Eight sides, infinite beats

Note: Stock of kits with LEDs included has been removed for listing elsewhere. If you want to purchase these here, send a message and stock can be edited as required.

Recommended: Socket & Mic. Add-On Board

OctaBeat boards hold 80 LEDs of the colours Red, Green, and Blue. The brightness of these colours is controlled according to the frequency and volume of the audio signal, so that low frequency sounds (below around 160Hz) light the Red LEDs, high frequencies (above around 1100Hz) light the Blue LEDs, and sounds that fall between this range light the Green LEDs. Following "Slave" boards can use a microcontroller to store the resulting pattern and repeat it after a short delay, such that further visual effects can be observed.

Demonstration video (also embedded below)

Master boards can be used alone, for a conventional Colour Organ effect, or joined to Slave boards which follow the Master after a delay that is configured by switches or a trimpot on the Master board. Further Slave boards can be joined on, so that a wave effect is created, or more complex patterns can be observed by using longer delay settings on the Master board.

"Dumb" boards can also be constructed that are controlled directly by the previous stage and therefore simply increase its overall display area. These are not currently available in kit or assembled form, but instructions for building them are provided in the manual and either Slave or Master PCBs can be used.

Features

• Power supply: 12VDC 500mA/board (peak)
• For use with standard line-level input audio signal (~1V)
• 80LEDs, 3 colours
• 108mm diameter
• Two-stage analogue filtering for improved reactivity to the audio signal
• 90mA "High", "Mid", "Low", active-low outputs available at the output headers
• Slave boards can be added for variable delay effect
• Slave board microcontroller can be reprogrammed via ICSP header. Source code is available for the default firmware
• Shared bus for audio and control signals allows additional features to be added via Add-On Boards, including digital control of Slave boards (not supported in current firmware)
• Dumb boards can be added to extend the display area

Kits

Kits are sold with and without LEDs. The kits without LEDs also require current-limiting resistors, because the value for these depends on the specifications of the LEDs used. See the manual for full details on using alternative LEDs.

Assembly requires basic tools and solder. Only through-hole components are used, though some precision is still required in tightly packed parts of the board.

Slave boards are an earlier revision of the boards supplied for the Master kits. This revision has issues when built in the Master configuration, however they still work for the Slave configuration. One exception is that three resistors not included in the layout may need to be added, as described in the manual. The Master boards also suit construction as Slave boards.

Add-On Boards

Add-On boards connect to any of the male "Output" headers around the perimeter of a board, providing convenient connections for power and audio signals. Currently the only such board available is the Socket & Mic. Add-On Board, which provides a DC socket for a 12VDC power supply, 3.5mm loop-through sockets for line-level audio input, and an electret microphone for use as a alternative audio input (with limitations).

Other Add-On boards are planned, and may become available later depending on demand:

• DMX board for digital control of Slave boards using the large variety of DMX control programs for PC and other platforms. Note: Will require a firmware update.
• Bluetooth audio board for wireless use
• Basic socket board without microphone

Full details about the OctaBeat, including manual, code, and schematics

Examples