USB Audio Interface WM8731 Integration

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Locomotivelung

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Hey all,

I'm quite a newbie when it comes to microcontrollers, only recently starting to dive into it since I want to undertake a fun project and reading up on how they work.
I currently have an Arduino UNO that I've been messing around with slightly to learn how to make sketches and work with it, but it's all very basic.
Next to this, I come from an audio engineering background with technical knowledge on audio, but severly lack an understanding of the electrical engineering part of it (which is why I want to learn it via this route!).

I intend to use a DAC/ADC with USB interfacing for the following audio chain:

DAW (PC Audio) -> USB Output -> DAC (Output via Audio Shield) -> Re-Amp box Input -> Guitar Pedals -> Re-Amp box Output -> ADC (Input via Audio Shield) -> USB Input -> DAW (PC Audio)
Simply put, this would mean I intend to add USB interfacing to a line in/line out ADC-DAC converter to use audio devices as standalone inserts. The main reason I want to do it like this, is because I intend to build the (passive) re-amping box myself too. I have a few friends that built one previously, so this should prove no problem. The intention is to integrate everything into one chasis, as a standalone USB re-amp box.
I'm well aware I could achieve what I want by using something like a Focusrite 2i2 Scarlet and using a line out to send to the re-amping box and return it on a line in, as an insert but that's not the point of this project.

This would allow me to use my guitar pedals as a hardware insert when mixing in my DAW of choice (Pro Tools, in my case).
Prefferably I'd be using it as professional audio (meaning, 48 kHz/24 bit) but from reading up, this is something that has been requested frequently but not (succesfully) been achieved yet.
I'm fine with settling for 44.1kHz/16 bit as a proof of concept to give this a try, but the topic is a bit complex to get started.

Initially, I intended to do so with the Arduino Uno in combination with the MIKROE-506 shield using the WM8731 codec.
I found some example code that would require me to do a fairly easy hardware mod: https://github.com/soundspotter/ArduinoUNO_AudioCodecMikroe506

From reading up on threads here, however, it seems easier to do so with a Teensy as the audio library is well documented, has a great GUI design tool and overall a bit more active community.
Before buying a Teensy, I'm trying to understand if what I intend to achieve is even possible though, or if I should look at alternative ways to get a line in/out DAC/ADC over USB to integrate with my re-amp box.

After installing the audio library I can use the Tools > USB Type code to make the Teensy an USB audio interface and combine it with the WM8731MikroSine code to achieve what I need it to do.. somehow!
Reading up more as per https://forum.pjrc.com/threads/55334?p=201494&viewfull=1#post201494 I would go for a Teensy 3.2 due to ringing problems on the 3.6.
From what I understand, the signal flow I would need to code is the USB Out -> Mikroe Line Out -> Goes through re-amp box -> Mikroe Line In -> USB In, but I'm lost as to how due to my limited understanding of programming and microcontrollers.

I've done a lot of reading, but since I'm quite new and fairly unfamiliar with the terminology (I2S, I2C etc).
Maybe someone can point me in a direction or some more sources to acquire the understanding I need to progress with this project, as I'm quite overwhelmed with all the information and new things I need to learn right now.

Kind regards,

Tim / Locomotivelung
 
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