The rise of the ESP8266 was kind of a happy fluke, and hackers like me have benefitted mightily. Manufacturers like Sonoff and Tuya have exploited its ease of use to grow the home control market ...

In sum, an ESP8266 chip, a cheap I2S DAC, and some external RAM and you’ve got a webradio player. OK, maybe we’d also add an amplifier chip, power supply, and a speaker.