How to make sound reactive LEDs

[xxxjgodxxx]

this is probably a stupid question but im trying to make sound reactive LED matrix (its for my Dead Mau5 head) and i wanted to make it like this so when i go to a concert, it will react with the sounds around it. how does this work? will i need to use a mic.?

Thanks if anyone responds... :)

[darkMDR]

this doesnt seem to work here, i connected the transformers 12V+ to the positive of the leds or bulb then the negative from the leds to the middle pin.

i connected the ground of the audio and ground from the transformer to the right pin and the positive of the audio to the left pin.

when i connect my subwoofer to them they just keep burning all the time and the transistor gets hot.

and when connected to speakers they dont work at all.

i tried 2 different tip-31 transistors too.

please help.

[santuico1]

Does it work if im using a mp3 player?

[hahaOSAMAhaha]

nice video!! i have done the same as u did but i have a tip31C, its with c in the end(what does that mean?`) because my led does light that bright :/ i have tried with louder music, but same shit please help me!! when i connect the leds to 12v they light bright and so but they doesn't light that bright with tip31 connected :/

[td0034]

@hahaOSAMAhaha tip31 is the most recommended transistor for this project however it is not sensitive enough to react to mp3/iphone music output. I still havent found a chip more suitable for the job.in the meantime try hooking it up to your computer headphone slot and messing around with the balance (left and right stereo channels) to get the most power out. otherwise you could buy/make a small amplifier circuit for your music and then connect it to the tip31.

[hahaOSAMAhaha]

@td0034 can u recommend me a amplifier? i have tried with equalizer, it got little better, i will try to run two equalizer at the same time

[Crazy1991Rocker]

I make one two.I used the same TIP31. Search " led pe muzica" on youtube.I used 12V transformer and 12V led for cars.I put them in ceiling.Look's great.Good job;)

[TheHighFiveProd]

I just cut the lightcables i got and + and - and stuff it in the amplifier :D

[grygrydude123]

Do you see your mistake you said you needed a AC to DC transformer but you have a 120 VAC to 12 VAC do theres no DC? WTF

[vincentandsimon]

Fucking fuck the fucking leds blow up in My hands

[steffy2006us]

Thanks:D



[steffy2006us]

I have a question. I dont have a 12v transformer. Can I use one of a smaler output, something like 3-4v

[BlackHole88100]

@steffy2006us use molex from you PC (yelow and black wire 12 V)

[usbelectronickits]

I think that leds without a limiting resistor isn't good idea!

In fact is bad idea!

So why you don't put a resistor?

[MinecraftPro39]

lauder lol its louder



[jjjester123321]

:31 can you explain more please? thanks

[vincentandsimon]

Ok thanks man

[cmritchie04]

What do I do if I want a constant light to come on when sound comes through the sound card and not a fluxuating light. FYI: "using something like a skype as an intercom."

[ItsCallum]

way to ruin a classic song!

[vincentandsimon]

You bastard, you did not mail me!!! :(

[vincentandsimon]

Where did u buy this tip31 please mail me simonbachi@hotmail.se

[ItsCallum]

@vincentandsimon it says in the video, radioshack...

[sartoriusmortalitus]

Ese transistor se compra en cualquier tienda de electronica steren por ejemplo

[steffy2006us]

Can you take the signal straigt from the the speaker like in your other video and use the TIP31? or you need to take it with the jack from the computer?

[monster2221]

@steffy2006us i have never tried to take the signal straight from the speaker, it could work but i dont have an idea how. try it and if it would work tell me.

[steffy2006us]

@monster2221 I will tried later this day and tell you if it work:D thanks for the reply

[hahaOSAMAhaha]

@monster2221 its doesn't work!! i have tried with my usb speakers, i tried to use it as amfilier*, but can anyone more try it?

[Mr4wheelinfool]

if i use a little bigger transformer would it make the lights stop lighting on the mids?

[infinityLAO]

@qgproductions1 u have straight A's in 5th grade dont think ur a genius yet it doesnt get hard til highscchool

[TewZx]

nice jigga boo !!DFSAFSDFSDFs@@!#@!$!@$# 50k views man good job

[PinoyPogiman]

cool, might do this and add it to my Ihome. add some flashyiness to it

[johnhi00]

Simple, yet effective.  Excellent.

[TheBeyBladeNation]

any resistors or capacitators needed?

[monster2221]

@TheBeyBladeNation no, only if you use the right amount of leds per amount of voltage you use. look up led calculator in Google, this should help you.

