Propeller powered Kickstarter project!
BobbyV
Posts: 19
Hello All,
After quite some time quietly working in my basement I'm ready to share with the world my Prop powered creation!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/295120209/369996765?token=807b8ebe
It's an open-source stereo amplifier kit. What makes it interesting is that uses touch-screen control exclusively and rather than using an infrared remote control, it can be controlled using a smart phone. The Propeller is used to run the main controller board by handling audio input/output, digital volume and tone control, controlling a serial LCD module and communicating with a Bluetooth module.
One of the really nice things I was able to do with the Propeller was implementing a DFT I wrote in assembly (running on a separate cog). Using that I was able to create an audio spectrum visualization displayed on the LCD screen (you can see it towards the end of the demo video).
I plan to post all the software soon-ish (I have a lot of cleanup and commenting to do!), which will include a driver for the LCD module (by 4D Systems), the DFT driver and the basic GUI menu software.
After quite some time quietly working in my basement I'm ready to share with the world my Prop powered creation!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/295120209/369996765?token=807b8ebe
It's an open-source stereo amplifier kit. What makes it interesting is that uses touch-screen control exclusively and rather than using an infrared remote control, it can be controlled using a smart phone. The Propeller is used to run the main controller board by handling audio input/output, digital volume and tone control, controlling a serial LCD module and communicating with a Bluetooth module.
One of the really nice things I was able to do with the Propeller was implementing a DFT I wrote in assembly (running on a separate cog). Using that I was able to create an audio spectrum visualization displayed on the LCD screen (you can see it towards the end of the demo video).
I plan to post all the software soon-ish (I have a lot of cleanup and commenting to do!), which will include a driver for the LCD module (by 4D Systems), the DFT driver and the basic GUI menu software.
Comments
My question is: I notice that everything works, what is the 70000 dollars required for? What is on offer exactly?
I did too !
Here is the link to my old thread.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/143637-Propeller-based-guitar-amplifier
I have done a powerpoint presentation for the project. It's in french, but only simple words. There are some pictures too.
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=6FEA7F473FE5882!494
The 70k is for one simple but important reason...economy of scale!
If one were to build one of these from scratch the price of sourcing out all the components would come close to $700 (and that's not including quantity minimums for fabricating PCBs)
If I sell 100 of these (which would raise about $70k) I can take advantage of volume discounts when sourcing out the components, which allows me to sell the kit for basically the cost of parts (with all the hours and hours of design time free!) and I can make a few bucks from the price difference by buying in bulk. It would be way too expensive to sell one at a time, so I'm basically trying to get, well, a kickstart!
If you are not familiar with Kickstarter (forgive me if you are), people "pledge" certain amounts of money to fund projects and they typically get some sort of reward in exchange. So for this project if someone pledges $675, they get a complete Open Hi-Fi kit in return.
And yup.... I'm a tube fan too! The whole inspiration for the project came out of frustration of not being able to find a decent kit to route multiple inputs and control my tube amp!
Thanks for the feedback! It's really hard to gauge if my project description is clear or not!
Cool! Have you shared that on any of the DIY Audio forums?
OK sounds like a plan.
Last year I put up a hundred dollars for the Parallela board on kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/adapteva/parallella-a-supercomputer-for-everyone
so what I was looking for is a description of the actual proposed deal. What is the amount of the pledge required? Are there options for different pledge amounts? What is the pledge for, a kit or parts, a finished item etc.
I realize it may be a bit early for you to have worked out those details yet having just got the project running and preparing the description and video. Which is all great by the way.
I like the idea of a modernized preamp (I guess that's what this amounts to with the power amp turned off, yes?) I'm happy with my Adcom preamp and all, but it's old and now the switches and pots are getting dirty and I don't really have time or desire to yank it apart and Deoxit everything
I see it has bluetooth. Can it be controlled by ipad/ipod/iphone? Not sure yet if it'd be good or bad to have to use my iPhone or an iPad as a remote. Hmm... Upstairs, we use a Harmony remote so if it doesn't yet support IR remote, that would possibly limit mass appeal. Downstairs where my main music system is, it'd be nice to control everything from the phone, actually since I just have the remote for the CDP and Pre.
