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Neuros Audio Firmware Goes Open Source

Posted by timothy on from the audio-jack-knife dept.

PDA_Monkey writes "The Neuros Audio team has just released the Firmware code for the Neuros Digital Audio Computer as Open Source! Along with the release comes a message regarding Open Source from Joe Born, President of Neuros Audio, LLC, asking the community of developers to help fully realize the vision of the digital audio computer by aiding in the process to create a GCC target to the TI DSP used in the Neuros and in developing a program loader."

32 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. In Related OSTG News... by FlipmodePlaya · · Score: 3, Informative

    ThinkGeek started carrying the Neuros in the last few days.

  2. More good things to come... by PDA_Monkey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They'll also be releasing hardware documentation soon...

    This is really a great company that truly does listen to its customers. This wouldn't have happened if they didn't.

    European radio (even frequency) support is coming soon, too! :)

    --
    Hallo, My name is Inigo Montoya. You kill -9 my parent process. Prepare to die!
    1. Re:More good things to come... by TinheadNed · · Score: 1, Redundant

      I bought a Neuros a week back. The FM works perfectly fine in the UK.

  3. 80 Gig? Cool by bentfork · · Score: 4, Informative
    Looks like they have even bigger HD's than the ipod, and a build in FM transmitter! ( specs for the usb2 8 gig here )

    some neat stuff:
    Playtime: 10 hours when fully charged
    Frequency response: 20 to 20,000Hz

    FM Broadcasting:
    Transmission Strength: 250 microV/M-2 at 3m
    Maximum range: 20 feet

    and it can record audio as MP3 or wav.
    All for a sane price of $449.99

    Hopefully this will be lower by the winter gift giving season ( or summer, if you stand upsidedown).

    1. Re:80 Gig? Cool by FlipmodePlaya · · Score: 3, Informative

      Don't forget Ogg Vorbis support, several open source Linux synch clients, and all the great firmware features listed there. Also, refer to a previous /. article about the Neuros

    2. Re:80 Gig? Cool by bentfork · · Score: 1

      Ogg Vorbis also? Cool.
      Too bad it has a high geek value, mostly because its name is rather odd.
      I like the fact that this device is that it has enough neat tech in it to make it worth playing with the firmware.
      ie, if for some reason you wanted to record a radio program at a schedualed time, and play it back at a differnt time automatically. ( ie last nights latenight rant radio in the morning ) they could modify this beast. neat-o. tivo/ipod be damned I like this one.

    3. Re:80 Gig? Cool by FlipmodePlaya · · Score: 1

      Yah, in the old days before the firmware was opened up (such as last week), we trolled the forums to get DI to add features. Lots of those, most notably Ogg support, were added. People continually suggest adding Tivo like features to the radio recording, and even the mic and line-in recording. I say this because it will probably appear in the firmware pretty soon.

    4. Re:80 Gig? Cool by Christopheles · · Score: 1

      Once Vorbis has been around for awhile, people will not really notice that the name is odd, it will be commonplace. Granted, it might make it seem more geeky at first, but I'm kinda glad it is not something like AwesomeOpenCodec or iMusic or something rediculously trendy.

  4. Compiler toolchain already in development by kronin · · Score: 1

    A Neuros user is already working on getting the TI DSP supported in LCC http://www.neurosaudio.com/community/forum/topic.a sp?TOPIC_ID=3655&whichpage=5

    There has already been talk on the Neuros forums that FLAC will be supported relatively quickly by the userbase writing the codec for it.

    Very exciting times...

  5. Great news! by keiferb · · Score: 1

    This is great news. Hopefully we'll start to see more and more companies start to do this. It's a great step forward for consumers' rights, as a company is actually acknowledging that their customers own the devices they buy rather than insisting that they're simply 'licensing' them.

  6. Cue normal anti-Neuros rants... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    ...that thing is HUGE! ...why would anyone want to carry that around?

    You go ahead and buy your iPod and your iTrip, and I'll be happily spending my saved $150 elsewhere. Oh yeah, and I'll also get regular firmware updates for free, and a guaranteed hardware upgrade path for a reasonable amount of money (not "You'll just have to buy the new one").

    My Neuros, and the excellent customer support both through Neuros Audio LLC and the user forums, blow away anything you got...

    1. Re:Cue normal anti-Neuros rants... by aphor · · Score: 1

      How does the Neuros compare to the iPod on usability? I mean, if you could charge the manufacturer for your hours of grief, how would the vendors compare on your accounts recievable?

      --
      --- Nothing clever here: move along now...
    2. Re:Cue normal anti-Neuros rants... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I've never played around with an iPod but I have had my Neuros since they first came out and I can tell you it is a great product. They constantly update the firmware and add new features. I can't tell you how many times I've said "Ok, that's it! My Neuros now does everything I need it to" just to have the next firmware update have some new feature I never even thought of. In short, I highly recommend this product.

