While the proliferation of the smartphone has caused the personal music player (PMP) market to mostly evaporate, there are still those who prefer a standalone device for their music. The Melodio Self-Mate is one such spiritual successor to the iPod.
Music-only devices really benefit from the wheel interface pioneered by Apple, so we still see it in many of the new Open Source PMPs including this one and the Tangara. The Melodio uses the ubiquitous ESP32 for its brains coupled with a TI PCM5102A DAC and TI TPA6130A2 headphone amp for audio. A slider on the side of the device allows you to switch it between mass storage mode and programming mode for the ESP32.
Since this device packs a little more horsepower and connectivity than the original iPods, things like listening to Spotify are doable once assembled, instead of having to completely rebuild the device. Speaking of building, there are only renders on the GitHub, so we’re not sure if this project has made the jump IRL yet. With more people concerned about the distractions of smartphones, maybe this renaissance of open PMPs will lead to a new golden age of music on the go?
Miss the halcyon days of the iPod? They’re easier to hack now than ever, and if you really want to go old school, how about a podcast on a floppy?
sorry, what was the question?
The project page is only full of project files.
No video and just a selling readme text.
You don´t need a video. It´s an AUDIO player, sorry for you, you were likely born too late.
The link has no video. Or AUDIO to describe how this thing is actually put together.
There aren’t even any PDFs of the schematics, something similar and quite a bit further along: https://sr.ht/~jacqueline/tangara/
Why would you need a PDF if you have all CAD data available ? Fire your kicad, and make a PDF export for yourself!
Because a PDF is universally readable from any device.
and which you can actually buy: https://www.crowdsupply.com/cool-tech-zone/tangara
(the melodio doesn’t really seem like an active project)
“the wheel interface pioneered by Apple”
seriously… selecting things via a knob or a series of buttons is a circular pattern was pioneered by apple!?!?
What was exactly the brilliant thing that was pioneered here? Knobs were nothing new, a list of items on a display was nothing new, placing knobs in a circle isn’t exactly rocket science is it? I do not want to sound negative, but using the word “pioneered” is a bit of an overstatement, isn’t it?
What am I missing here?
Regarding the project, I’m sure it great, but there isn’t very much to look at. Again, what am I missing here?
the earlier ipod had an actual rotory encoder iirc, which was replaced with a custom synaptics pad on subsequent models. i had stereos in the 90s with rotory encoders, and some of those supported mp3 burned to disc. it was not the first high capacity mp3 player either. apple gets way too much credit. all they did was made them trendy.
The circular interface was actually very well implemented capacitive “touch screen” that you could use in rotation motion without anything moving.
I still have that classic iPod and I love the interface. Such easy and natural thing to use.
Pioneered may have been the wrong word to use here, Jan. Fair enough!
As Jouni says here, “perfected” might be a better term. Apple rarely does things first, but they do usually nail the UI/UX on their devices, and the iPod might be the best of them with the clickwheel, IMO.
If you’re streaming, a touchscreen works fine, but for local media playback, I really prefer the iPod method.