[td0034]

@monster2221 get a book on electronics. if you have a computer power supply giving out 3.3v to 5v you can power 100+ leds in parallel, max brightness, instead of just 4 per 12v line...

[sartoriusmortalitus]

Para eso es el transistor por eso es que no se queman los leds

[td0034]

@TheBeyBladeNation if you use a capacitor correctly the lights fade out rather than just flash on or off

[HeyStupidFlanders]

Thanks any way to do this with guitar equipment

[canihavesomehacks]

Sorry but not the best way to make sound reactive LED lights.

[TheFuzz444]

one question, you wrote that you need an AC to DC transformer with a 12V output but the picture of the transformer shows AC to AC current not AC to DC. Should I bother to use an AC to DC transformer or will the AC to AC one work just as well? Thanks!

[GraveMaker97]

i dont understand one thing, how do you know which is the positive end of the transformer ?

[monster2221]

@GraveMaker97 most of the times the positive end will be the one that has some sort of line on the wire or that has something different from the other.

[jake22481]

@GraveMaker97 its ac so there is not a positive

[mikeyhendri]

@GraveMaker97 by a collor on the cable

[leoshil]

@GraveMaker97 use a multimeter with red and black probes. measure the output voltage from the transformer using the probes. if the reading is negative volts, then you are holding the red probe of the multimeter to the negative of the transformer.

[ulike110]

can you do this whit more than 4 led (like 15 led)! thanks! great video!

[auzzb]

@ulike110 yes you can, but will have to wire them in both series and parallel having sets of 3 or 4 in series. (or all in parellel using a low voltage PSU) i used 16 in my video and i needed to use an amp to power them. i originally had 32 but blew them up being stupid and using too much power.

[GoDyFoem]

tip31 where can I buy it?

[monster2221]

@GoDyFoem ebay or radioshack



[XDrifter2]

@monster2221 Isnt that in the beginning?? -_-

[kunwarraj03]

@monster2221 i have a question ,, actually i ripped off the 2 headphones , n both of them have a green ,, red ,, gold wire ,, but nuthn like you showed so umm can you tell me wat should i do ??

[monster2221]

@kunwarraj03 your best bet is to go out and get an auxiliary cable, there only a few dollars and they will work better than what you have now

[Default22100]

Hey, i have a question could you help out please. Is there a way i can use a microfone instead? like on of those cheap ones you can connect to a computer.

[monster2221]

@Default22100 it is possible, but i have no idea of how it could be done.

[auzzb]

@Default22100 yes there is but you would need to use a small amplifying circuit (which you can buy in little kits from electronics stores) or use a full size amplifier, having your mic as an input and the led circuit and speakers as outputs if you wanted speakers. regardless, you need an amplifier.

[Default22100]

@auzzb Thank you, i will look into it, but first im going to try whats in the video just to see if i can do it.

[ToniMk95]

it work! :)

[sk8jonu]

Can I connect both colored wires to left prong, or does it mix left and right channels together, so I hear only mono from my speakers?

[auzzb]

@sk8jonu yes it would make it mono and sound bad. in my video i used two transistors, one for each channel, so it remains stereo

[GTheNeko]

Btw what Wattage are the LEDs

[johnnymkd95]

can u put more than 4leds ?

[strangerlover11]

Excellent but the last connection can we get from desktop speak and if I use more leds with

12 vots dc than what voltage of transister I have to use thanks.

[ceh555]

will tip32B work? pls answer! :)

[auzzb]

@ceh555 any of the TIP32's will work, A,B or C. I used C's, they are just different grades but all do the same thing.

[justintime150]

I have everything hooked up like this, but my lights aren't blinking.. well actually they aren't doing anything. Any help?

[justintime150]

So simple.. yet I can't get it to work. -.-

[musicguru102]

The transformer that you show is not an AC to DC tranformer. Its output is still AC, says right on the enclosure. Does it not matter whether it's AC or DC just the voltage?

[joliot11]

Hi i wonder if i can plug the tip31 to my amp instead of using the 3,5mm plug and y-split. :)

[monster2221]

@joliot11 yes i think you could, i am not 100% curtain but try.

[goboobsgo]

@joliot11 i tried and it worked! :D mut im not sure do the transformer put power back to amp?

[joliot11]

@goboobsgo yes maybe but then it would power the computer to?

