Travis Lin's DSTIKE-DA Is an Espressif ESP32-Powered Bluetooth Speaker with an Unusual Form Factor
"Gumstick"-style speaker is powered over a USB Type-A plug, meaning wire-free connections to power banks and more.
Maker Travis Lin has released an open source USB gumstick-format Bluetooth speaker, built around an Espressif ESP32 microcontroller and an Analog Devices MAX98357 digital to analog converter (DAC) — and with "dual-antenna power" for improved signal stability.
"The DSTIKE-DA is a premium, open-source USB Bluetooth speaker that pushes the limits of the [Espressif] ESP32 platform," Lin explains of the device. "Featuring a custom 16MB flash ESP32-WROOM-DA module and the [Analog Devices] MAX98357 I2S DAC, it combines massive storage for your code with superior signal stability and digital audio performance."
The heart of the build is what Lin calls a "custom ESP32-WROOM-DA" microcontroller module, which features dual antennas — designed so the device "intelligently handles signal reception to ensure a rock-solid Bluetooth link even in interference-heavy environments," the maker says — plus an upgrade to 16MB of off-chip flash storage rather than the usual 4MB.
The speaker is powered by USB, though not in the way you're probably expecting: the compact speaker board uses a "gumstick" format with a full-size USB Type-A connector on one end, which can be inserted as-is into USB power banks and chargers without the need for a cable. The gadget takes in a classic Bluetooth audio link, to be decoded and passed to a single 3W speaker via the I2S-connected Analog Devices MAX98357 digital to analog converter chip. Its software, meanwhile, is open source — though under an unspecified license — and is compatible with the Arduino IDE or ESP-IDF.
Schematics and source code for the DSTIKE-DA are available on GitHub, while assembled units can be purchased from the DSTIKE Tindie store at $29 each.