http://wwwinstructablescom/id/color-organ-triple-deluxe-ii/ Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop Color Organ Triple Deluxe II by ledartist on January 13, 2013 Table of Contents Color Organ Triple Deluxe II 1 Intro: Color Organ Triple Deluxe II 2 Step 1: The Problems & The Solutions 2 Step 2: Circuit 3 File Downloads 4 Step 3: Assembly 4 Step 4: Use 5 Related Instructables 6 Advertisements 6 Comments 6
Author:ledartist Visit TheLEDartcom for more I am an electronic artist living in Brooklyn, NY I work with LEDs and microcontrollers to create beautiful objects Intro: Color Organ Triple Deluxe II Making Refinements to the Old Project I put together the Color Organ Triple Deluxe over a year ago It was a bare minimum version of color organ circuit using LEDs instead of incandescent lamps that traditional color organs use The circuit worked pretty well, considering the simplicity of the circuit However I just kept feeling like this project deserves further refinements So I went back to the drawing board (or breadboard) and took a hard look at the circuit The result? Please take a look at the video Step 1: The Problems & The Solutions The Problems There were a few problems The transistors in the circuit was biased in the way that it was supply voltage dependent, as well as device dependent - in other words, if the voltage was too high or too low, or the transistors had a bit of different characteristics, the circuit did not perform well The filter performance was also a bit poor - the separation between the frequency bands were not so great The Solutions First, I changed the initial gain stage from single transistor design to two transistor design It's a basic class-a common emitter amplifier followed by an emitter follower They are direct coupled for optimum performance, as well as reduced part count (always important for me to design circuits with the least number of parts) Adding the emitter follower stage allowed the low output impedance needed for the filters to perform well The biasing circuit was also revised to be less device and voltage dependent Second, the filters were refined to have better separations Input and output impedance to the filters are better matched to achieve better efficiency as well Third, the LED driver circuits were given another transistor Actually, in the original design, the output buffer and the LED driver was done by the same transistors Now the filter outputs are buffered by emitter followers, then the filtered audio waves are rectified before going into the LED drivers Those changes made a huge difference And I tweaked the component values obsessively to get the best performance Sensitivity adjustment control is also added There are many additional parts compared to the earlier version, but the result is totally worth it The LEDs now respond to music very, very nicely http://wwwinstructablescom/id/color-organ-triple-deluxe-ii/
Step 2: Circuit Here are the circuit schematics, BOM, as well as the PCB layout The filter response graph is also shown Keep in mind that the graph is more of a perceptual one than actual The circuit is loosely based on the many vintage circuits before it, with a few improvements The input buffer/gain stage is designed to have low output impedance This is important for the filter stages that follow This stage is also designed to give high gain and maximum output signal level, since the filters are of passive type so will lose some signal (This amplifier stage took me the most time to design I tried out many topologies and parameters I think I found the best balance between simplicity, stability and performance Unlike using op-amp, designing amplifier with transistors is an art of compromise) The use of emitter follower as rectifier is my original idea (Q3, 5 and 7) Combined with the bias point set (by R8 and 9 and so on) right below the point the LED driver turns on makes this color organ very sensitive to the lower volume of audio input, while eliminating the diodes typically used here BOM 3x 47 ohm - R4,17,20 6x 150 ohm - R10,15,16,16b,21,21b 2x 270 ohm - R11,11b 1x 470 ohm - R6 2x 1k ohm - R1,2 2x 47k ohm - R7,12 4x 10k ohm - R3,9,14,19 3x 270k ohm - R8,13,18 1x 12M ohm - R5 1x 10k ohm potentiometer - VR1 1x 47nF (00047uF) - C9 2x 22nF (0022uF) - C6,7 1x 022uF EC - C3 1x 1uF EC - C4 3x 47uF EC - C5,8,10 1x 10 uf EC 16V or higher - C2 1x 47uF EC 16V or higher - C1 8x MPS2222A or Equivalent - Q1-8 6x Red LED - D1-6 