somebodyelse
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The Pi 4 compute module has been released and could be interesting for DIY stuff. The IO board has all the connectors on one edge, as well as exposing the edge of a hat to the same side, so for many hat DACs the connectors will be on that edge. The compute module has options for wifi/bluetooth with a connector for an external antenna if the on-board one isn't good enouth, and finally also for eMMC. The USB situation is changed from the usual Pi 4. The PCI-e lane has been exposed to a standard connector instead of being used for the USB2 and USB3 interfaces. The onboard OTG interface goes via a switch to a micro-b socket and to a USB2 hub with 2 type A sockets and another 2 ports on headers. This is either/or - if the micro-B is used then the hub is disabled. It will be interesting if this reintroduces the pop issue from the earlier Pi models, but you could always add a PCI-e USB adapter.
The PCI-e socket introduces some other interesting options though - like a PCI-e to PCI bridge for older audio interfaces, or a firewire interface. That's assuming no x86-isms lurking in the drivers of course - they're unlikely to have been used much if at all on arm.
The PCI-e socket introduces some other interesting options though - like a PCI-e to PCI bridge for older audio interfaces, or a firewire interface. That's assuming no x86-isms lurking in the drivers of course - they're unlikely to have been used much if at all on arm.