We’re starting to stock a lot of chips that can do digital I2S out, which makes for great-quality audio playback. That’s great when you have enough processing power to decode WAVs or MP3s in real-time. However, we could really use some better DACs in the shop. We like the UDA1334A, but that’s technically discontinued – it’s great because it doesn’t require an MCLK that some boards like the Raspberry Pi don’t have and doesn’t need I2C configuration either.

The PCM510x is a good family, too; it ranges from the inexpensive PCM5100 to the PCM5102 which has high quality output at a higher cost. This breakout could use any of the family chips & gives you all the GPIO needed with a 3.5mm headphone jack for line-level output. We’re testing it out with some cool tunes from the adafruit soundcloud, check it out! – video.