Buzzers & speakers
Piezo buzzers, passive speakers and surface transducers — the parts that make the sound. Driving them is a separate problem handled in audio-amplifiers.
Passive speakers from 1 W to 20 W (4–8 Ω), piezo buzzers active and passive, bone-conductor and surface transducers, and a BOSON buzzer module — all need a matching driver circuit or amplifier.
- A 5 V active buzzer produces a fixed tone from a DC control signal; passive piezo buzzers and PCB-mount speakers need a driven waveform and will not produce useful sound from a DC level alone.
- Passive speakers range from the 1 W 8 Ω mini oval up to a 20 W 4 Ω full-range unit; they all need a dedicated amplifier — nothing here provides one.
- Bone-conductor transducers and the large surface transducer (4 Ω 5 W) transmit vibration rather than projecting sound; mounting and coupling matter as much as the driver circuit.
- The LilyPad Buzzer and Crazyflie buzzer deck are purpose-built for their ecosystems; the Voice Prompt Module is the one item in this group that includes its own integrated MP3 player and speaker.
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Swap guidanceCan I swap these?
Pick the board you have - we'll show what we know about swapping it.
Known swap options (1)
General board checks (5)
- Is the part active or passive? Active buzzers make their own tone; passive speakers need an audio signal and amplifier.
- Check supply voltage, current draw, GPIO pin limits and whether a transistor or amplifier is required.
- If you need music, speech or variable pitch, use a speaker plus amplifier rather than a fixed-tone buzzer.
- If you need a simple alert, a buzzer is usually smaller and simpler than a speaker path.
- Check mounting diameter, enclosure/cavity needs and volume target before swapping hardware.