Bluetooth streaming is great, I'd love that. It'd also be nice if it could do web streaming or stream off my home computer.
By the way, if you want massive exposure and also feedback, you might try running it by the great folks on Audiokarma.org if you haven't, yet. Not sure what you skill level is on the amplifier side of things but there are some geniuses over there on that topic (and others).
I love that it's open and hackable, you could conceivably have it very modular... existing as a framework into which folks can put their own amp designs, tube or solid state. I have to wonder if hi fi nuts wouldn't really love this as a platform to build amazing amps, but with modern control done for them.
I personally wouldn't need/want the 40W chip amp (Hi Fi purists probably won't go for that) as I have my 200W sleeper Kenwood (shh, don't tell anyone it's actually decent) or maybe some day I'll get around to building that tube amplifier... I suspect there are others that are drooling at the possibility. I'd think they would want plenty of room left, like at least the entire back half of the cabinet if not 2/3 of it, to fit giant transformers, caps, huge tube amps, etc. Any way to get the front panel / preamp boards even more out of the way? I think it'd be great to sell the whole thing with option to just get the cabinet, pre, panel without the amp or amp supply.
Anyway, excellent work! Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
-Heater: There should have been a list of pledge amounts on the preview page but to sum it up an full kit is $675 (for the first 50 backers), which includes everything: circuit boards, components, hardware the case and ext. The kit does not come assembled.
-Heater and shimniok: There is also another kit ($600) which does not include the power amplifier, which you can use as a preamp that provides two line level outputs. I originally designed this for my tube amp, so I figured there would be a few folks with some sort of fancy amp already who just needed a decent preamp!
I really did envision this as a way to provide a controller for all of those with the analog chops, but didn't want to have to deal with all the digital stuff!
I decided to add in a basic integrated amp to accommodate the (I'm assuming) larger group who would be interested in this kit, but don't already have a collection exotic amplifiers. Rather than trying to outdo the already plentiful collection of great power amp kits, (which would be a loosing battle) I designed a good "beginners" amp which would provide a good starting point, and one could hack, modify or upgrade from there. It really does sound good though! Hooked up to my pair of Advent speakers it makes more than enough sound to annoy my wife!
You can stream music to it with an iphone/etc. but no remote control
-Don M: Yup! it's a 4D systems uLCD. I'm running it at 115k baud, which gives it a lot more pep!
Ahh! It's quite a lot of work and a challenge to make something for my Audiophile brethren, but also be inclusive to the newbs!
Thanks again for the great feedback!
A decade ago an "AudioPhile's" idea of "HiFi" would have been vinyl at one end, paper at the other and as little as possible in between.
Seems HiFi died with arrival of mp3, ipods and home movie systems. Does anyone listen to proper stereo anymore?
I have a Fisher TAD M50 with Tuner/amp, CD (10 CD changer), and dual cassettes. Enjoy the sound and convenience very much.
Yeah, everyone over on Audiokarma.org ... which is a LOT of people. It's not dead, just not mainstream like it used to be.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/295120209/open-hi-fi-a-diy-stereo-amplifier-for-the-21st-cen
Re: who has a proper stereo anymore........ Hmm....
I think there is a decent niche market out there. I don't watch what's available out there compnent wise like a hawk, but between the two extremes, being overkill (like a Dolby 7.1 HDMI ultra blah blah with fifty inputs of which you might use three) or a number of small docking stations, there really doesn't seem to be a lot of choices in the middle. And even if most use a portable device with poorly compressed music files, hooking it up to a proper stereo will still sound better than what you get with a docking station/alarm clock. Either way, it fills my need! Maybe some others too, but I won't count on retiring anytime soon!
I hope you're posting on some of the audio sites too and I wish you the best of luck.
I've put it up on Audiokarma and DIYaudio, are there other sites that you would suggest?
Looks pretty cool. Not really an audiophile, but still pretty good.
When I first saw your subject line, I thought that Jeff (OBC) from PropellerPowered.com was launching a Kickstarter campaign. Not quite...