--- product_id: 439748022 title: "MP3 Player Shield- MP3 decoder- Turn Any Compatible with Arduino Board into a Fully Functional MP3 Player- 3.5mm Audio Out Jack- 0.1\" Spaced Header for Speaker Out- microSD Card Slot" brand: "sparkfun" price: "9728 kr" currency: ISK in_stock: true reviews_count: 4 category: "Spark Fun" url: https://www.desertcart.is/products/439748022-mp3-player-shield-mp3-decoder-turn-any-compatible-with-arduino store_origin: IS region: Iceland --- # VS1053B multi-format decoder microSD slot for 4GB+ storage 3.5mm audio out + 0.1" speaker header MP3 Player Shield- MP3 decoder- Turn Any Compatible with Arduino Board into a Fully Functional MP3 Player- 3.5mm Audio Out Jack- 0.1" Spaced Header for Speaker Out- microSD Card Slot **Brand:** sparkfun **Price:** 9728 kr **Availability:** βœ… In Stock ## Summary > 🎧 Turn your Arduino into a groove machine β€” don’t miss the beat! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** MP3 Player Shield- MP3 decoder- Turn Any Compatible with Arduino Board into a Fully Functional MP3 Player- 3.5mm Audio Out Jack- 0.1" Spaced Header for Speaker Out- microSD Card Slot by sparkfun - **How much does it cost?** 9728 kr with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.is](https://www.desertcart.is/products/439748022-mp3-player-shield-mp3-decoder-turn-any-compatible-with-arduino) ## Best For - sparkfun enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted sparkfun brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - β€’ **Versatile Audio Decoding:** Supports MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, WMA & MIDI for ultimate sound flexibility. - β€’ **Dual Audio Output Options:** Choose between 3.5mm headphone jack or 0.1" spaced header for speaker connection. - β€’ **Plug & Play Music Storage:** Easily load your favorite tracks on a microSD card and stream directly. - β€’ **Seamless Arduino Integration:** Transforms any compatible Arduino board into a standalone MP3 player with minimal setup. - β€’ **Expand Your Project’s Soundscape:** Perfect for DIY sound effects, Halloween setups, or custom music players. ## Overview The SparkFun MP3 Player Shield leverages the powerful VS1053B codec to decode multiple audio formats and streams music from a microSD card, enabling any compatible Arduino board to function as a fully featured MP3 player. With versatile audio outputs and broad format support, it’s ideal for embedding rich sound effects or music into your projects, though users should be aware of some reported stability issues. ## Description The SparkFun MP3 Player Shield is an awesome MP3 decoder with the capabilities of storing music files onto a run-of-the-mill microSD card, thus giving you the ability to add music or sound effects to any project. With this board you can pull MP3 files from an microSD card and play them using only one shield, effectively turning any compatible with Arduino board into a fully functional stand-alone MP3 player! The MP3 Shield utilizes the VS1053B MP3 audio decoder IC to decode audio files. The VS1053 is also capable of decoding Ogg Vorbis/MP3/AAC/WMA/MIDI audio and encoding IMA ADPCM and user-loadable Ogg Vorbis.The VS1053 receives its input bitstream through a serial input bus (SPI). After the stream has been decoded by the IC, the audio is sent out to both a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, as well as a 2-pin 0.1" pitch header.The centerpiece of the MP3 Player Shield is a VS1053B Audio Codec IC. The VS1053B is a multi talented little chip. On top of MP3's, it can also decode Ogg Vorbis, AAC, WMA, and MIDI. (It's also capable of encoding audio, although that's outside the scope of the MP3 Shield.)Supporting the VS1053B is a Β΅SD card socket, which you can use to store MP3 files on. Using the compatible with Arduino SD library, it's simple to read music files off an SD card, and stream them to the VS1053B. There's additional circuitry on-board to level shift signals down to the 3.3V maximum allowable by SD cards.This shield comes populated with all components as shown in the images and schematic; but it does not come with headers installed. We recommend the R3 Stackable Header Kit. Review: So, so - Sample code does not work very well. Set up music files per the sample but performance was spotty at best. Review: Incredibly buggy hardware that locks up constantly - I've been trying to get this board to work reliably for a week now, and at this point, I'm giving up. Its ability to resync with MP3 data seems to be very poor, and results in locking up with the interrupt line high, which means the Arduino wedges at that point. I've seen it with two different Arduino boards. So I thought maybe I could use WAV files. Nope. Even with the data being played back off of the onboard flash (PROGMEM), I get distorted audio played slowly and at a lower pitch, with massive distortion, indicating a buffer overrun. And although the Arduino Uno R4 can use faster SPI bus speeds, it doesn't respond above about 20 MHz, and it isn't usable at 20 MHz. Some of this may be the libraries I'm using (I'm working with Adafruit's library, because I don't do GPL v3), but the ease with which I could make this thing lock up is downright horrifying. The best part was that I actually managed to make it lock up just feeding WAV data. In that mode, I was literally doing nothing more than starting and stopping the flow of bytes of uncompressed data. So either I got a dud board or this chipset is simply the worst, buggiest piece of hardware I've ever had the displeasure of working which. I don't know which, but I've read enough comments from others having trouble with this chipset to suspect that it is the latter. I'm giving up. It really should not be this