ES8388 Audio Codec Module

The PCB Artists ES8388 audio codec module is one of the only audio codec modules available that is supported by ESP32 and official ESP-ADF releases.
This module is compatible with all MCUs that have I2C and I2S ports (like ESP32, ESP8266, STM32, i.MX6, Raspberry Pi, etc).
The ES8388 module lets you have:

• Stereo microphone and line input
• Stereo headphone and line out
• Up to 96 kHz 24 bpp high quality audio

Using ES8388 with ESP32

Documentation for using the ES8388 with ESP32 is extensively available, including some of our own tutorials:

• ESP32 ES8388 Audio Codec Interfacing – an article on the basics of how the ES8388-ESP32 interface functions
• ESP32 Bluetooth Audio Player with ES8388 Module – tutorial to stream high quality audio over bluetooth
• ESP32 MP3 Audio Playback from SD Card – tutorial to play compressed MP3 files from a memory card

Here is an example of one of our customers using the ESP32 in their project:
*NOTE: the video is not sponsored and the author is not affiliated with PCB Artists in any way

Using ES8388 with ESP32-C3

ESP32-C3 is the lighter version of the ESP32 with a single core RISC-V core. You can think of it as an ESP8266 – but with much better support and documentation. We have an article documenting how you can connect ES8388 module with ESP32-C3.
A GitHub repository containing ES8388 drivers for ESP32-C3 and instructions on how to build ESP-ADF examples is coming up soon.

Using ES8388 with STM32

If you are trying to add audio to an STM32 application, we have some basic support content on how to connect STM32 and ES8388 module and initializing ES8388 for audio playback.
Content for STM32 and other MCUs like RP2040 is still a work in progress and we will have updates soon. If you need help using ES8388 with these other MCUs, please drop us a message and we will try to help you out!

ES8388 Module Datasheet and Useful Files

ES8388 can be a rather complex codec to understand and debug if you are working on your very first audio application and need to tweak something that is not often ignored in general applications. Here are some documents that can help you troubleshoot your code, debug I2C commands for the ES8388 and figure out if your audio path or handling need changing.

• PCB Artists ES8388 Module Datasheet PDF – a brief summary of the module specifications and IOs in PDF format.
• ES8388 Datasheet PDF – datasheet for ES8388, the latest one that we could find.
• ES8388 User Guide or Application Note – contains good notes on initializing the codec and various configurations. A must-read if you want to make custom applications using the ES8388.

Custom ESP32 Audio PCB Design and Other Services

Need a custom designed audio module just like this?
If you need to get a full-custom ESP32 PCB design with audio features, please feel free to reach out to us.
We specialize in low power embedded design, prototyping and production and we can design exactly what you need.