Sonatino – small audio dev board based on ESP32-S3
Hi! My name is Ben, and I recently updated my audio dev board "Sonatino" after receiving a lot of good feedback from the initial launch a year ago. I began working on this after building a few projects that required audio capabilities. I was getting tired of wiring up external DACs and amplifiers to ESP32 boards, so I decided to look for a more compact, integrated solution. The available options either had larger footprints, non-standard connectors, or features that I didn't typically need for my projects. That's when I started working on a custom PCB that could be a sort of "audio swiss…
In plain words
Sonatino is a compact audio development board built around the ESP32-S3 microcontroller that integrates a DAC and amplifier, eliminating the need to wire external audio components. Designed by Ben for makers building audio projects, it offers a smaller footprint than comparable options with standard connectors and integrated features commonly needed for audio applications. The board supports HD audio sample rates and bit depths, though the designer acknowledges this exceeds typical project requirements.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hi! My name is Ben, and I recently updated my audio dev board "Sonatino" after receiving a lot of good feedback from the initial launch a year ago. I began working on this after building a few projects that required audio capabilities. I was getting tired of wiring up external DACs and amplifiers to ESP32 boards, so I decided to look for a more compact, integrated solution. The available options either had larger footprints, non-standard connectors, or features that I didn't typically need for my projects. That's when I started working on a custom PCB that could be a sort of "audio swiss army knife". The result was Sonatino. Some have criticized the use of a DAC and ADC that support HD sample rates and bit depths, especially when other factors will limit the usefulness of anything over 44.1kHz/16-bit audio. I actually agree - HD audio in this context is mostly overkill, but most modern audio chips support it and it's entirely optional. My primary goal was for the ADC and DAC to be easy to use - no I2C configuration required (like many of the CODECs available). It needed to be easy to use from an Arduino programming environment. The chips I selected (from Cirrus Logic) were a good fit; they just also happened to support higher sample rates / bit depths. The latest revision drops the built-in antenna in favor of an external one. It also has a better speaker amp (3.2 W), an RGB LED, and improved power circuity. It's been a fun little board to work with! https://sonatino.com/ Check it out and let me know if you have feedback. Price is currently higher than I'd like, but that's a result of it being manufactured at low volumes.
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