Choosing a Sound Board

[TCMars]

Hey all, I'm doing some shopping for my next saber and I'm getting lost in all the details, so I'm reaching out for some advice.
Primarily, I want to be able to change colors with a RGB LED, as well as shimmer and FoC.
Sound wise, I'd like it to have a solid sound, but I don't see me taking the time to mix and upload my own sounds.

I'm thinking the Pico Crumble, or the Petit Crouton +ColorExtender, but I'm wondering if the added cost is worth it. Any other options out there? What do you folks recommend? It sounds like the Crumble will do what I'm looking for, but it's So much cheaper I'm afraid there's a catch.

Thanks!

Bonus question, what's the difference between the Cree and Luxeon LEDs? In layman's terms, which is brighter? :P

[Greenie]

Welcome. The pico gives you six colours from an RGB, has only one sound font and is not configurable. The Nano v4 can support RGB colour changing (with a PEX) and can be configured via a P.C. either by removing the micro sd card or with R.I.C.E. The same for the Prizm, Petit Crouton and Crystal Focus although these three have many more features than the first two. Auxiliary functions for blaster blocks, sequencing accent LEDs, more sound banks etc. Plecterlab boards are quality products and you get what you pay for.
Crees are generally considered superior.

:mrgreen:

[Warlock]

NBv4 isn't RICE compatible unless somethings changed recently

[Greenie]

NBv4 isn't RICE compatible unless somethings changed recently

My error. Badly edited reply :rolleyes:

[Darth Nurse]

Do you need auxiliary functions? If yes: Prizm 5.1

Do need R.I.C.E. editing capability? If yes: Prizm 5.1

Do you want RGB, do not need auxiliary switch features and are willing to edit via the sound card? If yes: Nano v4 with PEX (but in all seriousness just get the Prizm)

[Warlock]

My error. Badly edited reply :rolleyes:
No worries. Was kinna hoping you'd point out how wrong g I was and how I could use a rice on my precious nbv4 saber. Lol

[Avidgrant]

i thought he figured out a way to hack it and was gonna share :)

[TCMars]

You guys are heros. Thanks for the replies.

[Avidgrant]

sooooooo- what did you pick?

[Tom Tilmon]

Crystal Focus?

[MasterStoddard]

The Crystal Focus is the top of the line of the Plecter Labs sound cards.

[Paedryn]

Doesn't the Pico have 15 colors now? That was a big reason I am planning to use it.

I want all of the bells and whistles without worrying about hooking it up to make adjustments.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

From erv's introduction post at FX-Sabers:
Please Welcome the PICO CRUMBLE(tm) V2

It was time for an update, this has been in dev for some months as we phased in the new motion sensing / motion fusion to the other boards, it appeared logical to do the same to the pico crumble to bring the Crystal Focus grade motion sensing and robustness even to this entry-level sound board. And for the same price !

In addition, it gets 4 swing and 4 clash sounds to improve the sound diversity, and gets 15 color profiles.

Boards already got manufactured and will hit the retailers this week. The manual will follow but it's really similar to the existing pico v1 for the wiring and should be configuration-less. The Pico V2.1 RICE app is ready for PC and Mac and I'll put a link on the website asap.

https://www.plecterlabs.com/Media/PicoCrumble/PicoCrumbleV2-web-thumb.jpg

SPECS
- [NEW] Sound fonts updated with more fx sounds (4+4) played randomly with avoided repeats (aka our "RandomX" system)
- [NEW] 15 color profiles (see further for details)
- [NEW] Improved Service menu to select the color profile with PureHue(tm)
- [NEW] Dual motion sensor and motion fusion (same motion detection grade as Crystal Focus, Nano Biscotte, Prizm) and same super low motion to sound latency (6ms)
- [NEW] Omnisaber-Ready (but this actually got implemented in version 1.06).

[bigkevin61]

I want all of the bells and whistles without worrying about hooking it up to make adjustments.

The Pico Crumble doesn’t have many bells and it only has one whistle.

It was designed to play only one, pre loaded font, with quite a few less variation in sounds. For example, the Pico only uses 2 variations of Swing and Clash sounds, opposed to the 16 variations of Swing and Clash sounds on a Nano Biscotte (which is the “entry level” Plecter Lab Board). I’d consider variability and more “organic” sound mixing a perk.
(In my opinion) The ONLY thing a Pico has going for it, is a setup to use a RGB led, and switch between preset color settings through a Service Menu (which in turn requires a special sequence to access). It is for “fixed” color changes, NOT “color changing” or ”color swapping” on the fly like the other more advanced boards. It was really designed for “production sabers” so the builder could simplify the production process and still simply make sabers in the colors needed at the time of sale.

IF for whatever reason, you may WANT to adjust the your soundboard, the Pico CAN be adjusted, but (once again, in my opinion), trough a more difficult process. All the other Plecter Lab Boards have an micro SD card that can be popped out, plugged into a pc and adjusted (at minimum). Higher end boards can even have a RICE connection installed that allows adjustments made from a pc to a saber without removing the card. I’d consider the ease of adjusting the board an advantage.

In the end, it is about what you WANT the board to do, and what you can LIVE WITH it being able to do.
Personally, for the minimal bit more work in assembly, and marginal additional cost ($10), I’d go with at LEAST a NB in my personal use sabers, just so I’m NOT locked in to a setup (especially sound font) without having to rewire a new board.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

The Pico 2.0 has 4 swing and 4 clash effects, and also has RICE capabilities. The settings are much more limited, but theyre there, and you can add a RICE port to your saber for it.

[bigkevin61]

The Pico 2.0 has 4 swing and 4 clash effects, and also has RICE capabilities. The settings are much more limited, but theyre there, and you can add a RICE port to your saber for it.

Sorry, I was looking at the manual that was linked on the product page in the store (which is still linked to the 1.0 Pico version).
Yes, 2.x now has 4 Swing and Clash. My bad.

And yes, it also has “RICE edge”, which is functionally the same as RICE in the other Plecter Boards (but has the ability to have that connection be temporary without soldering a port in place).
What I should have said, was that RICE (permanent or a temporary connection to a PC) is the ONLY way to make changes (which are only for settings, NOT sound font).

Thanks for pointing that out.