[goboobsgo]

@joliot11 i not smoking yet. ;D and it works still. =D

[auzzb]

@joliot11 you quite easily could, but depending on what amplifier you use, be careful. adding things like that out of your amplifier (depending on where you connect them, im guessing out of the speaker ports) one thing or the other could damage. transistors are fairly easy to burn out. i had a beautiful amplifier that was really old (about 1970s) and sounded beautiful and i doubled it up with my subwoofer amplifier that was a piece of shit and it blew up my good amplifier so be careful

[juromebato]

what's the difference when you hook up the leds with the audio only and hooking up the leds with the TIP 31??

[monster2221]

@juromebato the tip31 keeps the leds from blowing out from too much power coming from the speaker, the tip31 powers the leds no matter what volume your speakers are, if you connect the leds directly to the speaker, you would need to increase or decrease the volume of your speakers in order to get the right brightness or any brightness at all that you would like to desire.

[ps3dude14]

is thr a limit on how many LEDs i can use

[monster2221]

@ps3dude14 i have no idea

[auzzb]

@ps3dude14 depends what voltage you use what leds you use and if they are wired in series or parallel

[vikotr112233]

It ain't working for me as supposed, i need some help.

Well I'm working with 2 cold cathodes instead of LED's and when I connect all as supposed, start playing song on my 3.5mm device literally nothing happens. I mean, when i turn volume up as much as I can and pick loudest song i see them BARELY BLINKING. What should i do?

[TheGenuineGamer]

@vikotr112233 what power supply are you using?

[vikotr112233]

@TheGenuineGamer 12V, 500mA. It works normal if i just connect cathodes, but when i add tip31 its getting worser. :(

[TheGenuineGamer]

@vikotr112233 the only thing i could think of is that there isnt enough voltage going over the tip31, a transistor needs atleast 0.7 volts to operate. So if you are using 5v LED's you are going to need atleast 5.7volts flowing over the transistor. What i reccomend doing is to measure the voltage before the transistor and then measure it again after the transistor. If you have less than 3-5v flowing to the LED's after the transistor then thats your problem. You might want to just check your...

[TheGenuineGamer]

@vikotr112233 power supply as well just in case its a dodgy supply. Apart from that im not too sure mate. Sorry i couldn't be of more help.

[TheGenuineGamer]

@vikotr112233 sorry i just realised your not using LED's. Thats ok the same principle apply's. Just find out what voltage your cathodes need and make sure you have at least 0.7 volts more than what you need to power your cathodes so that you are apply to power the transistor aswell

[arturik154]

how many lights i can run with one TIP 31 ? I HAVE 32 LED LIGHTS TUBE ! 12 V ?

[AkiraSM007]

Is there any possibility too use any other transistor? I have a bunch of "BU508A", "F12C20C" "C4242" "7905CT" "CTB-34" can you please answer? :(

[MegaApoorve]

teel me i've a sounda barrier AMp 5400 watts and 1100 watts Jbl bass tube..i want dis thing to get fit in to the bass tube...wud it b possible..

apoorves@yahoo.in

[asalarza101]

what is the voltage of tip31?



[GREENGALAXYHERO]

is there any way to make this portable?

[dan75buck]

how many led`s will this run ???

[BlackDragon1825]

Ok one question by me... Did you use regular jack 3,5 mm stereo at one end of the cable, splitted to mono left-right separate cables jack 3,5 mm on the other end ?

Cause I saw in the video that one whole piece of cable (i assume stereo jack 3,5 mm) splits into two seperate pieces (mono L R jack3,5 mm), so i wasn't quite sure what to buy.

Tnx for answering :D

[tarvin20]

curious question but would this work if i replace the LEDs with a 12volt led strip?

[monster2221]

@tarvin20 yes



[vcxshgfd]

noob here. would a regular bjt work if I was using 9v instead of 12v?

[david102391]

Could you tell me the spec on the LEDs you used?

[TechLaine]

this thing would work as amplifier is cap added to both outputs,

you invented worlds most simple audio amplifier.

well done.

[TechLaine]

can i use other voltage regulator other than that? they all work by the same way.

theres even weaker like K51 its able to read 10mw, used it and works great 200x micro 15mw leds hooked up to it :)

[iKill4Fun214]

i used an old ipod headphone... it has a green wire, red wire, and yellow/gold wire, green and red wires together as one. which one goes where?

[j6mmer]

Could I get it to dance with my subs in my car if I used RCA cables instead of a 3.5mm and got the power from my lead 12v to my amplifier?

