Taking advantage of the ridiculous prices on Aliexpress’s sale, I thought I might try some sound-sensitive micros.
What are the chips people use for interfacing with audio? I had it written down, but a recent laptop rebuild means it has gone all archive on me…
I’ve used the MSGEQ7 Spectrum Shield for Arduino from SparkFun with a Teensy v3.1 and the SmartMatrix: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10306
That’s the one! Thanks Jason.
No problem. There are comments on the product page with people complaining about the board being “noisy”, but I just ignore levels below 100 (on a scale of 0-1023) and it still looks and reacts great. I didn’t feel like making my own board with the chip.
uhoh. aliexpress? sale?
What’s the deal with those, do you hook up an electret mic directly or do you need to go via something like the Sparkfun mic/opamp breakout board?
@Robert_Atkins , you can hook up an electret mic. You can also hook up with a standard 3.5mm TRS or TS plug. I use a TRS since the SFE boards have both left and right channel capabilities. A single MSGEQ7 only handles one channel.
Should get a few shipped while I’m in the States.
There’s a general sale on aliexpress? Or just some vendors putting their stuff on sale?
General sale - On a $500 order of WS281 and WS2812B LEDs I paid just under $390. I bought 30 Arduino Nano’s for bugger all - $3.40 ea. And I just put in another order for a bunch of prototyping boards, MSGEQ7s, etc. Some only have a few points off, but everything helps
For interfacing with audio, I’ve used the Sparkfun Spectrum shield, but am now just using the Sparkfun MEMS microphone breakout (INMP401), which includes op-amp. I’ve got on order some ‘sound sensors’ from aliexpress, and they are cheap, cheap, cheap, so I’ll see how well they work. Like Zut, I purchased 10 Nano’s for about the same price. And to think, it’s just a hobby (with no income)… . .
Sparkfun (and Adafruit) are out of my price range - and shipping location. Although I do appreciate the work they do with their incredibly informative websites and videos.
I am never going to say they are overpriced - their overheads (and the quality of the merchandise) are way over what a man in a rented room in Shenzhen is shelling out for - but for me, I couldn’t afford to indulge in this hobby if I had to buy my supplies from them.