MR/Hasbro soundboards

[Swordlord]

As I am new to the fancy electronic saber soundboards, and I haven't ever held an MR or Hasbro saber, I was wondering if the different sabers (ie: Obi-wan, Yoda, Vader, Mace Windu, et al) had different sounds. For instance, does the Yoda saber have a different pitch/hum/clash sound than the Mace Windu saber, etc?

[Novastar]

Barely. If at all--on the Mace, Yoda, Luke, Obi sabers. Essentially the "good guy" stuff.

Although I *DID* once notice that the Obi-Wan hum pitch seemed different (to me) even with a fresh pack. A bit deeper I think... but... that may have been variances in the way the sound chips play at a certain Hz. Components aren't always going to give (for example) perfect playing at X Hz. It will be give or take a few pitch steps.

However, the Darth Vader/Maul sabers have different sounds... and sadly... only a SINGLE "clash" sound, which is irritating, incorrect for what the movies use as clashes (it's more like a power on sound for sith)... and it sucks. :)

[DaJoQuim]

I often wondered that myself!!Whys does the sith sabers have two sounds?

[Darth Siggious]

It is SUCH a shame about the sith soundboards being lame on the clash and whoosh sounds...

It is such a shame because it has (I feel) the BEST idle hum sound...it sounds so bad*ss with its deep pitch and gritty hum sound...what a shame indeed.

And what is the deal with the ghost whoosh sound? Know what I'm talking about? You wave the saber once and it goes Whoosh (whoosh)...what is that additional whoosh for? So sometimes I wave it twice so my friends don't look at me funny and say...your saber's broken. :( - frowny face...

If you want both good guy and bad guy sounds...you can go with the 616 board from the MR Lightsaber Construction kit...it's got a switch on it so you can choose between the two sound settings...plus, you'd get a 1W tri-color RGB LED out of it too...not a bad deal. And there should be some wiring schematics in these forums for that particular board.

[Anavrin]

If you want both good guy and bad guy sounds...you can go with the 616 board from the MR Lightsaber Construction kit...it's got a switch on it so you can choose between the two sound settings...plus, you'd get a 1W tri-color RGB LED out of it too...not a bad deal. And there should be some wiring schematics in these forums for that particular board.

And you could totally rig it to use the Red LED (Or your own red) and the jedi font to get more variety...

[Swordlord]

Well, I suppose for cost-effectiveness, making a multitude of variable soundboards for each lightsaber would not make sense. I didn't know about the Sith sounds being so one-dimensional. They really only have 2 soundbytes? *sigh* :rolleyes:

I also am in the camp of preferring the low, rumbling hum of the Sith sabers, although the sound og Obi-wan's saber in EPIV is different than both Luke's saber and Vaders, in a good way.

[Darth Siggious]

Well the SW616 - Construction Kit can be bought for between 60 and 80 bucks usually, so it's not that bad for cost purposes...and you would get the two sound fonts out of it.

Meaning, your one custom saber would have the two different sound fonts depending on which one you were feeling at that moment.

The EpIV Obi Wan does sound nice, but sometimes can be harder to find, right now on eBay, they only have ROTS Obi Wan's...but if you can find one and that's what you like, use it...don't settle on something...ever.

I myself have been torn between the Vader and the 2002 AOTC Anakin soundboards...I love the way the 2002 AOTC sounds on start up and shut down, but don't like the idle hum sound much at all. Whereas the Vader is off the charts for idle hum but has no real variety on the clash and whoosh sounds. There is more than one whoosh noise, but it doesn't have as much variety (aurally) as the Jedi soundboards IMO.

I still haven't found one soundboard that I'm in love with yet, and I own a US2.0 (I hate the whoosh sounds on it)...they're too high pitched to be honest...maybe it's my resonance chamber, but I've tried it in two different saber designs and have not been impressed yet.

[Lord Dottore Matto]

Don't necessarily be discouraged with the Sith soundboards. Yes they only have one clash, but some of us who use say 4-6 soundboards/month don't hate them. I actually like them very much. How many friggin clash sounds do you need? What I am telling you is to make your own judgment and don't just shy away from them just because someone else does not like them.;)


Well the SW616 - Construction Kit can be bought for between 60 and 80 bucks usually, so it's not that bad for cost purposes...and you would get the two sound fonts out of it.

