Digital audio player with FPGA

[andrea_mori]

I'm new in FPGA design, so I need some suggestions.
I would build a digital audio player with the following characteristics:
- it should read data from SD card only
- SD card will be formatted FAT32
- the root of SD card will contain folders only (named as album title/artist)
- no subfolders will be allowed on SD card
- each SD card folder will contain wav files only (named as title track)
- only 16 bit / 44.1 kHz wav files will be allowed
- 7 buttons have to be managed: previous track, next track, play, stop, pause, return and enter to navigate the folders
- TFT display will be managed (preferably touch) to show album/artist, title track, time elapsed and so on
- data output (16 bit serial X 2 channels) should feed a r-2r discrete ladder DAC
- 74XX595 logic will split the serial data to parallel to feed the ladder network
- master clock should be 11.2896 MHz, shared from both DAC logic and FPGA, to avoid any divider (to minimize jitter)
- every time a single bit is ready, FPGA should enable the 595 to store it (595 clock enabled from FPGA in sync with master clock)
- every time 16 bit for 2 channels are read, FPGA in sync with master clock should enable the 595s to output parallel data to update the ladder network

Since I have to buy a FPGA evaluation kit to start experimenting
what device do you suggest?
do I need simple FPGA or FPGA with ARM embedded?

Thanks

 

[FvM]

The system can be well implemented with a µC (e.g. ARM). You won't need a FPGA in this case.

Making a 16 bit discrete R2R DAC sounds about to impossible in terms of achieveable accuracy. You altready need 0.1% resistors for 10-Bit. Recent stereo audio DAC ICs cost only a fraction of the FPGA or processor and already expose a serial interface.

 

[ads-ee]

Also using a µC will be significantly less expensive than using a FPGA. Besides to use an FPGA to communicate with the SD card will require a core, and I've yet to see any free cores for that, so you would have to design your own.

 

[andrea_mori]

The system can be well implemented with a µC (e.g. ARM). You won't need a FPGA in this case.

Making a 16 bit discrete R2R DAC sounds about to impossible in terms of achieveable accuracy. You altready need 0.1% resistors for 10-Bit. Recent stereo audio DAC ICs cost only a fraction of the FPGA or processor and already expose a serial interface.

This should be a jitter less system (bit perfect), that's the reason I would integrate the source and the DAC sharing the same master clock.
I think that a FPGA or a CPLD are better than uC to manage digital audio signal, but I need also to manage the SD card file system and a TFT display. So, as far as I understood to do all the job with a simple FPGA the software will become huge, and the ARM processor could help .
For the ladder network I'm planning to use 0.02% or 0.01% resistor.
Can the FPGA/ARM operate correctly at 11.2896 MHz?

- - - Updated - - -

Also using a µC will be significantly less expensive than using a FPGA. Besides to use an FPGA to communicate with the SD card will require a core, and I've yet to see any free cores for that, so you would have to design your own.

There isn't a cost problem, this should be the best solution to play digital audio regardless of cost.
I'm looking for the best way to play 16 bit / 44.1 kHz material.