Electronic Design Project

[Ninjamark]

Hey guys, so I recently had an idea I wish the design and create. However, anything I've done so far hasn't been electronic or used a simple on off switch.
So I'm wondering if I can get some direction for how to set about my idea.

The basic concept is that I want to light up LED's using surround sound. For example if I hear a sound on my "left" a corresponding light would light up.
Additionally, if possible, I would like the intensity of the sound would effect the brightness of the LED, so that a sound heard from the "front" would light up the front LED quite brightly and the left/right LED very slightly.

The end result would be that if, say a helicopter, was to virtually fly around me, the LEDs would sort of fade in and out in a circular motion.

Now as far as I understand I would probably have to build a circuit board of sorts and likely have to write a program.

If anyone could tell me in very general terms what methods they would use/do to accomplish this and if possible direct me to something to teach me about these methods it would be hugely appreciated.

I'm more than happy to put in the hours required to learn new things, so even very general answers are appreciated. I just have no idea where to start really.

 

[chuckey]

Go to Google and put in "light show circuit", there are a lot. Once you have a specific question we will try to answer it.
Frank

 

[Audioguru]

If you connect an LED in series with a current-limiting resistor and have a reverse diode parallel to the LED then it will make a crude voltmeter and will light when a speaker channel produces enough voltage. But our vision's sensitivity to brightness is not linear, it is logarithmic so half the voltage would dim the LED only a little. You might need a circuit that will convert the speaker linear voltage change to a logarithmic voltage change.

Try using an LED, a resistor and a diode on a speaker channel to see it then make 4 of them.

 

[D.A.(Tony)Stewart]

The problem is music or sound much more complex than a helicopter.

Our eyes and ears detect over 10 decades, but not all at once. So both are logarithmic.

The ears adapt quicker and can resolve sources within 5 or 6 decades. The eyes compensate to large changes and take more time to adjust to darkness so the dynamic range is often limited to 2.5 decades or 8 bits per colour.

Music on radio is so compressed that it would appear constant envelope on the scope or LED unless there was good separation of beat sounds.

So if you want a better visual presentation, consider channel separation, spectral response and attack and decay times in your visualization design first. One method of resolving quadraphonic sounds is to cancel the mono channel sound from source.

The more time you take to imagine the requirements, the better the result.

 

[Audioguru]

I made a VU meter with an electret microphone, a preamp, a peak detector and an LM3915 logarithmic LED driver. I extended the 30dB range of the LM3915 to 50dB. It has shown the sound levels in my family room for over 9 years.
It can show the sound level of a whisper in the next room but it can also show very loud sound levels. Maybe you need one for each channel.

 

[Ninjamark]

Thanks guys, I've got a bit of an idea where to head with it now. I should be able to work something out now.

I probably should have mention in my OP that it is for PC surround sound, so similar to how a headset plugs in via USB I would hope to have this plug into my pc through usb, which probably changes how you would approach it

Any further ideas are appreciated but I have some direction now, thanks guys

 

[chuckey]

There are cheap USB to analogue modules available, but no 2 1/2 /3 channel ones?
Frank