Given our past experiences creating various layouts and prototypes for audio devices, we've developed a keen awareness of our bug-prone areas in hardware (primarily my responsibility, hehe). Consequently, we've decided to adopt a segmented approach, creating a "sandwich" structure. This allows us to troubleshoot efficiently – in case of failure, we only need to redesign the specific board where the issue was identified.

Moreover, this strategy optimizes vertical space utilization, a critical consideration for compact devices like our pedal. Making these boards segmented also accelerates development a bit, providing more routing space and reducing the required number of layers, accommodating a greater number of components.

Initially, we divided our device into even more boards, assigning each board to a specific function. Stacked circular headers facilitated the connection of this array of boards:

On this old prototype, we tested the functionality of most essential circuits that will be integrated into our later designs. We also placed it into some sort of case to carry it around.

So now we are ready to sketch out the first design of a more pedal-like case, and more practical PCB layout that would fit into.