[PD] Multiple audio outputs on a single-board computer ?

[Lorenzo Sutton]

On 17/03/21 07:42, Pierre Massat wrote:
> Dear all,
> 
> I haven't posted anything on this list in years.
> I'm trying to build a system to play several sound files in a loop,
> each around 2 minutes in length, all at the same time. By "several" I
> mean 10 to 15 different files. While I'd have no problem making a Pd
> patch to achieve this, I have no idea what hardware I could use. I
> have a limited budget, and I was planning on running Pd on a Raspberry
> Pi (or similar single-board computer).
> 
> Is there any cheap way of outputing than many channels from a single
> (a couple of) RPi ?

How many are 'many' :-)

If it's <= 8 channels and you don't care (too much) about latency you 
could check out a cheap '7.1' USB card (these can cost less than 30 euro 
online) and if it exposes 8 writable inputs via jack that could work. 
The physical outputs of these are, of course, unbalanced and in couples 
so you'd need to do some cable splitting and then maybe have a mixer 
nearby...
I never did this on the RPi but I _did_ something similar with a cheap 
5.1 usb sound blaster hooked to a laptop in the past.
I'm assuming, of course that each file would 'consume' just 1 channel...

YMMV.

If you want more than 8 output channels it will be hard to stay 'cheap' 
(which of course depends on 'how much' is your limited budget), and then 
- of course - you need to check linux compatibility (i.e. if they are 
'class compliant'...)

My two cents,

Lorenzo.