also to lower the volume of the song. To lower the ring volume, it is necessary to hold a button for longer than 500 ms. This way, the volume will be reduced.

The button connected to the IO2 pin, on the other hand, will be used to play the next track and also increase the volume of the song. For this, the same procedure of reducing the musical volume must be performed.

From this circuit, we will connect the speaker to pins SPK_1 and SPK_2. After that, we will supply our circuit with a voltage of 5V on the GND and VCC pins, as shown in the electronic circuit diagram.

All connection pins for the DFPlayer Mini module are shown in the diagram above.

Now, we will present the construction of the printed circuit board of the MP3 soundbox.

In the printed circuit board project - JLCPCB, was used 4 JST Connector. The C1 connector is used to power supply the circuit, C2 will be used to connect the speaker, and C3 and C4 will be used to connect the button of control the tracks and song level of the musics.

From of the circuit, was mounted the printed circuit board of this project.

The Printed Circuit Board is presented in the following step.

From of electronic schematic presented in the previous step, we construct this printed circuit board.

This PCB is very simples and has one layer. In addition, was used 4 JST Connector and a DFPlayer Mini to play the songs.

The result is presented in the figure above and this PCB can be obtained in JLCPCB for $2 - 10 PCBs.

After constructing the PCB, was created the circuit case. The case was developed to store the circuit and install the buttons of control of the MP3 Sound Box.

The case will be presented in the next step.

In the section, you'll access the files of the soundbox case. As is possible see above, the case has a rectangular shape and the files for laser cut is allowed, too.

As is possible to see, we have two holes. Each hole is created to install the control buttons of the songs. The box is mounted through finger union and the result is presented in figure of the left side.

After assembling the box design and joining the parts with glue, we must record the songs on the memory card. This process is presented below.

To record your songs in SD Card, connect your SD Card on your computer and transfer the songs. After this, connect your SD Card in your DFPlayer Mini.

Finally, close your box and have fun listening to your music.

Thanks JLCPCB to offer the PCB Arduino Compatible Board Open Source Project to produce this article.