How to use nRF53 audio dk series to play mp3 audio file

[ShuMan]

Hi,

I have worked on nRF 5340 (nRF connect SDK v1.9.1) for last few days and now able to use and modify some examples.

Recently, I have received the nRF 5340 audio DK which I need to use to develop an application which will use the audio audio files stored in an external SD card and then will play them to drive external device (Ex. speaker). I have cloned the repo, but could not yet configure the device under the Add Build Configuration as I am unable to find the board name for nrf5340 audio dk. Please let me know what I am missing here and it will be really helpful if I can get a reference for DK configuration and any example available to start with the application development.

Thanks

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello,

Please download the NCS v2.0.0 since this is the NCS version that marks the official release of the nRF5340 Audio reference application. You will need the v2.0.0 or the v1.9.99-dev1 tagged release in order to create a build configuration for the nRF5340 Audio DK.
You can read more about the steps to get up and running with the nRF5340 Audio DK in the reference application documentation.
Please note that usage of the SD card is not supported by the nRF5340 reference application, but there is no limitation for you to implement this in the application.

Best regards,
Karl

[ShuMan]

Hi Karl,

Thank you for the clarification.

In the nRF5340 Audio documentation, I found "You need at least two nRF5340 Audio development kits (one with the gateway firmware and one with headset firmware) to test the application. ". So can't I play any audio using a single standalone Audio DK i.e. not by broadcasting it from one DK to other?

Regards,

Shubham

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello Shubham,

ShuMan said:

Thank you for the clarification.

No problem at all, I am happy to help!

ShuMan said:

In the nRF5340 Audio documentation, I found "You need at least two nRF5340 Audio development kits (one with the gateway firmware and one with headset firmware) to test the application. ". So can't I play any audio using a single standalone Audio DK i.e. not by broadcasting it from one DK to other?

You can perform either of the tasks with a single device - either acting as a headset or as a gateway (the audio source), but you will need 2 DKs in order to test the full end-to-end capabilities.
If you only have a single DK you can either program it as a gateway (without a 'headset' device to play the transmitted audio) or as a headset (without a 'gateway' device to receive audio from).
When LE Audio is fully supported by iOS or Android you will be able to use a compatible smartphone as a gateway, but this is unfortunately not the case yet, so you should therefore use at least two devices when you evaluate the nRF5340 for LE Audio products.
I hope that clears things up - please do not hesitate to let me know if anything still should be unclear, or if you have any additional questions to this.

Best regards,
Karl

[ShuMan]

Hi Karl,

So as far as I understand, I need a gateway either a compatible smartphone or another DK to be able to stream audio. Is this correct?

Also, is it possible to send a command using Serial UART over BLE from a smartphone which can trigger the audio DK to play a particular audio stored into the SD card?

Thanks and Regards,

Shubham

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello again, Shubham

ShuMan said:

So as far as I understand, I need a gateway either a compatible smartphone or another DK to be able to stream audio. Is this correct?

Yes, this would be the case for almost any BLE product as well - you'd need both a sender and a receiver to properly test that the wireless communication is working as expected.

ShuMan said:

Also, is it possible to send a command using Serial UART over BLE from a smartphone which can trigger the audio DK to play a particular audio stored into the SD card?

Yes, you can use regular BLE services and profiles to control the audio being transmitted.
In the LE Audio context these services are referred to as ACLs.

Best regards,
Karl