I still haven't found one soundboard that I'm in love with yet, and I own a US2.0 (I hate the whoosh sounds on it)...they're too high pitched to be honest...maybe it's my resonance chamber, but I've tried it in two different saber designs and have not been impressed yet.

The 616 has 2 jedi fonts (which are the exact same) and the standard Vader font. They are great, but they must be used with an LED driver (puck, corbin's, etc.) and a new switch (DPDT) must be soldered directly to the board.

As for the US 2.0, if you don't like it then the only thing left is a CF. IMO, you should be a little less picky and simply enjoy the fact that you have a high-end board. Being new, you have no idea what it is like to have to scrounge for boards (i.e., the limited # of US 1.0's, or prior to that when you had to demolish a $125 MR to get one!), so it would be better to appreciate that there is currently a ready supply and do a little less picking them apart.;-) BTW, if you are using a 2.0 in a MHS hilt then you do not need a resonance chamber (they are built in), so that may be your problem with the pitch.

[FenderBender]

+1 to LDM! As far as the one clash sound on the Sith boards, Go back and watch ROTJ during the last fight. 90% of the clashes were that sound. No joke. If it was good enough for lucas, it is good enough for me. I do like variety so the Jedi board is good for that, but I like them both equally. Dont get hung up on which MR/Hasbro model to buy unless you're after a particular hilt. As stated, there are only TWO/2/Dos/Due MR sound fonts, so it means diddly which year/make/character model you buy just choose Jedi or Sith.

Or............go check out the Clone Wars Ultimate Lightsaber boards. whole different ball of wax.

[Novastar]

Fender... I would have to disagree on the whole ROTJ fight having a singular clash sound... seeing that I studied the sounds intensely to get the right mixture for my EP VI sound font for CF... and also the fact that what I know about Ben Burtt--well, it doesn't go along with his way of doing things, heheh! :)

Although I will grant you that some of the clash sounds are similar... but... that happens throughout ALL the films. But certainly there is a WIDE variety that Master Replicas could have implemented.

I (for one) believe it was simply a hardware/software screw up that they decided to just leave alone. Otherwise... WHY would the "good guy" boards have 3 clashes and decent swings... when the "bad guy" board is all wrong with 1 clash and that ghost swing (as someone else mentions)??!?

If you think about it... it makes absolutely NO sense.

[Hasid Lafre]

Iam farly certin the "other" clash sound on the jedi boards is a blaster deflect sound.

[Darth Siggious]

Hey wait, just cause I'm new to these boards and this site doesn't mean I'm new to this addiction (of anything Star Wars really)...but in particular saber building and owning in general...

What I've been doing, which is not a bad idea, is buying the MR/Hasbro's, taking them apart and selling the hilts separately as costume props...you see a pretty good amount of people doing it on eBay (and that's where I got the idea).

I have my share of the $20.00 Toys R Us Clone Wars soundboards, which aren't bad for $20.00 I have to say...one of the Ultimate Clone Wars boards which is a little better, and mostly the MR's...one 616 (always set to Sith), a 2005 and 2008 Vader, and the AOTC Anakin...which was a beast of a saber.

The US2.0 is an unbelievable board with all of the settings and ease of programming, but those whoosh sounds are just way too high pitched and, IMHO, sound the furthest from the truth in terms of movie accurate sound. Which is now in my new MHS hilt that goes straight from the fluted 7" to the MPS pommel style 3v2. I put a piece of very thin Auralex in there and am pleased with the dampening of the treble (now sounds more Sith with a muffled rumble).

A CF is certainly on the horizon (at least it was until this economy sucker-punched us in the back of the brain)...and am still looking forward to eventually getting one...

And I'll admit, I am being picky, but certainly not downplaying the value of any of these boards.

[sithlordfaust]

doesnt the Ep IV Luke have more sounds than any of the others?

[Lord Dottore Matto]

doesnt the Ep IV Luke have more sounds than any of the others?

Ep. VI