Every so often a new technology comes along that completely replaces what came before it, relegating the older tech to the trash heap or a bargain bin at a second-hand store. Over the past few decades this has played out right before our eyes in the world of audio playback. Records, 8-track cartridges, cassette tapes, CDs, and dedicated MP3 players have all given way to digital streaming services and phones or computers. This has many advantages, to be sure — in times past, the idea of being able to access millions of songs from a tiny device carried in one’s pocket would have seemed unimaginable.
A look inside the case (📷: Akasaka Ryuunosuke)
But something has also been lost in the process. Instead of having physical media to hold, we have files on a memory chip. And instead of a beautiful display piece for our homes with curves and knobs and physical buttons to press, we have a little black rectangle with a touchscreen. Akasaka Ryuunosuke is a hardware hacker that longs to have something more tangible to play media on once again. So Ryuunosuke created what is called the ESPer-CDP, which is a smart CD player, Internet radio device, and a hi-fi Bluetooth receiver all in one. It gives the full experience of a classic physical media player, but also sneaks in plenty of modern tech.
The player is powered by an ESP32-WROVER microcontroller with 4MB of PSRAM and 8MB of flash memory. This controls a retro Futaba GP1232A02 VFD display salvaged from an old arcade machine and a CD drive. And naturally there is an infrared receiver, so you can remote control the ESPer-CDP without having to unlock your phone first. In addition to the VFD display, the front panel also has plenty of buttons to control the operation of the device. The remainder of the case is made from medium-density fiberboard to give it a nice wood-look.
When playing CDs, the device can retrieve metadata from CDDB or MusicBrainz to show on the display. It is also capable of showing lyrics in real-time if you want to sing along, and of keeping track of what you listen to via Last.FM. Both MP3 and AAC format files are supported when using the ESPer-CDP as an internet radio receiver.
Looking ahead, Ryuunosuke is considering adding a web interface for device control (although that seems to somewhat defeat the purpose), and support for wirelessly transmitting CD data via Bluetooth. There are lots of details available, so be sure to check out the project write-up if you are interested in building a physical media player of your own.