Make a pair of Audiostrobe-compatible LED glasses for use with brainwave entrainment software

Step 9 Wrapping Up

So there are a few things that in retrospect could have been done better.

• R2 should have been integrated into the glasses
• There's no brightness control for the LEDs. This isn't a problem if your software allows you to adjust brightness, but if your software doesn't have the option or you're using commercial cds, you're out of luck. It would have been easy to integrate a variable resistor, but I didn't have any of a low enough value on hand and was too impatient to wait.
• Uses 9V batteries. Not much capacity in these. I don't know the current drain of the circuit; it would vary anyway depending upon your LED array. But considering each entrainment sessions lasts anywhere from 30-60 minutes, I don't see you getting many uses out of each battery. Real world testing has yet to be done.
• I would have liked a DC input jack, but space was tight and I didn't like the idea of yet another cable dangling off of the unit.
• There's no isolation between the circuit and your input line. Should there be a short or some catastrophic failure, your valuable equipment might go away on you.
• I don't know enough about audio to know if it's a problem, but it's possible that this could cause an impedance mismatch issue. I'm not entirely clear on impedance, but my understanding is that a source is designed to drive a load with a specific resistance (i.e., 8Ohm vs. 4Ohm speakers) and driving the wrong type can cause serious problems. Whether this might be an issue or not, I can't say. So far, nothing's exploded on me. Cross your fingers (or better, somebody who knows what they're doing tell me if I should be praying).



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Software using Audiostrobe (only software I've personally tried):

Freeware

SBaGen - rather non user-friendly, uses text-mode configuration files to generate binaural beats. If you like running Linux without a GUI, you might like this. Otherwise, I'd go with an easier to use app.

Gnaural - Open source, multi-platform binaural beat generator. Has an easy to use graphical interface similar to Brainwave Generator, a commercial program. In fact, I'd say the two were almost identical in features and design, except that Brainwave Generator has a massive library of presets, while I can't find any for Gnaural. If I'm looking for something interesting to try, Gnaural comes up short, but if I know what I want to do, it's the one I use.

Edit: I just went to create a session using Gnaural and discovered that it actually doesn't have Audiostrobe support. I did all of my testing with Neuro-Programmer 2 and Brainwave Generator; for some reason I thought I had tried the glasses out with Gnaural, but I guess I was mistaken. I checked Gnaural, and found that it, too, lacked Audiostrobe support. So I guess there's no freeware (that I'm aware of) that uses Audiostrobe. Sorry about that. I'm so ashamed <hangs head>.

Commercial

Neuro-Programmer 2 $45-$60, 15 day trial - Far and away the best program I've found. Has a large array of presets, and has by far the largest number of entrainment techniques. In addition to binaural beats and audiostrobe, it uses monotones and isochronic tones (which I found to be far more effective than binaural beats), dual induction techniques, recording modulation, hemispheric synchronization (fancy term for asynchronous tones) and more. Has built-in tools to record scripts and suggestions (and powerful tools for manipulating those during sessions), and can generate an entire session, including inductions, visualizations, suggestions, etc. without external tools. I know this sounds like common sense, but most of the other software I've tried simply generates the tones; it's then up to you to figure out when inductions, recordings, etc. should start and insert them at the proper time with an audio editor. This is much faster, easier, and more flexible. There are many more features, but you get the idea. Included with the trial download is an ebook filled with information about entrainment. Even if you know you're not interested in the software, download it for the ebook. I know I sound like I work for the company, but honestly, this is a fantastic piece of software. I haven't purchased it; I don't have the spare cash right now, but as soon as I do I'm buying it. The only negative thing I can think of is the 15 day limit. The trial went by way too fast. If you're just starting to try entrainment, you're not going to know whether it's making any difference for you in 15 days. A standard one month trial would have been nice. Another thing; from reading through the forums, it appears that they're in the process of coding Neuro-Programmer 3. I don't know if registered users of version 2 can upgrade free to 3 or not; I know users of version 1 weren't able to upgrade free to 2. So you may want to hold off until they release 3. Apparently version 3 is on hold for now. No reason to wait.

Brainwave Generator $40, one month trial period - The oldest piece of entrainment software that I know of. Once upon a time, many moons ago, I purchased this program. I've used it on and off over the years with limited success. Has a gigantic library of user submitted presets, most of which, unfortunately, are complete garbage. Still, there are a few jewels to be found. Hasn't been updated in two and a half years, and people have slowly stopped submitting to the library. Only uses binaural beats and audiostrobe.

Comments

[octalh]

Hi im using gnaural opensource software, i add a new isochronic tone voice but in the base freq i set to 19200 hz, i can see the beat in the spectro with adobe audition,this work with your audiostrobe?