Would it be 1RCA on the left prong and the other RCA on he right prong?

Also, would it work to cut & solder a small cable in my 12v power b4 it connects to my amplifier for power to the LED's?

Thanks for posting these vids!

[Jcrexxor]

How much did this cost?

[monster2221]

@Jcrexxor if you buy all of your stuff at radio shack then its about $15, if you order everything online then it will be like $5 to $8

[Jcrexxor]

@monster2221 Okay cool I'll have to try this sometime. Thanks!

[cousticdrew]

am lost on the 3.5mm jack wiring. I have a 3.5mm jack instead of headphone wires, there is a black, red, and green. I'm guessing neg,right,and left. out of those three, which ones do I connect to the right leg of the tp31, and what to the left leg. also I'm assuming "right leg" means the writing on the tp31 facing me? had to duck and cover for a wrong size led to 12v. like an m80!! bout shatt myself, still a little nervouse bout making a wrong connection. thx

[hf201]

@cousticdrew I have the same exact questions. Do you connect the jack's ground wire to the left prong?

[monster2221]

@hf201 the ground wire has to be connected to the right prong. on the left prog of the tp31 you would connect the left or right sound wire. the writing on tp31 should be facing you.

[desorpr]

@monster2221 hi i have red gold and white gold wish one i conect?

[monster2221]

@desorpr connect the red to the left leg and the gold to the right.

[monster2221]

@cousticdrew the ground wire which would be the green in your case has to be connected to the right prong. on the left prog of the tp31 you would connect the left or right sound wire, which would be the black or the red. the writing on tp31 should be facing you.

[SMETTO36]

if i use TIP41 it will work?

[djsnaps12]

OK guys hear is a better understanding. It depends on the v that your leds are rated at. Like mine take for instance. are 3.2v. I can fit 3 because that adds up to 9.6 which is under 12v any thing over you will have brightness issues or not work at all. Also I had a question for you.

You didn't have to put a resistor on those?

[djsnaps12]

@djsnaps12

Here is a wizard for LED and resisters

led.linear1. org/1led.wiz

[TheZoly13]

guys if I conncet 4 leds on 12 volts  it will work fine ?

[monster2221]

@TheZoly13 yes it will work, but the leds might not be as vivid in color as they can be. try using 3 instead, this way the leds will be brighter.

[cousticdrew]

@TheZoly13 no, and depends on the color, the voltage out of the leds,u need resistors etc. some led's are 3.5 volts. I found a great tool to answer all those questions. it will tell you what resistors u need, how many, and even give you a schematic within second. It's ledcalc.com. I am learning that there is a whole lot more to it than just slappin an led to a pos and neg wires. found out the hard way!! those lil' mu@%$^&f56$#$s can put off quite a bang!

[ashfaaq11]

can i use a 9v battery and do any other type of transistor work?plzz answer!!!

[monster2221]

@ashfaaq11 yes but you will need to use less leds per row. about two to three

[ashfaaq11]

@monster2221 do i hve to connect speaker with my laptop?i made everything and the led dont flash

[monster2221]

@ashfaaq11 either there is not enough power to light the leds, the wiring is some how faulty, or your leds are burned out. please look over everything. make sure the volume is up all the way.

[godofarmor987]

so what if u take the roll of light that you see people put out for chrisam and wired that to the TIP31 would i need more amps or what? like i dont want to spend alot of time makeing it so i figer that would be 10x faster.

[kachraseth313]

@monster2221-- leds r of different kind so which should i use???? and will the resistance of 100 ohm and power of 12V will be fine for about 30 leds ?????

[knightcode93]

ok so i did try this in a car and it blew up my amp fuses..and the capacitor blew up in two pieces..soo yea

[ceh555]

can i use TIP32B? :(

[JaspePespe]

Do you know how to install this to car? :S

[monster2221]

@JaspePespe sorry i don't i want to try it out because this would look amazing in a car

[JaspePespe]

@monster2221

What do you think. Does it work if I "steal" the signal from amplifiers RCA spot?

[rockman378]

@JaspePespe i would not know for sure but maybe get it in line with the unamplified source of sound :S

[Xemmnes13]

Do you have a schematic that you could post somewhere please?

[the1000th1]

21 GUNS!!!

[RedNeckAU]

wouldnt it have been better to connect them in a parallel circuit?

[rockman378]

@RedNeckAU you can try it will take more amps i believe; doing so will cause your amplifier to over heat same with the tip31 :(

[TOokiE14]

awesome. :D

can i use tip31a?