6x Green LED - D7-12 6x Blue LED - D13-18 1x 35mm Stereo Jack - CN1 1x DC Power Jack All resistors are 1/8W (or higher) carbon film type, 5% precision Small capacitors are film type, and 022uF and above are electrolytic type having voltage rating of 16V or higher Parts Substitutions This type of analog circuits tend to be picky about the part values, so it's best not to change out resistor values, etc unless you know what you are doing Resister and capacitor types are not very critical, so just use any type you might have Using ceramic capacitors instead of film for example, is fine I used MPS2222A transistor, which can be substituted by number of general purpose transistors of similar specs The ones I tested are 2N4400, 2N4401, and 2N3904 Q1 is more critical than other transistors in this circuit The biasing is adjusted for transistors having the hfe around 200 If you use different transistor, you might want to check the voltage at Q1 collector - the voltage here should be between 45 to 6V when 12V supply is applied Adjust R5 or try different transistors for Q1 if it's too high or low PCB Layout PCB layout is provided as PDF for home brew PCB makers It's a single layer design, so it should be easy to make your own Kits and PCBs Kits and PCBs of this project are available at my website http://wwwinstructablescom/id/color-organ-triple-deluxe-ii/
File Downloads Color Organ Triple Deluxe schematic-rev3cpdf (83 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Color Organ Triple Deluxe schematic-rev3cpdf'] ColorOrganTripleDeluxePCBpdf (52 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'ColorOrganTripleDeluxePCBpdf'] Step 3: Assembly There are 8 transistors, and many resistors, capacitors and LEDs, but the assembly is very straightforward as they are all familier through hole parts (and no ICs) In a way, Color Organ Triple Deluxe II is built like circuits from the 70's If you are like me, you will appreciate the modern vintage feel of all discrete part design I recommend soldering the lower profile parts, first, then move on to taller and taller parts I arranged the BOM in the order of soldering below: Soldering Order Resistors (bend the leads) (reference on color code) 3x 47 ohm (yellow, violet, black, gold) - R4,17,20 6x 150 ohm (brown, green, brown, gold) - R10,15,16,16b,21,21b 2x 270 ohm (red, violet, brown, gold) - R11,11b 1x 470 ohm (yellow, violet, brown, gold) - R6 2x 1k ohm (brown, black, red, gold) - R1,2 2x 47k ohm (yellow, violet, red, gold) - R7,12 4x 10k ohm (brown, black, orange, gold) - R3,9,14,19 3x 270k ohm (red, violet, yellow, gold) - R8,13,18 1x 12M ohm (brown, red, green, gold) - R5 1x 35mm Stereo Jack - CN1 Capacitors (watch the polarity for electrolytic capacitors - long leads go into the holes with "+" sign on the PCB) http://wwwinstructablescom/id/color-organ-triple-deluxe-ii/
1x 47nF (00047uF) Film Capacitor - C9 2x 22nF (0022uF) Film Capacitor - C6,7 1x 022uF Electrolytic Capacitor* - C3 1x 1uF Electrolytic Capacitor* - C4 3x 47uF Electrolytic Capacitor* - C5,8,10 1x 10 uf Electrolytic Capacitor* - C2 1x 47uF Electrolytic Capacitor* - C1 Transistors (polarity - make sure to orient them to the shape printed on the PCB) 8x MPS2222A or Equivalent - Q1-8 LEDs (polarity - make sure to orient them to the shape printed on the PCB) 6x Red LED - D1-6 6x Green LED - D7-12 6x Blue LED - D13-18 1x DC Power Jack 1x 10k (50k) ohm potentiometer - VR1 Notes on Solder Resin/Flux Some solder resin/flux is electrically conductive (resin or flux is inside solder wire to help solder to adhere to the joints) Some parts of Color Organ Triple Deluxe II are very sensitive to even a tiny amount of electrical leakage caused by soldering resin/flux If the LEDs on Color Organ Triple Deluxe II stays lit without any sound signal coming in, you need to clean the PCB to remove the resin/flux "No Clean" type flux cause no problems (as the name implies), but more typical resin type flux can cause good amount of leakage, and cleaning might be required You can use an acid brush or an old toothbrush immersed in rubbing alcohol to scrub the back of the PCB Rince out the brush, wet with alcohol again and scrub another round or to until all the resin residue is gone Make sure to dry the PCB completely before connecting to the power supply Image Notes 1 Resistors 2 Film capacitors 3 Electrolytic capacitor 4 LEDs 5 Transistors 6 DC Power Jack 7 35mm Stereo Jack 8 Potentiometer 9 PCB Step 4: Use