Hi, i am currently working with Microchip chips to build synthesizers.
The big problem is they dont give the full optimized compiler for free, so i cannot get the best out of theyr chips.
Currently i can only build a monophonic synthesizer with the unoptimized DSPICFJ128GP802, i would like to build a polyphonic synthesizer.
Sometimes i read about cortex chip being the fastest, so i signed up here with my questions :
Do i get here fully optimized C/C++ compiler for free ?
Are your chips also in DIP package ?
How many pins are the DIP package maximum ?, with Microchip i only get 28 pin DIP, i would like to have 40 pin.
Does one of your chips has build in audio DAC ?, i currently use DSPICFJ128GP802, i am very happy because it has a build audio DAC.
Does your chips have hardware UART build in ?, i need this to receive MIDI data.
Thanks in advance, greetings
If you don't know what an ARM chip is and are asking about cortex then we need to go back a step. I believe from what you say above you've been using a PIC processor.
Cortex is a trademark ARM has applied to its processor designs for the last few years. ARM Cortex M range means ones suitable for embedded processors like you might be interested in and they run an instruction set called Thumb, they also have R for real time and A for application which is the types used in smartphones.
ARM do not make any chips. They sell these designs to other companies. Many different manufacturers produce chips with ARM Cortex M processors in them with all sorts of different facilities, you'll have to check if the peripherals they offer are what you require, but as I said above you might like to look at the Atmel range first if you know about Microchip. They produce a number of chips with ARM Cortex M0+, M3, M4 or M7 processors in them