New Sound Board In Development

[Malaki Skywalker]

Hmm... more designing is needed! Unless... help us Erv'i-Wan, your our only hope!

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

I agree with Jay-Gon we DO need a low end board in the hobby.

The argument "how much does a saber cost? [overall]" to suggest that all we need are high end boards forgets that some of us arent looking to build *A* saber but MULTIPLE sabers...not ALL of which might necessarily need the 'high end' features we might choose four our own personal 'best' saber.

I think of someone like who regularly puts up sabers on Ebay for sale...if 'high end' boards were the ONLY ones available [or recently, nigh unto unavailable, no fault of Erv] that could DOUBLE the parts cost to the small sabersmith and thus significantly reduce their profit margin as well as perhaps driving away a part of their market...i.e. a customer who might be willing, even eager, to buy a saber with a lathed hilt and low end soundcard for $175-200, maybe even 250 might balk at that same saber costing $300 - $400 PLUS with a CF...which wouldnt even be available in the quantities a smith who wanted to turn out say a half dozen sabers a month might need.

And if there was a good-ENOUGH [meaning better than MR, wide range of LEDs supported] low-end option for them those sabersmiths might repeatedly buy multiple boards as a 'regular customer' unlike someone looking to buy ONE high end CF for "a" personal 'best' saber...thats a market niche worthy of service imo.

I also think of someone wanting more than one board for GIFT/LOAN sabers. Not everyone lives where they can join NYJedi or LAJedi...some of us might find that to have someone to duel with at all we need to build a second or more sabers to give or loan to duelling partners...for THAT purpose a 'good enough' LOW END soundboard might be just what they need...yeah there are stunt sabers but to those who are NOT 'die hard' SW fans they might be more likely to be 'recruited' to our 'hobby' [or at least become more understanding of our 'nerdishness] with a saber with sound...even 'just good enough' sound - and not need all the splendid options Erv has made for us 'enthusiasts' that they would not appreciate...yet. [later when we've got that hapless friend or family member 'hooked' they might be a customer for the high end on their own eh? ]

Personally I've just undertaken a design project for lightsabers for each of the 7 saber forms...being 'poor' I probably am not going to be able to afford SEVEN CFs for them...and even if I could what would be my odds of getting SEVEN when they come back in September eh?

NIL.

Fortunately being poor its probably going to take me quite a while to build them all so I can spread out the cost over a longer amortization...but AVAILABILITY at the high end is still questionable for those of us wanting to build MULTIPLE sabers.

For those reasons, and no doubt others other people can think of I havent, a good ENOUGH board the LOW cost end of the spectrum is likewly to find a welcome place...for sure with me for that project...and no doubt in my mind with others as well.

Thats why I agree with Jay-Gon there is a place for low end options too.

[MaverickJsmith]

I think some of the things said here are good points. A low cost sound board for a saber is a good thing to be able to get. However, "good enough" is in the eye of the beholder. To some people, Crystal focus could be the only way to go, while other people probaby are satisfied with Ultrasound, or Master Replicas, or even a Hasbro sound board. While this board Malaki and Tom are working on might be sheer dynamite to all the masses.

"Good enough" in my book, is a sound board that doesn't cost half as much as the parts you ordered, does everything I want it to, and, above all, makes my saber fun as all freaking get out.

From what i've been hearing, this should be a good sound board, able to please the average citizen with a modest income, while not breaking the bank forever (and angering the Misses ).

Whatever the outcome, I'll be picking one up regardless. Let's all hope Tom and Malaki's project comes to fruition

Maverick

[Master Dru-Er]

I would just like to echo what alot of people have been saying. Follow the *low end* niche market. Preferrably the option id want is accelerometer swings. Any other *options* like ramp up and shimmer etc have been covered and could be incorporated with your board with out you *adding* it. I think for version 1 it should be as basic as that, with the ability to handle a K2 and Lux V surely it would be a solid sell IMHO. I think with these recent board advances its not unlikely to see someone to do something as simple as i mentioned and undercutting all these other projects just by handling the essential wants of the custom saber community. And delivering it in an inexpensive package. Again this is just my $.02.


Whoops i almost forgot bump for ignition 2!

[Shadeslinger]

Seriously, if the card you make turns out to be nothing more than basically an MR board that can fully drive a K2 or LuxV without any add-ons or modifications it would be a huge success.

My .02. Best of luck to you!

[Voice]

Being someone planning to try a P7 as soon as I can find them pre-mounted in the US, I'd be interested in a sound-board that would drive one of them, but given that it's 2.8A for that one, I had a thought. (I'm completely inexperienced with electronics, so I have no idea if this is workable.)

If the heat from 2.8A would be too much, could the the board be made *modular* so that the sound portion would link to various driver portions?

[Novastar]

Technically, with modifications, Crystal Focus could support more amps... it's just the HEAT that causes problems. With added heat, all parts need to take a "step up" in the heat they can take. Or I suppose the board itself could somehow magically become "heatsinked"?!? I don't know.

Corbin's new v2 board supposedly can handle quite a punch--something like 25v? is it?!? And although the data says something about the output being pretty high too, I don't see the point on that, as it delivers a fixed (yet PWM) current of 1A for the normal LED behavior with 1.2A for the clash.

So... yeah, it's going to start becoming a question of heat.

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

Well a saberstaff with Endors at both ends...hmmm ENDors? lol...would be near 20V eh so maybe that was the reason???

Suddenly those loooooooong saberstaff hilts make a lot of sense...you'd need a heck of a lot of space just for the batteries for such a 'beast' of a saber eh?

And yeah maybe a few years from now 'CFVII' WILL need a heatsink to be able to handle the 40V and 10A for some 1500 lumen 'P15' or whatever...heck maybe we'll need peltier coolers and fans...and have to wear sunglasses so our sabers dont blind us...

But right now I think that this board should stick to more modest goals...compete where 'the other guy' ISN'T by producing low cost better than MR sound boards without 'featuritis'...there'll be opportunities to produce a 'super' version later.

But really I dont see these new promising developments with sound board options as a matter of competing between this and Darth Kal-Els new project, or Corbins V2, Ultras V2 or Ervs V4 - in my opinion with the demand we have for sound boards far ahead of supply right now during this post-MR/pre-Hasbro bottleneck sabersounbd-drought there should be room for everyone if they service different market segments eh? Not evertyone has to try and outdo everyone else...just serve the customers: I can see myself buying ALL these boards for different reasons - thats why I wish you ALL well with these.

[Darth_DevilGuy]

yeah I'll likely have at least one of every line of sabercore on the market, I already have a 616 and I'm working on the design for my CFv4 based saber, I wouldn't say I'm a Connoisseur, more like a glutton.

[Braxus]

id be happy with just a basic card with one sound font. lol anything thats better quality then a hasbro