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Weeb Labs
CommercialRP2040RP2350

Picorder

Eight channels of digital audio from S/PDIF, ADAT, I2S or TDM into any computer. No drivers.

8
channels in

over one optical fibre, driverless

Picorder turns a Raspberry Pi Pico into a digital audio recorder for your computer. Connect a digital source and it appears as an ordinary USB recording device with up to eight channels. No drivers are needed on macOS, Windows or Linux.

It accepts six kinds of input. S/PDIF and ADAT lightpipe take audio from equipment such as CD transports, TVs and studio preamps. I2S and TDM connect directly to audio converter chips and can either supply their clock or follow it. I2S carries up to four stereo pairs, while TDM fits eight channels onto a single wire.

Setup happens in Picorder Console for Windows, macOS and Linux. You choose the input, the pins it uses and the recording format. Changes take effect straight away without reflashing or replugging the Pico. Settings are saved on the device, so it starts up the same way next time.

Picorder never resamples your audio. It keeps the USB stream locked to the source's own clock instead. If the source runs at a different sample rate from the one your computer expects, Picorder records silence and flags the mismatch. Your recording never plays back at the wrong pitch.

Picorder Console on macOS, connected to a Pico 2 locked to a 96 kHz I2S master input, streaming 4 channels at 16-bit over USB with pin assignment, USB audio format, master clock and startup rate controls.
Picorder ConsolePick the input, move pins and change the USB format live, then save it all to flash.

Highlights

  • Six selectable inputs: S/PDIF, ADAT lightpipe, I2S master, I2S slave, TDM master and TDM slave
  • 2 to 8 channels at 16 or 24-bit, from 44.1 to 96 kHz
  • No resampling. The USB stream follows the source's own clock
  • Change the input or format live, with no reflashing or replugging
  • A sample-rate mismatch is muted and flagged, never played at the wrong pitch
  • Same sources and same behaviour on both Pico and Pico 2

Specifications

Class
USB Audio Class 1.0 capture · no host drivers
Channels
2 / 4 / 6 / 8 · 16 or 24-bit
Rates
44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 kHz
S/PDIF in
Stereo, bi-phase-mark decoded in PIO
I2S in
1–4 stereo lines, shared BCK/LRCLK, master or slave
TDM in
8 ch on one data line (6 ch at 24-bit) · master or slave · 44.1/48 kHz
ADAT in
8 ch @ 44.1/48 kHz (6 ch at 24-bit) · slave only, no SMUX
Clocking
307.2 MHz system clock · exact at 48/96 k, ±2 ppm at 44.1/88.2 k
Configuration
Picorder Console on Windows, macOS and Linux
Boards
Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040) and Pico 2 (RP2350)

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