A new audio blaster kit for the humble computer science college student has been spotted online.
The $10 audio blaster is made of 3-d printed plastic and uses a cheap Arduino chip, which is the same type used in most Arduino boards.
This particular Arduino is the Mega 2616 and comes with a micro USB cable, an 8.4v power supply, and an adapter for powering the audio amplifier.
The audio amplifier’s output is 5v, so you’ll need to connect a 5v power brick or a wall wart.
To power the amp, you’ll connect a 12v DC power supply and a 12V audio jack to your Arduino.
To control the audio, you can use an external mic.
A cheap but useful audio amplifier is the AudioQuest RCA Audio Amp, which comes with three 6.3mm stereo jack drivers, a 6v power jack, and a 1/4-inch speaker jack.
The amplifier’s power supply is powered by a 12VDC AC-to-DC converter, so it will run for hours on a single AA battery.
For the amplifier to work, you need to add a speaker.
The RCA audio amp is rated at $40.00, and the Mega 6.1mm stereo amp is $20.00.
The Arduino board can also be found on Amazon for $5.99.
The Mega 2612 is $9.99, and its 8.1v power adapter is $3.99 for a total of $21.99 when sold as a kit.
The power amp’s output should be enough to drive the audio amp and a speaker, so plugging in a speaker will be necessary to power the amplifier.
If you don’t want to use a speaker in your computer science classroom, you might consider a cheaper alternative.