[monster2221]

@TOokiE14 yes

[TOokiE14]

@monster2221 nice,.. thanks for reply. Godbless

[DJMRumiz]

i am interested in making this same set up but with many more LEDs.. what would you do if you wanted 60LEDs ?

[monster2221]

@DJMRumiz im not sure how many leds the transistor could take, but try.

[MrStemkilla]

if you get a 5 v power supply you can use a resistoy to get it to 3.5v and you can have as meany leds as you want wired in parallel

[MysterioIII]

I'm guessing you connected your LED's in series? What's your suggestion in the number of LED's and the relation to the power source?

[monster2221]

@MysterioIII well every led takes about 3.5 volts and if you want four leds then you will need 12 volts

[chadb08]

@monster2221. so if 4 led's need about 12 volts, could i replace the transformer with a constant supply of 12v power from an asserory line in a car, and would it work. im still trying to figure out how the wires would need to be solder in my car speaker. this would look bad ass flashing behind my kick panels to my songs.

[monster2221]

@chadb08 lol yes it could work but im not 100% sure. try it, i dont know how but try and tell me how it went later.

[DimSap1993A]

How can i make led blnks only in bass...??

[Pieisgood2me]

@DimSap1993A Just hook them up straight to the audio feed, but wire them in parallel so they have enough electricity to power more then one.

[kylemcentee]

BE SURE!!!! to check your transformer with a multimeter first! a lot of times the transformer will put out a higher voltage than it says on it. My 12v transformer came out to 16.5 volts which would kill your LED's .. I added an extra LED to the array which worked perfectly with 3.2 volts each

[Matta212121]

can u add mor leds

[XeDKCollector]

Can you use more than 4 LEDs?

[kylemcentee]

@XeDKCollector , Matta212121

Wire more sets of 4 led's in a parallel circuit. But make sure your transformer is powerful enough. Each LED draws about 75 mA (miliamps) so make sure the transformer says a high enough number to accommodate more LEDs

[gunther34567]

i made something similar to this in school with a LM3915 and as a signal source a microphone

[sparky3489]

Your the only one I've found that actually does this the right way!!!!!!!!!!!

[hl2ep3]

Thank you so much for this video, but the directions at 0:34 about the 3.5 jack wires are the only ones that stump me, their hard to follow. which makes following 2:03 hard. please PM me or something and explain it better! thanks! :)

[wenjgamingxp]

hey can i put some wire between the LEDs?

and can i use a tip31c?

[monster2221]

@wenjgamingxp yes and yes



[pyronathanpyro]

@monster2221 can i use a buf725d its npn 100v 5a 40w

if not i have 40v 3a 10w reply asap i need to make this for a project at collage thx

[monster2221]

@basshunterboy97 us a tip31a

[monster2221]

@Pieisgood2me hmmm, maybe its the transistor, or the music is not loud enough, if your using a computer for the main sound then make sure the sound settings on the computer are all the way up. that is all i could think of.

[monster2221]

@Pieisgood2me recheck the leds they must be correctly connected, and use 3 instead of 4 leds because there is not enough power to light all 4 leds. maybe even try 2.

[jvanvolken]

Could you give me a link to the ebay page you got thoughs LEDs from? I can't find any 'pack' of LEDs anywhere! :(

[jameszip9yahoocom]

I did this, but I need to max out my volume in order to get them to work...I live in an apartment so thats not an option...any suggestions for making this work?

[monster2221]

@jameszip9yahoocom are you using a computer a source of volume or something else. if your using a computer try to change the sound options.

[jameszip9yahoocom]

@monster2221 I use my laptop/psp/mp3 player, but the led's are connected to my home stereo's speaker wires.

[wjz10595]

What's the song?

[wjz10595]

This does work. If you don't feel like reading comments for fixes this is how you do it:

positive of AC adapter to the LED's remembering not to overload the LED's. Negative of LED's to the middle pin of the TIP31, (with the black side facing up) the pin on the all the way right (pin 3) goes to ground, headphone ground (unshielded wire in headphone wire) goes to ground, posotive from headphones goes to pin 1 of th TIP31.

[RanxErox91]

good work!!!!!

Forgive the English, and the question:

how do I know what the + and - of generator ... if I reverse the poles when I connect it to the tip31c and LEDs can be broken?

[monster2221]

@RanxErox91 sometimes the generator has a white or colored line on the negative wire but if you do mix it up nothing will happen