Color Organ Triple Deluxe II is designed to run by 12V DC power supply The circuit works pretty ok with 9V power, though However 9V battery is not recommended as a power source because of the relatively high current draw (about 25mA at idol) It's best to connect to a regulated 12V DC power supply Be careful if you want to use a typical wall wart - they can output much higher voltage than they are rated - sometimes as high as 18V from a 12V one Color Organ Triple Deluxe II can operate safely from up to about 15V power (If you want to use non-regulated AC adaptor, try a 9V rated one - they typically produce around 13V) Audio source can be any "line level" output from audio equipment, or headphone output from computer sound cards and ipod/mp3 players If you want to listen to the music while using Color Organ Triple Deluxe II, you might need a splitter cable Connect Color Organ Triple Deluxe II to your audio source of choice, and give it a play I found music with good amount of beats to give best results Adjust the potentiometer (sensitivity level) according to the sound level The LEDs react to the sound volume in a pretty linear manner that it feels like the Color Organ is translating sound into light The light out of the LEDs are blinding bright You can use Color Organ Triple Deluxe II as a wall wash - project the light towards walls or ceiling and dim the lights in the room You will discover a new joy of listing to music http://wwwinstructablescom/id/color-organ-triple-deluxe-ii/
Related Instructables RGB sound synched LED light (video) by emihackr97 2 Channel DVD LED COLOR ORGAN by wgsinc Recycled Material Musical Tree Lamp with Color Changing LEDs (Photos) by Elemental LED LED Color Organ Triple Deluxe by ledartist Worlds smallest color organ by jduffy54 Music Flashing LED Bar by HM- Innovations Advertisements Comments 6 comments Add Comment lhazwani says: Jan 19, 2013 2:23 AM REPLY Hi can i know which software and what version do you construct the PCB circuit and the schematic diagram? it seems my ISIS does not have the virtual ground Thank you :) ledartist says: Jan 19, 2013 7:57 AM REPLY I use Osmond (on Mac OS X) to design PCBs, but this software doesn't have schematic capture I draw my schematics using Adobe Illustrator So it's like drawing manually There's no virtual ground in this color organ circuit though Aki Tomdf says: Jan 15, 2013 3:43 PM REPLY I've wanted to build one of these for years, ever since I got one of those Velleman single channel kits In a way I'm almost disappointing, I won't bother to figure it out myself now that I have your instructions I also just wanted to say that your kits, videos and documentation are absolutely top-notch, and the fact that you share your work openly is the epitome of class Thank you, I mean it sincerely! http://wwwinstructablescom/id/color-organ-triple-deluxe-ii/
ledartist says: Jan 15, 2013 3:49 PM REPLY Thanks! Yeah this was one of those projects that I wanted to tackle for years as well I just wanted to make it simpler than the typical modern implementation using OP-amps So I gave myself a chalenge to design one without an OP-amp Aki JVC-Force says: Jan 14, 2013 8:27 PM REPLY Cool, it is not surface mount! The three band separation is very impressive Color organ + LEDs = future retro! ledartist says: Jan 15, 2013 11:42 AM REPLY Those little transistors can do a lot Analog circuit rocks! http://wwwinstructablescom/id/color-organ-triple-deluxe-ii/
Level Frequency Filter Responces 320Hz 800Hz 24kHz AUDIO 1 R1 1k AUDIO 2 GND R2 1k VR1 10k +12V POWER C1 47u Schematic BOM 3x 47 ohm - R4,17,20 6x 150 ohm - R10,15,16,16b,21,21b 2x 270 ohm - R11,11b 1x 470 ohm - R6 2x 1k ohm - R1,2 2x 47k ohm - R7,12 4x 10k ohm - R3,9,14,19 R3 10k C2 10u Q1 R5 12M Q2 R4 47R R6 470R 3x 270k ohm - R8,13,18 1x 12M ohm - R5 1x 10k (50k) ohm pot - VR1 1x 47nF (00047uF) - C9 2x 22nF (0022uF) - C6,7 1x 022uF EC - C3 1x 1uF EC - C4 R7 47k C3 022u R12 47k C6 22n R17 47R D1 C4 1u R9 10k R8 270k R10 C5 1u Q3 R11 270R Q4 D2 D3 D7 C7 22n R14 10k R13 270k R15 C8 1u Q5 R16 Q6 D8 D9 D13 C9 47n R19 10k R18 270k R20 47R C10 1u Q7 R21 Q8 D14 D15 3x 47uF EC - C5,8,10 1x 10 uf EC 16V or higher - C2 1x 47uF EC 16V or higher - C1 8x MPS2222A or Equivalent - Q1-8 6x Red LED - D1-6 6x Green LED - D7-12 6x Blue LED - D13-18 D4 D5 D6 R11b 270R D10 D11 D12 R16b D16 D17 D18 R21b Title Date Low Mid High Color Organ Triple Deluxe 2 Rev 12/29/2012 3c Sheet 1 of 1 Designed by Akimitsu Sadoi