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Post by Commodore on Sept 14, 2019 8:05:58 GMT -5
Alberich started a thread on non DCC sound. David has been working with DCC sources. Sound matters, especially in Z scale.
Dollar tree has some motivation activated Halloween figures with about a 5 seconds MP3 chip and decent speaker. I was blown away with the realism!
Somewhere ..,there is a way to program MP3 sounds.
Without the figures plastic bodies, it would be easy to hide several around a layout.
Any ideas?
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Post by markm on Sept 14, 2019 9:30:00 GMT -5
I'm by no means an authority on Halloween decorations, but low cost consumer products use application specific ICs that aren't reprogrammable. The only product I'm aware of that can be reprogrammed is the "Billy the Big-mouthed Bass". The reprogramming was described in a 1990s issue of Circuit Cellar magazine.
A consumer alternative could be the Hallmark recordable greeting cards.
My personable plan for sound is an Arduino CPU board with an SD card and audio shield.
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Post by Rob Albritton on Sept 14, 2019 11:54:38 GMT -5
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Post by markm on Sept 14, 2019 12:17:44 GMT -5
Exactly! The only reason I'm using the Arduino version is that I'm already using it for other functions. I'm going for background sounds: frogs croaking in the spring, crickets in summer, cows with bells on and the sound of a creek. The creek is proving challenging as it's the only one that can't tolerate the pause for the file "rewind." I still think the Hallmark cards a good solution for a short localized sound like a barking dog. The cards use a paper interrupter of the power supply which could easily be replaced by a switch. Mark
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2019 12:37:14 GMT -5
Look here ; I think it's the family of IC's in "talking cards". They use a kind of EEPROM, but with the ability of storing directly ANALOG values as charges, so there is no AD-DA converter ... If You need a longer recording time, You can use "Voice recorders", like those made by Philips or Olympus, there are even versions for less than 50 $ ...
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Post by Commodore on Sept 14, 2019 12:45:59 GMT -5
Look here ; I think it's the family of IC's in "talking cards". They use a kind of EEPROM, but with the ability of storing directly ANALOG values as charges, so there is no AD-DA converter ... If You need a longer recording time, You can use "Voice recorders", like those made by Philips or Olympus, there are even versions for less than 50 $ ... I like 1$
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Post by cwrr on Sept 14, 2019 15:35:51 GMT -5
Exactly! The only reason I'm using the Arduino version is that I'm already using it for other functions. I'm going for background sounds: frogs croaking in the spring, crickets in summer, cows with bells on and the sound of a creek. The creek is proving challenging as it's the only one that can't tolerate the pause for the file "rewind." I still think the Hallmark cards a good solution for a short localized sound like a barking dog. The cards use a paper interrupter of the power supply which could easily be replaced by a switch. Mark I have a sound machine that produces "white noise" while sleeping, and a creek is one of sounds. Pretty realistic for $19.99, and it plays all night!
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Post by billmock on Sept 14, 2019 15:41:59 GMT -5
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Post by Commodore on Sept 14, 2019 17:09:23 GMT -5
does anyone know if these are somehow programmable? Looks like a solid speaker, too.
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Post by markm on Sept 14, 2019 18:15:30 GMT -5
I'd have to see the ICs inside but considering a manufacturer's video was filmed in a kitchen programmability is a possibly. But why try to reprogram one of these things when with the Adafruit board you just download the audio files?
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Post by Commodore on Sept 14, 2019 20:29:54 GMT -5
I'd have to see the ICs inside but considering a manufacturer's video was filmed in a kitchen programmability is a possibly. But why try to reprogram one of these things when with the Adafruit board you just download the audio files? good point!
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Post by Rob Albritton on Sept 14, 2019 20:39:23 GMT -5
Look here ; I think it's the family of IC's in "talking cards". They use a kind of EEPROM, but with the ability of storing directly ANALOG values as charges, so there is no AD-DA converter ... If You need a longer recording time, You can use "Voice recorders", like those made by Philips or Olympus, there are even versions for less than 50 $ ... The adafruit board is $20. You just connect power, download a .wav file into the board via USB, it can play 10 different sound files. repeat them too, and with separate triggers for each file. It has 2mb of storage included. That should work for a few minutes of audio. For a few dollars more there is a version with an amplifier, so you just connect a speaker. www.adafruit.com/product/2210Why do you want to make it difficult by building your own? This confuses me.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2019 1:46:57 GMT -5
It was only another idea for the modeller friends. These circuits were brand new about 20 years ago and are still used in a Velleman kit with sampling functions (ISD17240PY). For myself I'll only use the Emic2 for some " system " (error and a countdown for the automatic mode, when I walk around, among others) messages (not even train announcements in the stations, because there is no sound for engines) and a beeper (50 ms) to confirm the action on the digitasts. And there will be a switch to ... disable all sounds ! " The sound of silence " (Simon and Garfunkel) !
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Post by Commodore on Sept 15, 2019 8:05:30 GMT -5
Rob ...I want a permanent thread on this topic. Z scale sound is just too critical (at least to believability) for me (and all the other forum members) to be buying random bunches of crap😬
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Post by pray59 on Sept 21, 2019 12:45:42 GMT -5
I have had great success using sound modules snapped up off ebay cheap. They have them on Amazon too. You can buy looping, triggerable, recordable modules with speakers for $2 up. At the 2$ price point you can find mp3 programmable hallmark card type mechanisms up to 30 seconds. At the $7 price point they have SD card and USB storage, giving you unlimited playback.
I have used stereo mp3 players with sd card and usb, set to loop, and made the sound files by adding sounds using Audacity on my pc, then saving them to an sd card. Those were $8 and come with 2 decent quality speakers. I utilized the stereo function, to have the left speaker play waterfront sounds, and the right to play sawmill sounds, and these have been working for almost 10 years without issue. To be fair, I buy random bunches of electronic crap, but I have just enough electronics experience to make it all work, and repair what fails if ever.
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