With the Pimoroni Pirate Audio, you can now transform a Raspberry Pi into a media player with Spotify integration. The Pirate Audio integrates a headphone amplifier, a DAC, a 3.5 mm jack, a 1.3-inch IPS colour display and four physical buttons.

Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Bay Trail , Business , Cannon Lake , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Nexus / Pixel , How To , Ice Lake , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Kaby Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Project Athena , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Whiskey Lake , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker

Apple may have killed all but the iPod Touch of its iconic iPod range, but that does not mean that media players have died off completely. Sony still makes products like the NW-A45, for example, while there are plenty of lesser brands churning out MP3 players.

Alternatively, you could make your own. Now, you can even create one using a Raspberry Pi thanks to the Pirmoroni Pirate Audio. Sold as a headphone amp, the unit is an all-in-one solution that not only has a headphone amp and 3.5 mm jack but also a 1.3-inch display and a DAC. Specifically, the Pirate Audio incorporates the following:

PAM8908 headphone amplifier

Low-gain/high-gain switch (high-gain boosts to 12 dB)

PCM5100A DAC

3.5 mm stereo jack

1.3-inch colour IPS LCD - ST7789 driver (240 x 240 px)

Four physical buttons

According to the manufacturer, the Pirate Audio can output amplified 24-bit/192 kHz digital audio via I2S. Its Texas Instruments PCM5100A DAC offers a dynamic range of up to 100 dB, which also applies to its signal-to-noise ratio. Meanwhile, the PAM8908 headphone amplifier delivers up to 25 mW per channel. The 65 x 30.5 x 9.5 mm board is compatible with all 40-pin header Raspberry Pi models, although its dimensions mirror those of the Model Zero.