[sdiy] More Xilinx 3E board comments

[Eric Brombaugh]

Jeff Farr wrote:
> could I implement a simple sampler using the 150$ option? How about a 
> full
> blown sampler?  With analog modeled filters? ... ;)

There are enough logic, I/O, memory and DSP resources on the board that 
you could do a very nice sampler with filtering, effects, etc. The 
analog I/O with only 14/12 bits is a bit on the low resolution side to 
do really good audio with wide dynamic range although it would be fine 
for oscillators where you would do dynamics off-board with VCAs. To do 
good audio samples & effects you would probably want to hook up a decent 
audio codec, but these are cheap (less than $5 from the usual sources) 
and don't require a lot of outboard support circuitry.

The big question then becomes how much effort it takes to do these 
things. A simple sampler would be cake, but there's a lot of hardware 
design and programming required for something like a full-blown sampler. 
Analog modeled filters require a fairly good knowledge of DSP to 
implement. With a goal like this, be prepared to drink from the fire 
hose for a few months before you start seeing results. A great way to 
learn though.

Eric