Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

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maybedave
 
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Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by maybedave »

Hello,

I'm working on building a sound board for my special needs, non-verbal nephew. Buttons that say "potty," "help," "hungry," etc. but I need 14+ triggers and only see products like thishttps://www.adafruit.com/product/2341 that have a max of 8 triggers. Is there something else that I can use that gives me more capacity for different sounds/buttons?

Also, any advice you have to make the thing battery powered and rechargeable would be appreciated. Thank you for helping this noob trying to do a good deed!

Dave

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by mikeysklar »

Dave,

Cool project.

The easiest thing would be to use a second Audio FX device and get another 11 pins.

Another option which would add some more complexity would be to use the serial UART feature. You could use a controller with 14+ GPIOs that transmits input triggers over it's UART (TX UART) to the Audio FX (RX UART).

I think two Audio FX makes more sense than making things more complicated with Arduino / CircuitPython code.

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maybedave
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by maybedave »

Thank you so much for the reply, Mikey!

So if I use two Audio FX devices, do I just splice the power to both of them, and then run both to the speakers? In other words, no direct connections between the two FX boards?

I'm all for keeping it simpler. Really appreciate you chiming in!

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by mikeysklar »

Sharing the power source and speakers between the two AudioFX mini boards seems like the way to go.

audiofx mini
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2341

2W amp
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1552

3" 4ohm Speakers
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1314

Your choice on batteries, but a LiPoly pack would probably be the most compact.

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maybedave
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by maybedave »

Really appreciate your help. Could I ask you a couple of follow up questions?

1. When wiring up two separate AudioFX Mini boards to power and speakers, is it as simple as just splicing them to the correct points? Can I solder the LiPo backpack to one of the boards, then just run wires to the other?

2. Does the wiring in the LED arcade button require separate wiring for the lights vs. the on/off of the button? I would prefer the lights to be on all the time, since I'll be adding imagesk but I'm not sure how to wire that.

3. What size battery would you suggest to run this thing? Taking into account the fact a kid will probably just leave it on all the time.

I put a rough wiring diagram together and would really appreciate you taking a look at it. THANK YOU!
Attachments
diagram.jpeg
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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by mikeysklar »

Thank you for putting together this diagram. It is quite clear from it what you intend to do. It looks just fine to me with the one exception of the yellow BUS line connecting the two AudioFX Mini's. That is a line out 5v so you can skip that and just run the Vin / GND connection over to the 2nd module.

The Mini LED Arcade buttons have four connectors. Two are connected to GND, one goes to your AudioFX as a button input and the other is the +5v to illuminate the LED. You do not need to connect the 5v unless you want the LED always on. You could use your free BUS connection on the AudioFX Mini. The LEDs will trigger on off your button presses only without the 5v connection. Buy the connectors they make it easier to work with these.

Powering this might be easiest with an external USB pack going into one of the Audio FX micro USB portds and skipping the LiPoly backpack altogether. Then you can use a standard USB enclosed battery pack. I would start with a 2200mAh pack and buy a larger unit if this cannot run all day.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1959

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maybedave
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by maybedave »

The external USB pack is a great suggestion! That would also minimize downtime if we charge spares. Would I just skip the BUS connection altogether then? Just running VIN / GND between the two would power both Minis when the USB pack is plugged into only one?

Man! This went from a hopeful idea to very doable project for me, thanks to your help! Can't thank you enough for making a difference in Noah's life. I'll update you with the finished product. THANK YOU!

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by mikeysklar »

Just Vin / GND between the two AudioFX should allow just one micro USB power connection to power both boards.

The BUS connection can be used to power other 5v devices like your buttons so use it for that.

Hope this works out for Noah. Please post pics of your project and maybe even with Noah in it when you are done. We sometimes feature Maker projects.

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imruffsdad
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by imruffsdad »

Hey Maybedave, I just finished a prototype of something similar to this a week or so ago. I have a 16 button matrix in which each button plays a different sound effect. This uses a Feather M4 Express and the MusicMaker Feather Wing that stores the files and plays them. I have it on a protoboard but the two Feather products could easily stack and take up very little space. Just FYI if you're interested. I can post better pictures and the code if you want. The caveat is that the MusicMaker only works, as far as I know, on an Arduino platfrom.
SoundEffects.jpg
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All the best, Dennis

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maybedave
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by maybedave »

Thanks for chiming in Dennis! Really appreciate it, but this noob is going to go with the no coding option. :)

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TacoBill65
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by TacoBill65 »

I am looking for a way to record wav files from say a speaker out put directly to the mini audio board
So I am a ham radio operator and I use the mini to play my call sign at the tap of a button but would like to record off air audio that comes from the radio speaker and be able to have the 7 sound buttons. is this even possible?

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maybedave
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by maybedave »

Hi TacoBill!

As far as I know, all of the sound file creation has to happen on a separate device, presumably computer or phone. Then of course there's making sure it's the correct file format, etc. which the sound board is not capable of doing. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but that is my understanding of this simple board.

Dave

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by mikeysklar »

@TacoBill65,

The AudioFX boards do not record.

Our VS1053 boards do.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1381

Please start a new thread with any further questions on getting going with your HAM recording / button setup.

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TacoBill65
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by TacoBill65 »

does it record and playback?

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Sound board with LOTS of triggers?

Post by mikeysklar »

Yes, record and playback.
This breakout board is the ultimate companion for the VLSI VS1053B DSP codec chip. The VS1053 can decode a wide variety of audio formats such as MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, MIDI, FLAC, WAV (PCM and ADPCM). It can also be used to record audio in both PCM (WAV) and compressed Ogg Vorbis. You can do all sorts of stuff with the audio as well such as adjusting bass, treble, and volume digitally. There is also 8 GPIO pins that can be used for stuff like lighting up small LEDs or reading buttons.

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