u/KixASS1

Posted this over on r/cyberdeck and a couple of people said it might fit here, so here it is.

Built it because I couldn't afford a groovebox. An OP-1 or an Elektron is

thousands and that was never happening, so I made my own.

Three synth engines per channel - a wavetable synth, a DX7 style FM engine,

and a sampler that plays Serum presets I capture on the PC and convert into

banks. Step sequencer on top. Runs on an ESP32-S3.

The second half of the video is a Guitar Hero style rhythm game running on

the same hardware, just for fun.

Enclosure is 3d printed, all the firmware and UI is mine.

Genuinely asking - where would you take this from here? Keep it as a one-off,

sell it built, put out a kit, open source it? I don't have a frame of

reference for what people actually want and I'd rather ask than guess.

Posted this on r/esp32 and a few people said it belonged here.

Not a cyberdeck in the strict sense since it has its own screen, but hopefully close enough.

Handheld I built around an ESP32-S3. Four separate apps, you pick one from

a launcher on boot - a groovebox, a Guitar Hero style rhythm game, a retro

emulator, and a voice assistant you hold a button to talk to.

Enclosure and pads are 3d printed.

Video of it running: https://www.reddit.com/r/esp32/s/W8vDZMnAnt

Updates here if anyone wants to follow the build:

https://forms.gle/BsX65nwVeFRWkw8u8

Hey guys, ive been lurking and learning here for a long time, finally have something to show.

When I was a kid I wanted a Guitar Hero and a Game Boy and couldn't afford either. These days it's a groovebox like an OP-1 or an Elektron is thousands of moonies. So I built all three into one ESP32-S3 handheld. currently it has four apps,

you pick one from a launcher on boot:

GROOVEBOX - FM synth, wavetable, serum patches and a sampler with a step sequencer

WC-HERO -Guitar Hero style rhythm game, plays on the buttons

RETROGO - retro game emulator

BADRUL - voice assistant, you hold a button and talk to it

Specs:

- ESP32-S3 (16MB flash, PSRAM)

- 2.8" ILI9341 SPI display

- PCM5102A DAC for line out + onboard speaker

- MCP23017 expanders for the button matrix

- WS2812B LEDs on the pads

- SD card for samples and ROMs

Each app lives in its own flash partition and the launcher jumps into

whichever one you pick, so they're all fully separate firmwares on one

device.

Took me a long time to get here and most of what I learned came from

this subreddit. Thanks for that, genuinely.

Let me know what you think. Happy to answer anything.

sorry for the strong wind sound in the video.

EDIT: a few people asked where to follow this. Putting updates here

so I don't lose anyone: https://forms.gle/BsX65nwVeFRWkw8u8