🎉  Happy 13th Birthday Raspberry Pi!   🎂   1,000+ deals in store!   🥳
🎉  Happy 13th Birthday Raspberry Pi!   🎂   1,000+ deals in store!   🥳

Pirate Audio: Speaker for Raspberry Pi

by Pimoroni

Pump out some mini beats with Pirate Audio Speaker! This diminutive sound system has an I2S DAC, amp, mini mono speaker, high-res display, and playback control buttons.

Pirate Audio Speaker is perfect for making a Lilliputian radio, sound effect player, or even as a teeny-weeny games console! The built-in 1W speaker isn't the loudest but it's great fun for lots of projects. The display and playback buttons let you control your audio or sound effects in a jiffy. Use our Pirate Audio software (more info below) to play local audio files (MP3, FLAC, etc) or stream from online services.

Pirate Audio is a range of all-in-one audio boards for Raspberry Pi, with high-quality digital audio, beautifully-crisp IPS displays for album art, tactile buttons for playback control, and our custom Pirate Audio software and installer to make setting it all up a breeze.

Features

  • MAX98357A DAC / amplifier chip (datasheet)
  • Mono audio
  • Mini speaker (1W / 8Ω, attached)
  • Push-fit speaker terminals
  • 1.3" IPS colour LCD (240x240px) (ST7789 driver)
  • Four tactile buttons
  • Mini HAT-format board
  • Fully-assembled
  • Compatible with all 40-pin header Raspberry Pi models
  • Pirate Audio software
  • Dimensions: 65x30.5x9.5mm

Software

Our Pirate Audio software and installer installs the Python library for the LCD, configures the I2S audio and SPI, and then installs Mopidy and our custom Pirate Audio plugins to display album art and track info, and to use the buttons for playback control.

Here's how to get started:

  1. Set an SD card up with the latest version of Raspberry Pi OS.
  2. Connect to Wi-Fi or a wired network.
  3. Open a terminal and type the following:

    git clone https://github.com/pimoroni/pirate-audio
    cd pirate-audio/mopidy
    sudo ./install.sh


  4. Reboot your Pi

You can find more detailed instructions here: https://github.com/pimoroni/pirate-audio/tree/master/mopidy or get tonnes more info in our Getting Started with Pirate Audio tutorial.

Notes

Note that our installer, linked above, does all of the below for you, but if you're an intrepid hacker then you might need to know this stuff!

  • The DAC can be configured by adding dtoverlay=hifiberry-dac to the /boot/config.txt file.
  • There is a DAC enable pin—BCM 25— that must be driven high to enable the DAC. You can do this by adding gpio=25=op,dh to the /boot/config.txt file.
  • The buttons are active low, and connected to pins BCM 5, 6, 16, and 24.
  • The display uses SPI, and you'll need to enable SPI through the Raspberry Pi configuration menu.
  • If you want to use these boards with a Pibow Coupé case (either for the Zero / Zero W or Pi 4), then you'll need to use a booster header to raise it up a little.

11 customer reviews

7 months ago
A very useful little board, only tested the servo set up so far but with the MicroPython examples from Pimoroni it was easy to get things moving and running.
by Ben about Inventor 2040 W (Pico W Aboard) via REVIEWS.io
8 months ago
Whilst useable, needs a bit of brain think to work out connections and programming. Also need to buy appropriate plugs for inputs and outputs.
by Alan about Inventor 2040 W (Pico W Aboard) via REVIEWS.io
8 months ago
As usual Pimoroni delivered the items in good time and this is a great little board that let me prototype a catch and release trap design for a friend of mine. Documentation for the inventor board isn't as good as I hoped but I managed to cobble together a working laser trip wire and a servo. No soft toys were harmed in the making of the video and the rabbit was released shortly after filming 😉
by Mr M about Inventor 2040 W (Pico W Aboard) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
a lovely board for all sorts of robotics progects, it is my goto board when I am not 100% sure of where the project will lead me. Using one of these as a brain transplant on my 6 servo humanoid robot was a huge improvement (previously a PiZerow with a servo phat)
by alister about Inventor 2040 W (Pico W Aboard) via REVIEWS.io
2 years ago
Awesome bit of kit, up and running with no issues. Little web page with buttons to wiggle some servos, just need to think of a practical use now and make the UI prettier
by Chris about Inventor 2040 W (Pico W Aboard) via REVIEWS.io
2 years ago
Looks like a really good project base. I have used the Pico with Python before, but I’d really like to get ‘C’ up and running with this board (hopefully there are libraries to help).
by Nigel about Inventor 2040 W (Pico W Aboard) via REVIEWS.io
3 years ago
We have been using the Pi Pico board since it became available in the Spring of 2021. So far, we have sampled the Pico Explorer, the Inventor 2040 W, and the Pico Omnibus - all products of Pimoroni. They all have their applications, however the Inventor 2040 W comes closest to our requirement for a small, modestly priced microcontroller board tailored for robotics applications. The convenience of connection to Micro Metal Motors and tachometer assemblies via JST leads is a big step forward. So far, we have not explored the wireless capabilities of the 2040 W, but I am sure when the students get their hands on these boards then we shall see great things!
by Timothy about Inventor 2040 W (Pico W Aboard) via REVIEWS.io

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