Reason #2 to consider i.MX RT1010 -Take advantage of its audio capabilities

[Kathleen]

Listen up everyone. We are winding down the countdown and my blog today is about audio. Many consumer products and embedded devices support various digital audio functions, and more and more engineers are looking for the MCU to support these functions, rather than needing to add a DSP or other dedicated solution.  The good news is that many MCUs now have the capabilities to support these basic audio tasks. But how do you choose an MCU that will give your product the price, performance, and design flexibility you need?

Let’s say you are building a docking station or a set of digital speakers or even a thermostat that can play music throughout the home. A high performance, low-cost MCU like the i.MX RT1010 device, can play a big role in this type of design by managing the digital music streams. The audio subsystem of the i.MX RT1010 MCU consists of the following modules: SAI-1, SAI-2, S/PDIF and MQS. And, the performance of the i.MX RT1010 device will allow you to decode common audio formats like MP3/4, AAC, or WMA with plenty of MIPS to spare.

One of the more interesting audio features of the i.MX RT1010 MCU is the on-chip Sony/Philips Digital Interface (S/PDIF) module. The S/PDIF module can transmit uncompressed or compressed data and it is an easy way to get stereo or multi-channel audio to the i.MX RT MCU. The i.MX RT1010 S/PDIF module has both a receiver and transmitter. A use case for the S/PDIF interface is to carry compressed digital audio for surround sound.

So what’s the message here on audio? You can achieve lossless transmission of CD-quality audio from a small 80LQFP MCU and all for a super low price. Can you believe that?

Tomorrow, October 24, NXP’s technical experts will be delivering a 1-hour webinar on i.MX RT and MCUXpresso (this may or may not also be a hint about tomorrow's blog topic).  We would love for you to join us and ask us any question that you are wondering about the i.MX RT1010.  You can register here.  Hope to see you online tomorrow!