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
- Checkout the Laser Cut Acrylic Case
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.)
*** Purchase Here ***
Follow
Hi,
First of all, I must say that this kit looks really good. It looks way more professionnal than a lot I saw on the net. Good job !
Technically speaking, could you indicate me how you calculated the filters cutoff frequencies ?
I’ve tried to figure them out using the 1/(2*PI*R*C) with the resistors and capacitors values that I felt being the RC filters components, but I don’t succeed to have any values close to the ones you have on your schematic’s graph, namely the 320Hz, 800Hz and 2.4KHz values.
Some guidance would be very much appreciated.
Regards.
May 1, 2014 at 5:12 pm
Two questions.
1. Without modifying the design, can I substitute a piezo microphone for the direct audio line in?
2. I’m also trying to use a portable battery pack and need at least six hours or run time. What is the smallest battery configuration you think might work?
Thanks, Steve
March 10, 2014 at 3:53 pm
1. Can’t tell without testing the actual mic, but most likely work.
2. Eight AA batteries in series (12V) should work well.
March 11, 2014 at 11:24 am
Hello, I tried your original colour organ triple deluxe and I couldn’t get it to work for whatever reason. I think my home-brew PCB was the problem. :) I was just wondering how I could adapt this to work with one section from an LED strip? (ie three LEDs) In this case would I just be able to solder the strips straight onto where the LEDs are on the PCB?
November 15, 2013 at 9:06 pm
Sorry, just realised someone has already asked this question below.
November 15, 2013 at 10:30 pm
Hi there! First of all I would like to thank you for this circuit, it is awesome! I just built one myself but I’m interested in modifying it a little. I’m curious which component is mostly responsible for filtering the frequencies and how I would go about adjusting the frequency range for each circuit. My goal is to try and narrow the low frequency range slightly to try and focus on bass kicks and limit the amount of other instruments that get through that circuit. I am thinking of increasing the value of the 1uF capacitor to maybe a 4.7uF or 10uF cap. Am I on the right track here or will I need to modify another aspect of the circuit as well? Thanks for any advice!
November 14, 2013 at 11:27 am
I am a beginner in electronics but I checked your page frequently for more updates because I love led projects.. also electronics. But I made this one here in India I can’t find transistor (MPS2222A) also C4 I got all capacitors but can’t find film so i used ceramic also instead of C4. Is this work with these capacitors and please prefer an equivalent transistor I can easily find.
Thank you.
July 10, 2013 at 1:47 pm
@vishnu prasad you can easily find all the components at in.rsdelivers.com . i’ve made one and its awesome. some parts i’ve found cheaper than RS so i purchased separately. here are some site which u may find useful. electroncomponents.com onlinetps.com and probots.co.in . though RS provides free shipping but their delivery period is too long.
August 8, 2013 at 3:29 pm
Hey, what kind of stereo jack did you use for the audio input? I couldnt find it at radioshack and I don’t know enough to look it up on digikey or someplace like that. If you could just tell me what holes the right and left channels and the ground from the jack, that would be great. Thanks.
June 13, 2013 at 2:53 am
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
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
Thanks! I really appreciate the quick response!
Jeff
May 10, 2013 at 2:50 pm
plz mention how to add long led strips, as i’ve made this and i just love it. great design !! now i’m planning to make one for my car so please tell me how to add longer led strips and what changes i need to do with the power supply as it will run on the car battery.
August 8, 2013 at 3:38 pm
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
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
When you say super bright LEDs do you mean something like a 1W high power LED?
March 6, 2013 at 12:51 am
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
I’m guessing but that should work.
Aki
February 20, 2013 at 12:03 am
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
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
Pingback: Color Organ - Hacked Gadgets – DIY Tech Blog
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
Thanks for pointing that out. Thanks!
Aki
January 14, 2013 at 8:35 pm