> Getting an off-the-shelf MP3 player to play one sound file is not too
> difficult. Ah, heck, a tape loop would work fine, too.
There are commercial "MP3 modules" which are designed to do exactly
what you are looking for, one example:
http://www.hobbyengineering.com/H2168.html
By itself, the "uMP3 Playback Module" has 8 inputs, pulling any of the
8 inputs low plays back the associated MP3 file from a FAT filesystem
on an SD card. Replace the card to replace the files.
> Getting it to play one of a pile of different sound files, not trivial.
With some help from a PIC (e.g. Basic STAMP), this could be made to
play random sounds for each coin.
While the uMP3 hardware has changed slightly over the past couple of
years, the electrical and logical interface has remained stable, as
has the price, at around US$100/ea, with substantial discounts for
larger quantities.
Kevin
