Wristwatch Turntables

March 22, 2011 by Kevin Dady 7 Comments

Ever wish you could DJ on the fly while using equipment that your already wearing? Well neither have we but heck now we can, cheaply and easily with the Wristwatch Turntables. While being functional and stylish, this interesting project is fairly easy to construct and if need be, even sports a full function digital watch.

The audio electronics are donated by a pair of talking / musical greeting cards. Both, “record your own” and “just deal with what we give you” types, though which ones you choose is left up to your taste. The greeting cards are then cut apart for their hidden goodies and then a little circuit bending action is performed to monkey with the amplifier of the sound module.

Potentiometers are added, buttons are relocated, and everything gets housed in a small box, with a wristwatch ran down the middle so you can wear the whole deal and blast your funky beats anywhere you may be. Join us after the break for a quick video.

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Audiophile Quality Headphones At A Fraction Of The Price

March 18, 2011 by Mike Nathan 30 Comments

diy_hifi_headphones

If you are in the market for a nice pair of Hi-Fi headphones, it is not uncommon to to find price tags in the range of $300-$500. [Stacy] loves her music, but she had no desire to pay that high a price for a pair of good portable cans. Instead, she upgraded a set of cheap, knock-off headphones to near-audiophile quality for less than $50.

She starts off by explaining the technology behind the expensive headphones you see in stores, and why the sound quality is so much better. She says the orthodynamic drivers used in these products produce far better sound due to the placement of the voice coils, and their lack of delay when producing sound.

She found a pair of orthodynamic drivers for $30 and fit them into her knock-off headphones with a reasonable amount of effort. A bit of insulation and supporting plastic was added to ensure proper mounting of the drivers, then the headset was painted and reassembled.

[Stacy] claims that the end result is easily comparable to far more expensive headsets, especially when connected to a proper amplifier. If you are looking to step up your audio game on the cheap, here’s your chance.

Recycled Sound – An Art Installation Not Lacking Arduinos

March 17, 2011 by Jesse Congdon 6 Comments

[oakkar7] wrote in to show us [Ben Johansen] and [Jonathan Snow]’s interactive art installation, Recycled Sound(Website has a virus). The exhibit will premiere in the TWU Arts Triangle Walking Tour March 25th from 5-7pm.

Currently a work in progress, the final plan is for the outdoor installation to feature a podium in the center with a rotating top, and various islands surrounding. As the podium’s top is rotated the surrounding islands come to life with a variety of light and sound displays which vary depending on how the podium is turned. While the electronics are not recycled, the actual sculptures and music making elements themselves consist of scrap yard parts and factory waste.

The whole display runs off of 12.. yes TWELVE Atmel 328s with Arduino boot loaders! The center podium houses a transmitting circuit consisting of two atmega 328s with Arduino boot loaders sharing a crystal, an hmc 6532 magnetometer breakout board and two RF transmitters. The Islands each contain a receiving module with, obviously, an Arduino and RF receiver. The receiving Arduinos connect to opto isolated switching modules for motors and lighting. Check out [Ben]’s blog for in progress shots, code, and build information.

If you are looking to control some 12V motors/lights with your 5V Arduino be sure to check out the pictures in the blog. While we here at Hackaday may be quick to jump into soldering [Ben] follows the proper development progression to the letter. Each aspect is bread boarded, then refined, then transferred to a soldered perf board.

update: His site has some kind of malware going on. None of us noticed it in Firefox, but after complaints we fired up ol IE. Yup, nastyness there. You can go there at the following link if you dare.

More after the jump:

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Automated Harmonica Plays Simple Tunes

March 15, 2011 by Mike Nathan 14 Comments

e-sharp_self_playing_harmonica

It seems that nearly everything is automated these days. Everywhere you look, people are being removed from processes in order to make them more efficient and less prone to mistakes. [Jon] however, saw one process that automation has yet to touch in a significant way – playing the harmonica.

He constructed a harmonica-playing machine that can play a handful of simple songs with a few button presses. The machine was constructed using three PIC controllers, an air compressor, and a pair of harmonicas. A master PIC controller manages the whole operation, taking input from the PIC driving LCD, then handing off playing instructions to the PIC that manages the harmonicas.

Once the machine is started and a song is selected, the machine plays away, prompting for a new song once it has finished. The machine doesn’t quite play the harmonica like a human does, however. The reeds of one harmonica were reversed so that the player only needs to blow air, rather than require a vacuum to provide suction for the drawing motion typically used in harmonica playing.

As you can see in this video, the rig works decently, though it probably needs a bit more work to achieve that “human” feel.

[Thanks, Ben]

Laser-cut Noise Maker Resembles Violin

March 10, 2011 by Mike Szczys 8 Comments

This looks very much like a violin but it sounds very much like someone abusing a family of cats. [Ranjit] came with the idea of building a violin using laser cut parts. It doesn’t follow the normal curved shape we’re used to seeing with string instruments. This is because the parts were all cut from flat stock, including the sides of the instrument. The boxy shape that resulted invokes visions of early video game objects and is why this is called the 8-bit violin.

After the break you can see a video of [Bre Pettis] playing the laser-cut instrument. It’s pretty bad, but not in that five-year-old picking up an instrument for the first time sort of way. Yes the best violinists spend a lifetime honing their craft, but they also play on instruments hand carved by master Luthiers who also spend a lifetime perfecting their skills. Don’t get us wrong though, we think it’s just as much fun as that 3D printed guitar.

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A 555 Synthesizer

March 9, 2011 by Kevin Dady 12 Comments

Inspired by the memory of a childhood electronics kit, [Frank] decided to make a new 555 Synthesizer and enter it into the 555 contest. [Frank’s] remake is played with a stylus, and sports an attack and release envelope circuit, housed in a quick but effective acrylic case.

Using a single 555 timer, a hand full of capacitors, two transistors, and a healthy dose of resistors and potentiometers, the sound is quite impressive thanks to optional filtering, enveloping, and a lot of fine tuning. Full schematics, bill of materials, formulas, and board files are all available along with sources for some of the more specialized potentiometers.

Join us after the break for a ~13 minute long video, which is pretty cool, as it shows the device from prototype, and does some fast forward action though to the final product pictured above, though if you just want a demo of the 555 synth fast forward to 10:44

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These Apple-inspired Speakers Would Make Steve Jobs Envious

March 7, 2011 by Mike Nathan 14 Comments

isound_speakers

Reader [Brett] sent in the build log of his beautiful set of Apple-inspired computer speakers for us to look over. Having seen our recent post on DIY speakers, he thought he would throw his hat into the ring as well, and we’re glad he did.

He wanted a nice set of speakers to complement his iMac, but couldn’t find anything he liked that would provide the sound quality he was looking for while closely matching the design of the computer. The speakers are constructed out of MDF with CNC milled acrylic front and back panels. Hand-built crossovers reside inside the speaker boxes, which provides for a clean, polished look. He originally planned on building a pair of subwoofers into his desk, but ultimately settled on building a single subwoofer to sit on the floor.

The finished product is simply stunning, and we would have a hard time believing they were a DIY project if we didn’t see them come together piece by piece. Do you think you can match [Brett’s] handiwork? If so, feel free to share your speaker builds in the comments.