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Color Organ Triple Deluxe II – Kit and PCB


Color Organ Triple Deluxe II is the return of the classic color organ of the 70′s using LEDs. Color Organ divides sound wave into three bands; low, mid, & high, and lights different color LEDs based on the volume.


Color Organ Triple Deluxe II uses all discrete transistor circuit for authentic “sound to light” function – no ICs, no microcontrollers. Assembly is also very straightforward and beginner friendly.

- See the instructables

- Download the schematics

Kit Contents

  • 3x 47 ohm
  • 6x 150 ohm
  • 2x 270 ohm
  • 1x 470 ohm
  • 2x 1k ohm
  • 2x 4.7k ohm
  • 4x 10k ohm
  • 3x 270k ohm
  • 1x 1.2M ohm
  • 1x 10k ohm potentiometer
  • 1x 4.7nF (0.0047uF)
  • 2x 22nF (0.022uF)
  • 1x 0.22uF EC
  • 1x 1uF EC
  • 3x 4.7uF EC
  • 1x 10 uF EC 16V or higher
  • 1x 47uF EC 16V or higher
  • 8x MPS2222A or Equivalent
  • 18x LED (6x red, 6x green, and 6x blue)
  • 3.5mm Stereo Jack
  • DC Power Jack

Notes:
Kit assembly requires basic soldering skills.
You need a 12V DC power supply (AC adapter) (300mA or higher current capacity – such as this one) to operate Color Organ Triple Deluxe II. Use of regulated power supply is recommended, since non-regulated AC adaptors typically produce output voltage much higher than they are rated. (Typical “12V” non-regulated AC adaptors can output about 18V.) If you want to use one of those, make sure to masure the actual output voltage, and only use it if the voltage is lower than 15V. (Try 9V rated ones.)

Color Organ Triple Deluxe II – Kit: $29
(soldering required)

Color Organ Triple Deluxe II – Fully Assembled: $39
(Does not come with power supply.)

Color Organ Triple Deluxe II PCB only: $8.50


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17 Responses

  1. Simon Bouchard

    Hi!
    I’m trying to understand your circuit but I’ve some difficulties with the pre-amp part, can you explain how it work please?

    Thank you !

    May 12, 2013 at 4:40 pm

  2. jeff

    Hi! This looks like a really cool project. I had just a quick question:

    Would it be possible to use an LED light strip (similar to http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/top-emitting/nfls-x-series-high-power-led-flexible-light-strip/1464/ ) for each of the high – mid – and low LEDs?

    If I understand correctly these LED strips have the resistors already incorporated so I would exclude the resistors directly infront of the LEDs in your design. Do I have this correct? Would there be any other modifications I would have to make?

    Thanks!

    May 10, 2013 at 12:16 am

    • Yes, if you keep the strips short enough – maybe up to 6 sections (18 LEDs). And remove the current limiting resistors like you mentioned.
      To connect longer strips requires some (or quite of) design change.

      Aki

      May 10, 2013 at 1:39 am

      • Jeff

        Thanks! I really appreciate the quick response!

        Jeff

        May 10, 2013 at 2:50 pm

  3. Maiten

    Have build it with the 2n4401 works fine,i wonder if i can remplace q4-6-8 for another transistor like tip31 which support up 3A so i can use lots of leds

    March 19, 2013 at 10:50 pm

    • I think larger transistor need more base current to work, but it might work if the LED current is about 1A or so.
      It’s hard to scale up beyond that, without using more sophisticated technique.

      March 24, 2013 at 2:23 pm

  4. Ron Wanttaja

    Looking at the schematic, is the polarity of C2 correct? I’m more used to thinking that the positive side should be toward the input signal.

    There’s a guy on the instructables site that is having problems; he’s showing the polarity of C2 the other way…

    March 16, 2013 at 8:26 pm

    • The polarity of C2 is correct. Electrolytic capacitors need to be biased (voltage applied) to work well. While input voltage is AC so it averages to 0 V over time. Voltage at the base of the transistor is positive, so you see why the positive end of the cap goes there.

      March 16, 2013 at 10:26 pm

  5. dustman1747

    When you say super bright LEDs do you mean something like a 1W high power LED?

    March 6, 2013 at 12:51 am

  6. K@1s3r

    If i wanted to make this circuit control 120vac lights, would i just have to connect a d2w203f or similar relay to the led voltage?

    February 19, 2013 at 11:39 pm

  7. John D Maag

    Is there a way to use 2 color organ triple deluxe II’s and change a few components on the second one and have a 6 channel.

    January 18, 2013 at 3:38 pm

    • You can change the filter frequencies, but since low and high channes are not bandpass filters, they won’t really work as 6 band. What you need are 4 bandpass filters, and a high-pass, and a low-pass filters.
      Also, you will need much narrower band band-pass filters for more than 3 band. Which means using OP-amp based bandpass filters will be needed.

      Aki

      January 18, 2013 at 7:54 pm

  8. Looks like a fun kit. The effects are quite nice, especially with the black PCB as the background.

    January 16, 2013 at 3:10 am

  9. Pingback: Color Organ - Hacked Gadgets – DIY Tech Blog

  10. Craig Dunn

    I think the Kit Contents BOM should actually read 18 LED’s and not 9 as currently listed, given that both the assembled demo and bare PCB have 18 through-hole LED locations.

    Cool kit!

    January 14, 2013 at 8:33 pm

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