During
the past few years, a great deal of progress
has been made in the field of digital audio
system technology. Let’s focus on the three
main areas of development.
First,
consider the quality of embedded ARM-based microcontrollers.
These devices have enough processing power for
the software decoding of MP3 and other compressed
file formats in real time.
Progress
has also been made in mass storage device technology.
The affordable, easy-to-interface SD card has
become one of the most popular (a de facto standard)
types of memory. The USB flash disk widely used
by PC users is the other popular technology.
Finally,
it’s clear that a lot of progress has been made
in audio codec and DAC technology. More variety,
functionality, and lower power consumption are
commonly available today. Sorry, Steve, but
“my best software tool is (no longer) a soldering
iron.”
