If you are browsing through the specification sheet for an ESP32 device, you might run across the term “I2S”. At a glance, you may just think that it’s another form of I2C, and the “I2” does indeed stand for the same thing, “Inter-Integrated Circuit”. But that’s where the similarity ends.

I2S is a protocol for transferring digital audio. The audio quality can range from telephone-grade to ultra-high fidelity, and you can have one or two channels.