DFRobot Original DFPlayer Mini MP3 Audio Module for Arduino & ESP32

The DFRobot DFPlayer was tested in both serial communications and hardware loop mode. There are many clones of the DFPlayer, some are compatible, "partially" compatible or not at all. This one is compatible in either mode and is a good player to start or for reference to compare to the clones. The DFPlayer is powered by a separate 5V supply with both its grounds connected together. A 1k resistor was connected in series with the RX line for serial communications mode testing. There are 3 ways to connect outputs, a single speaker which is mono, headphone mono output, and DAC output for stereo. The DFPlayer sound quality is dependent on the speaker and it is quite good especially when a separate audio amp is connected to the DAC outputs. The DFRobot DFPlayer sells at a 4-5x premium compared to DFPlayer clones and while they can be made to work in most cases, the DFRobot DFPlayer provides the best chance for success. I had a spare SD card to test prior to buying the DFPlayers. Unfortunately decided to return them solely due to the unexpected huge increase in flash memory or micro SD cards. Will delay the project until memory prices return to reasonable.

I needed a few DFPlayer Mini's for a hobby project I was working on. I am by no means somebody who creates electrical circuits, but creating something with ESPHome by following some simple instructions online is something that I have no problem with. In this case, a simple doorbell chime. The idea was: - Take a Wemos D1 mini and a DFPlayer mini - Use the 5v pin of the Wemos D1 to power the DFPlayer - Connect 2 GPIO pins between the Wemos D1 and the DFPlayer for data communication - Connect the speaker to the DFPlayer - Upload an ESPHome sketch to the Wemos D1 Straight forward, right? Well, it is - As long as you use the original DFPlayer. I purchased a few clones since 5 of them cost the same as this single board. I could not get it to work, tested with all 5 clones for a few days. Then I decided to order this one. When it arrived, I simply replaced it on my breadboard, and like magic, everything worked. Don't waste your time or money with clones, especially if you are a tinkerer like me. Just get this one. It just works.

Seriously, these seem like a fun project, but they're not. Just avoid these at all costs. I wanted to make a music player for my disabled daughter that she can use herself. I'm no expert, but have done several similar small projects with little trouble. However, these players are nothing BUT trouble. When I first started the project, I bought the cheaper clones to try to save a few bucks. Those wouldn't even read the values off the SD card properly. I read that it's a clone problem and only buy the legitimate ones, which these are supposed to be. Are they better? Yeah, maybe. They do read the SD cards. The first one I bought I had mostly working, except for volume controls which would do all kinds of weird things, like gradually increasing the volume without any input. I got it working at a set volume, and could have lived with that, but I decided to go with a different form factor and did not want to unsolder, so I bought another. Well, number 2 would only accept one play command. When I would send a second command of any kind, the chip would lock up and not respond further without resetting the microcontroller. Can I live without being able to switch tracks? No. So, I stupidly bought a third chip. Hooking it up, it immediately constantly sets the busy pin to low, which none of the others were doing. This indicates to my code to play another track, meaning, you get a second of audio per song. Maybe I could work around this, but I'm giving up. It's possible these are good at the factory, I cannot say. They are terribly packaged for shipping. The pins are pushed into a piece of foam on that one side, that is shoved in (I think) an anti static bag. Then they ship from amazon inside a bubble envelope. There's not much to prevent the business side from getting slapped around or jammed between other packages, which given Amazon, I'm sure it is. Find a different hobby project, for your sanity.

Works great. You will have to find pinout and information online but it is easily found. Adequate power output for my needs (sounds in a Department56 display). I only wish that it had an analog volume control pin. The only way to control volume is through the serial connections and I didn't want a microprocessor to be added. Without using the serial connection to control playback, you are very limited in what you can do with just jumpers. In my case, I could only configure it to play the first MP3 and loop it using the digital pins.

Used for a posted product for my daughter. The audio she recorded to to an SD card played without any issues from this module.

I bought two of these to use with a Home Automation Voice Announcement System I'm creating. It does work, but the blue LED on both does not work. I thought they were both not powered at first, but they seem to work fine - just no blue LED. One big issue with me is there is no silkscreening on the circuit board to tell you what each pin does. I'm posting a picture that shows the pin identifications for those of you that need it.

Works great! I set this up and got a song running in 15 minutes. The makers made it super simple with online specifications & schematics. I’ll be enjoying this little guy with my Arduino soon!

Works great unlike another one I bought on Amazon that had no documentation. The extra cost was worth it.

Il s'agit bien d'un original de chez DFrobot. La fonction autoplay est donc disponible.

Total decepción con este reproductor. Los he comprado como reserva para varios proyectos que ya tengo funcionando con otros módulos DFPlayer Mini oficiales y arduino. Nada más abrirlos observo que el tamaño del chip difiere de mis antiguas unidades y de las fotos que muestra el fabricante tanto en Amazon como en su web. Al probar probarlo no inicia con normalidad, lo hace 1 de cada 3 o 4 veces, y cuando lo hace el volumen está al máximo. En reproducción de archivos de sonido cortos en formato mp3 mis antiguos módulos lo hacen sin problema y este tiene un retraso entre ellos, a veces ni se reproducen. Desde que se envía la orden de preproducción con arduino hasta que se lee el pin BUSY el tiempo a aumentado muchísimo, con los módulos antiguos este era de 150ms, ahora es más de 500ms. Una pena que este genial modulo oficial haya perdido sus principales características comportándose como los clones de 1€. Para mayor decepción la comunicación con el fabricante es nula respondiendo lo que les da la gana.

問題無しです。

Genuine product and works superb. I have very little knowledge of Arduino, stetches or coding - but (with a little help from copilot) I managed to figure out how to use this to add audio to my project. You need to do some research into how this manages files - it's not as simple as a normal MP3 - but it's not difficult once youve figures it out.

Original and best. These even work where the cheaper clones fail. I only buy these now.