hard to trigger playback of audio clips without half a second of latency, or make them jump back to the beginning while they're still playing, or any of the other things that just don't work well with this chip. ## Features - Are you looking to add some grooves to your project. Does your haunted house or Halloween costume need some sound effects embedded into it? - Do you just want to be able to say you built your own MP3 player? The MP3 Player Shield is an easy way to add music or sound effects to your project. - Features: 3.5mm audio out jack, 0.1" spaced header for speaker out, microSD card slot. The shield does use up quite a few pins, but here are the pins still available to connect to other components. The hardware UART pins -- RX and TX -- on pins 0 and 1, D5 and D10 (PWM pins!), All analog pins (A0 through A5). - The centerpiece of the MP3 Player Shield is a VS1053B Audio Codec IC. The VS1053B is a multi talented little chip. On top of MP3's, it can also decode Ogg Vorbis, AAC, WMA, and MIDI. - If you're not sure which version you've got, there's a version number on the bottom copper layer, underneath the headphone jack, as shown below. Note: Headers not included. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | B09NJQBG99 | | Best Sellers Rank | #102,738 in Electronics ( See Top 100 in Electronics ) #510 in MP3 & MP4 Players | | Brand | SparkFun | | Built-In Media | Shield components only | | Compatible Devices | Arduino boards | | Connectivity Technology | Aux | | Customer Reviews | 2.9 2.9 out of 5 stars (10) | | Manufacturer | SparkFun Electronics | | Memory Storage Capacity | 4 GB | | Mfr Part Number | DEV-12660 | | Model Name | mp3 | | Operating System | FreeRTOS | | Processor Count | 1 | | RAM Memory Technology | LPDDR3 | | UPC | 845156005529 | | Warranty Description | 30 Days | ## Product Details - **Brand:** SparkFun - **Connectivity Technology:** Aux - **Included Components:** Shield components only - **Memory Storage Capacity:** 4 GB - **Model Name:** mp3 ## Images ![MP3 Player Shield- MP3 decoder- Turn Any Compatible with Arduino Board into a Fully Functional MP3 Player- 3.5mm Audio Out Jack- 0.1" Spaced Header for Speaker Out- microSD Card Slot - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61nkv8iUrcL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐ So, so *by D***N on August 21, 2023* Sample code does not work very well. Set up music files per the sample but performance was spotty at best. ### ⭐ Incredibly buggy hardware that locks up constantly *by D***D on February 10, 2025* I've been trying to get this board to work reliably for a week now, and at this point, I'm giving up. Its ability to resync with MP3 data seems to be very poor, and results in locking up with the interrupt line high, which means the Arduino wedges at that point. I've seen it with two different Arduino boards. So I thought maybe I could use WAV files. Nope. Even with the data being played back off of the onboard flash (PROGMEM), I get distorted audio played slowly and at a lower pitch, with massive distortion, indicating a buffer overrun. And although the Arduino Uno R4 can use faster SPI bus speeds, it doesn't respond above about 20 MHz, and it isn't usable at 20 MHz. Some of this may be the libraries I'm using (I'm working with Adafruit's library, because I don't do GPL v3), but the ease with which I could make this thing lock up is downright horrifying. The best part was that I actually managed to make it lock up just feeding WAV data. In that mode, I was literally doing nothing more than starting and stopping the flow of bytes of uncompressed data. So either I got a dud board or this chipset is simply the worst, buggiest piece of hardware I've ever had the displeasure of working which. I don't know which, but I've read enough comments from others having trouble with this chipset to suspect that it is the latter. I'm giving up. It really should not be this hard to trigger playback of audio clips without half a second of latency, or make them jump back to the beginning while they're still playing, or any of the other things that just don't work well with this chip. ### ⭐⭐ Hard to set up/configure *by J***R on September 11, 2023* I had a really difficult time getting this board to work. I was able to solder the headers I needed just fine but the software available on the Sparkfun website is not user friendly, and there is little documentation on how to get started with the device compared to other products they sell. ## Frequently Bought Together - SparkFun MP3 Player Shield- MP3 decoder- Turn Any Compatible with Arduino Board into a Fully Functional MP3 Player- 3.5mm Audio Out Jack- 0.1" Spaced Header for Speaker Out- microSD Card Slot - SparkFun RedBoard Qwiic ATMega328P Compatible with Arduino Board w/Qwiic Connector and CH340C Serial-USB Converter IC Breadboardable R3 Footprint microcontroller Improved Reset Button --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - πŸ›’ **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** β€” Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** β€” Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - πŸ’° **No Hidden Fees** β€” All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - πŸ”„ **15-Day Free Returns** β€” Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - πŸ”’ **Secure Payments** β€” Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** β€” Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.is/products/439748022-mp3-player-shield-mp3-decoder-turn-any-compatible-with-arduino](https://www.desertcart.is/products/439748022-mp3-player-shield-mp3-decoder-turn-any-compatible-with-arduino) --- *Product available on Desertcart Iceland* *Store origin: IS* *Last updated: 2026-05-21*