Resonance and bass effect for speakers

[Novastar]

perhaps some experimentation with active equalization, 2 output speaker and amp phase reversal techniques and compression is in order?
easy to say, harder to do, eh?

Any way you slice it (at least "for now"... although this is more of a physics/wave properties thing)... the soundwaves we know as "bass"... are simply pretty LONG wavelengths (from peak to trough). Which is why they require "big empty boxes" to... uh... for lack of a simpler way to put it... get 'er duuunnnn...

Another way to put it... as quoted by my friend Anthony Davidson (Necrolosis from the BOP series) regarding a completely different thing... "Fifteen pounds of potatoes. Five pound bag."

Bass waves "do not fit" in a saber hilt.

Wouldja look at THAT irony...
...yet ANOTHER bloody thing that doesn't fit in a saber hilt.

Like... as if we don't have enough trouble already regarding trying to fit 6,432,723 components + FoC + extender boards + super gizmoids + crystal chambers + uber batteries in there...

Empty space in a saber hilt??!?! Resonance chamber?!?!?!? HAH!! :P

[Vlad Doon]

perhaps some experimentation with active equalization, 2 output speaker and amp phase reversal techniques and compression is in order?
easy to say, harder to do, eh?

Wuu, sorry but you left me behind with this post.
Well, I'm quite sure now that bass effects as a general meaning is impossible for now (we can trust Novastar),...but experimentation is a way to the light (...perdon... to the sound).

Maybe, some of your ideas may be experimented, but I have to admit I'd need some precision about active equalization, amp phase reversal techniques and compression.

[cardcollector]

Empty space in a saber hilt??!?! Resonance chamber?!?!?!? HAH!! :P

That's exactly what I was thinking...

[TroyO]

I'm doing something a bit.... well, odd in my next hilt. 2 speakers, wired in paralell and facing back to back with about .5 inch in between them. There will be a channel from that space in to a cavity in the main body of the saber.

I think it may be called an "Acoustic coupled" enclosure.

There's a few reasons for doing it that way, most of which won't make sense until I get some progress on thsi thing and can post some pics..... but those reasons are physical/space limitations rather than for sound.

I'll be curious how it sounds when mounted... it sounds pretty good when just taped together for testing. Double the surface area = more bass?

Anyway.... I'm curious too.. LOL, I'll post my impressions.

[Novastar]

I've tried something similar with CF before, and... although I think it's somewhere in this very thread(??)... the results were less than ideal.

Then again--there WERE limitations. The CF audio amp wasn't "super uber" by any means (nor was it "sucky")... and trying the speakers in // or in = seemed to produce similarly "ho-hum" results.

Additionally, I tried moving the speakers apart from each other (as far as possible within the hilt)... and put them close as well. In all honesty, I couldn't detect much difference.

I think the main reason I didn't hear a difference was simply like this: imagine if you took your desktop speakers and placed them RIGHT NEXT to one another. First of all, now you aren't hearing sound "from both sides" (since they'd normally be at least 2' or more apart). Secondly, try turning off one speaker (or use the computer to "go all right" or all left with the sound output). I couldn't detect a difference with my ears.

What Troyo is doing (if I THINK I understand it)... might work... MIGHT work... but I honestly think it would take:

* Precise specifications, materials and "tweaks" regarding the hilt/resonance cavities (read: "pro" dremel-fu or better, like CNC)
* Precise calculations on just what size, type and freq response the 2 speakers should be all about
* Precise calculations on how far apart the 2 speakers should be (Troyo mentioned 0.5")
* The driver board and battery solution would have to be ideal in the sense that the audio amp would have to be able to CORRECTLY handle the speakers in // or in = , depending on what is desired

...and to me... all of that ALSO being limited into a 10" to 12" hilt... is a TON of trouble for... maybe a barely perceptible result.

Granted, I think the possibilities in a STAFF (read: hilt is 20" or far greater) would be more feasible and "worth the effort"... but I don't know. It seems like one tiny little error would mess it all up, since the wavelengths would be finicky.

Further... since the sound output wavelengths CHANGE all the time... you'd really have to "aim for" a particular set of wavelengths (Iiiiiiii Guuuueeessss the lower end ones??!?!?)... and hope for the best?!?

I wish Troyo some luck though!! Any experiment is better than none at all most of the time!

[TroyO]

It is an expirement... mostly I had a situation where I couldn't add a speaker in a traditional manner.

I actually got the speaker mount and battery bay done, so here's a quick pic. Overall idea is to build it up in layers... like a custom knife is made.

(Link to see how knife handles are made.. http://www.knivesby.com/handles.html)

Anyho... here's what I'm working on... the speaker mount is cut out, there's another speaker just like it on the other side. There will be a notch in to the battery bay, and it will be sealed off between the battery bay and the outside world by the handle "scales".



I haven't done a mounted up sound test... in theory it's double the surface area... maybe more bass?

[Novastar]

Oh, ok... so a SIDEWAYS mounting of the speakers? It's an idea...

lol, I remember suggesting such a thing back in the day to Corbin Das (when he was designing the sabers of BOP I)... and I wanted to mount the staff speaker just that way--"sideways".

It never happened, as a sound board (sadly) never even went into the Necrolosis v1 (or my v2 for that matter) staff... but... I always wondered...

[farlander]

I've seen pictures of archaic lightsabers that were powered by a belt-worn energy source. Perhaps one option for a more full sound would be to pipe the audio to a small guitar amp, disguised as a lightsaber power source. Marshall and others make really small amps that can be worn on a belt... Though I'm not sure how to get the sound converted from a CF or other board to a guitar audio cable... Hmm...

[FenderBender]

Those micro amps don't really have great bass either, I have one, and used to sell them

They also for the most part don't have the ability to produce the sound cleanly, and will distort the sound at most volume levels.

Really, the best way is to probably use an oblong speaker mounted sideways inside the hilt, if you have room. There are plenty out there that will fit, and have more diaphragm surface than the standard round speaker.

[Novastar]

Yah, agreed with Fender... in fact... I *think* in another thread--it was... Troyo(?) talking about mounting a speaker in a saber--and I interpreted his drawing as if he was going to do a "sideways" mount?

I mentioned to Troyo (or whoever posted it) that I wanted to do this back in 2005/2006 with the Necrolosis staff for BOP I... but that saber ended up not even HAVING sound, period. Which was a shame... but that was how it was...