"Best way" to break into DSP programming

[DigiTan]

I've been wanting to get into DSP programming for awhile now. Im looking for a few low-cost ways to get started in that field with hopfully few barriers to entry. Can anyone recommend a good product line or toolchain to start with? ex: Maybe DSPic?

 

[SYE]

I haven't tried these yet but they look quite neat. **broken link removed**

 

[DigiTan]

This looks like a good start. I have an immidiate need for a streaming FFT and moving average filter (and maybe Kalman later) so hopefully this will get things off to a start. How about other common DSPs like the TMS320 series? Are there reasonably-priced startup kits for those also?

 

[DigiTan]

Alright, I little overdue here, but I finally got the Microstick in. Now just need to decide on a first-timer project for after I try out the example codes. The FFT thing can wait, so I'd probably focus on moving averages or a basic FIR filter.

 

[Aussie Susan]

I suggest that you gain an really good understanding of what DSP is all about and to that end I recommend "The Scientist and Engineers Guide to Digital Signal Processing" at The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal Processing

Hope I'm not telling you what you already know.....

Susan

 

[Oznog]

Honestly, without a specific project in mind, I'm not so sure a DSP controller is a good way to learn DSP.

There's plenty of software for simulation, and books on theory. You'll be able to see all the important things like a FIR's response and FFT's results with simulation, but that's hard to observe accurately and comprehensively with a hardware part here.

There's a lot to how to apply DSP to a hardware system once you KNOW DSP, but that's actually far less than understanding DSP itself.