For my first diy audio project, I'm intending to build myself an esp32 based lms player. It seems to make sense to run i2s from the esp32, but that got me to wondering, aside from the MAX98357 boards, what sort of options have I got for i2s input and mono output. Ill be wiring the amp to a single Cambridge Audio S20 speaker, which will take around 70w, so a bit more wattage would be nice, either as mono or bridged from a 2 channel chip amp. Ideally also aiming for sub £20 or cheaper for this amp project.
The CA S20 is 85db at 1Watt and 1Mtr. Room reflections mostly cancel out the distance drop off.
At a quite loud room level of 75 to 80 db the speakers would need 1/4 to 1/2 a Watt.
Don't be fooled by the rubbish you read.
The Android db meter is very good and works to 0.1 of a second
The iPad offerings aren't quite so good but will suffice to check all around your room.
If you have a volt meter and 8 Ohm speakers check the voltage across the speaker terminals @ 2.83 volts your speakers will be getting 1 Watt.
Cheers
At a quite loud room level of 75 to 80 db the speakers would need 1/4 to 1/2 a Watt.
Don't be fooled by the rubbish you read.
The Android db meter is very good and works to 0.1 of a second
The iPad offerings aren't quite so good but will suffice to check all around your room.
If you have a volt meter and 8 Ohm speakers check the voltage across the speaker terminals @ 2.83 volts your speakers will be getting 1 Watt.
Cheers
So it seems that there just aren't that many Class-D amp boards with I2S exposed as pins. There are a few other options but mostly in the form of raspberry pi hats such as the IQAudio board etc etc. What I've done for this project is to get an inexpensive but reasonable quality DAC that can take I2S and output analog audio which I can then hand off to an amplifier. £5 on ebay for a PCM5102 board and (looks like these can be purchased for as low as £3.50 via aliexpress for the patient consumer) and £5 on amazon for a TDA8932 mono board. I'll report back on my experiences using this kit with an ESP32. Meantime, I'd be glad to hear if anyone has found a decent I2S power dac that they're happy with.
It's stereo, and a bit more costly than your budget, but this makes a nice I2S amp of 2x30W with ESP32.
https://store.sure-electronics.com/product/AA-AB32255
Sounds like you want to run Squeezelite on an ESP32 connected to LMS, so I assume you are familiar with Squeezelite-ESP32?
https://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?112697-ANNOUNCE-Squeezelite-ESP32-(dedicated-thread)