Adafruit PDM Microphone Breakout with JST SH Connector

Jargon buster

Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.

ADC

An analogue-to-digital converter reads a changing voltage and turns it into a number the microcontroller can use. It matters when connecting analogue sensors such as light, sound, or variable-resistor sensors.

AVR

AVR is a family of 8-bit microcontrollers (made by Microchip, formerly Atmel) used in many classic Arduino-style boards such as the Uno and Nano. They are widely supported but older, which can be a limit for memory- or speed-intensive tasks.

breakout

A breakout board carries a small or fine-pitched component and brings its connections out to standard, breadboard- and header-friendly pins. Describing a part as a breakout means it can be wired into a project without soldering directly to the component's tiny contacts.

CLK

CLK is a clock line that times when bits are sent and read on a synchronous serial bus such as SPI. Any device using a clock line must have its CLK connected to the controller's clock output so the two stay in step while data is transferred.

GND

GND is the ground or reference connection (0 V) for a circuit. When connecting two devices together, their grounds must be joined so both agree on what counts as a low or high signal.

I2S

I2S is a digital audio interface used to send sound data between chips, such as from a microcontroller to an audio amplifier or DAC. It matters if your project needs cleaner digital audio output than a basic buzzer or PWM signal can provide.

MEMS microphone

A tiny microphone made using micro-electromechanical systems, the same style of miniature manufacturing used in many phone sensors. It lets the board detect sound without needing an external microphone, which is useful for noise-reactive projects and simple audio input.

nRF52840

The nRF52840 is a Nordic Semiconductor system-on-chip built around a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 processor, with built-in Bluetooth Low Energy and native USB. It is widely used in maker and wearable boards, where it offers BLE and USB support along with broad library coverage in common maker toolchains.

RP2040

The RP2040 is a dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller chip from Raspberry Pi, used on many maker boards and offering programmable I/O, multiple GPIO pins and reasonable processing speed. Code and accessories built for that chip should work where RP2040 compatibility is listed, though demanding tasks such as reading a camera can require careful pin allocation and timing.

SAMD51

A family of 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 microcontroller chips from Microchip, often used to run the main program on a development board. When a board is built around a SAMD51 it generally offers more speed and memory than basic 8-bit microcontrollers, which helps with demanding tasks such as graphics, audio or fast data handling.

solder jumper

A solder jumper is a small pair or group of pads on a circuit board that can be bridged or cut with solder to change a hardware setting. It matters because changing modes may require careful soldering rather than just changing software.