    3. Re:Cue normal anti-Neuros rants... by ksheff · · Score: 1

      It beats the iPod in the category that I care about: being able to record to wav. Given that the SoundProfessionals website is starting to carry recording bundles, it looks like this might be the toy of choice for tapers. I would be interested in a comparison in audio quality between it and the now discontinued Nomad Jukebox 3.

      --
      the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
  7. GCC target project by kworces · · Score: 1

    Joe Born said they need a gcc target for the processor. Does a project for developing this target already exist?

    I scanned the forums briefly and didn't see anything on the subject.

  8. Do not ship to Canada by kisielk · · Score: 1

    According to their website, Neuros doesn't ship to Canada, and apparently ThinkGeek doesn't ship this product to Canada either... a bit strange I think, maybe there's some restrictions on the device or Neuros just isn't letting them sell it here. Either way, I've sent Neuros an email asking how I can get one here. Looks like a great player, and I'm pretty excited about the open development platform.

    1. Re:Do not ship to Canada by kronin · · Score: 2, Informative

      You can order from one of their official resellers, either http://www.cool4u2view.com or http://www.americantechpushers.com.

    2. Re:Do not ship to Canada by aridhol · · Score: 1
      I got mine in Victoria, BC, a couple weeks ago. by ordering from SoundProfessionals.

      I think the major restriction is with the MiFi, but I'm not positive.

      --
      I can't say that I don't give a fuck. I've just run out of fuck to give.
  9. Oblig. Plug by Oriumpor · · Score: 4, Informative

    I love mine, I use it frequently as both a USB HD, pocket FM radio/MP3 player (ok I got big pockets), and car jukebox. The recent gain boost for the radio broadcast feature has brought life back to my almost unuseable MiFi feature (FM broadcast) now I can broadcast my mp3s and oggs over a weak signal in the full city FM-dial.

    The developers truly do listen to the owners. Due to consumer request there are plans in the works for radio like-tivo support in the firmware. Things like that are over the heads of the big-boys, and probably would kill a major player with big name.

    Here's to the indi-linux makers.

  10. Re:Cool! I want one! by kronin · · Score: 1

    You can order through one of their official resellers: either http://www.americantechpushers.com or http://www.cool4u2view.com

  11. Re:Cool! I want one! by Sean+Starkey · · Score: 1
    See a reseller's website for international orders:

    http://www.cool4u2view.com

  12. Re:GCC target project by kronin · · Score: 3, Informative

    A user looked at the possibility of adding a GCC target and was overwhelmed by the amount of work it would require. Not saying it won't/can't be done, but he moved on to writing a target for LCC.

    You can read about it here: http://www.neurosaudio.com/community/forum/topic.a sp?TOPIC_ID=3655&whichpage=3

  13. nice by doofusclam · · Score: 1

    This is great, as it provides an opportunity for my favourite codec (musepack) to be supported by a hardware device at last. Musepack (aka mpc) is idea for this - it's based on mp2, so is simple to decode (read: less power) and works better at bitrates > 128kbps than any other codec you can mention, and this has been proved by many double-blind tests. I'm looking forward to support for this, and when it happens i'll be one of the first to order one.

  14. Neuros II? by 4of12 · · Score: 1

    Does this work on the Neuros II?

    --
    "Provided by the management for your protection."
    1. Re:Neuros II? by kronin · · Score: 2, Informative

      The original Neuros (Neuros I) and the Neuros II both run the same firmware, so yes, it does.

  15. Re:Cool! I want one! by croddy · · Score: 1

    sean :-) thank you for your excellent work on NeurosDBM!

  16. Finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have been waiting, doubting, comparing etc to buy an mp3 player for AGES. I have just placed an order for the Neuros, let this be a proof that open sourcing can indeed boost your business

    1. Re:Finally! by Sean+Starkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The Neuros isn't an mp3 player. That doesn't do it justice. :)

  17. Similar TI DSP has GCC by Stonent1 · · Score: 1

    There is a slightly older TI DSP (predecessor to this one IIRC) that has a GCC chain already. According to one of the people in the forums, it isn't compatable though.

    1. Re:Similar TI DSP has GCC by aphor · · Score: 1

      Not that I am a DSP guru or anything, but I would appreciate if you would provide a link.. assuming you can find the post about the differences between DSPs. I'm interested in following the issue to learn about DSPs.

      --
      --- Nothing clever here: move along now...
    2. Re:Similar TI DSP has GCC by Stonent1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      http://www.elec.canterbury.ac.nz/c4x/ For the other thing, just search the neuros forum for gcc or c4x

  18. This unit rocks! by Howard+Beale · · Score: 1

    I just purchased my 30 GB Neuros II last week from American Techpushers (J and R has it cheaper, but they were OOS until just yesterday). Yes, the backpack makes it a bit big, but the built-in capabilities of the unit offset this. OGG support, FM transmitter, Linux support with NDBM, etc. make this a unit for the serious geek.