Make Your Own MP3 Player

Before you shell out cash for an iPod, check out how you can make your own mp3 player.

Yeah, we all know that the all-powerful iPod, which Apple has turned into a perpetual cash machine, gives many of us our portable music fix just about anywhere we are, from the car to the treadmill, but if you're into solutions that you build yourself, and are handy with electronic parts, why not build your own MP3 player?

Many folks I know use their MP3 players to listen to news podcasts and music collections in their cars only. Do you need iPod fashion in your vehicle? Maybe not, an that is where a self-built MP3 digital audio player could be useful. Now that SD memory cards are insanely cheap (2GB cards go for under $20), what's keeping you from building your own MP3 hack job?

With a microcontroller chip, a power source (preferably a Lithium-Ion battery), a storage module (like an SD card), a small color display (like from a 2005-era cellphone) and a few assorted chips (like a MP3 decoding chip and amp circuit), you too can have your own MP3 player from scratch. Now, this is the type of solution that may take some skills in the areas of schematics reading and directions, but if you're not willing to depart with two benjamins for that latest iPod nano, break out your electrostatic gloves and get busy here.

Source