Music LED Light Box

Step 1 Materials & Tools

To make this Music LED Light Box you can use many different things and build it different ways.
In this instructable I'll explain how I made it, a very simple way.

Materials
- 12v Adapter (a battery can be used as well)
- 3.5 jack headphone cable.
- tip31 transistor (this is the key to the whole project) - $0.50
- 5mm LED's (the color or amount is totally up to you, 1 LED per 3v. I used 12v, so 4 LEDs) - $0.28
- A4 acrylic sheet - 3mm thick (also known as 'plexiglass') - $2.00
- Fine sandpaper (I used 400) - $1.00
- Electrical Wire

If you see a price above, that means I bought it. The rest I just ripped of some old junk. The 12v Adapter was from an old wireless headphone and the 3.5 jack plug is from another old headphone.

Tools
- Jigsaw (also a Jeweler Saw can be used. But that's really hard to get straight lines)
- Glue Gun (hot glue, other glue to glue acrylic is possible)
- Drilling tool
- Solder tool (optional)
- Pen

Ones you've got this stuff you're ready to begin!

Comments

[mozartripper]

Thanx for the tutorial man. Here is my (bootlegers) version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBb1Kr1E7OE And if u want to use it with your ipod use a audio splitter like this one http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Audio-3-5mm-1-2-Splitter-Adapter-Converter-9991-/320517589084?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

[Skidion]

Great build man. Mind sharing how you managed to get music to play through the speakers, as opposed to a pair of headphones connected to a splitter?

[mozartripper]

i used the front panel audio of my pc to connect the led's and the back panel audio for the speakers

[Skidion]

sweet, never thought of doing that for some reason. thanks

[motadacruz]

Nice work there dude! Thanks for sharing your Music LED Light with us!

[vocaxil]

What jack headphone can i use beside this > 3.5 jack headphone cable.

[gastropod11]

I have a simple question, what is the thing circled in my picture? and if you cant see it, its the top right object of the first step picture. Please help me!

[motadacruz]

It's just a switch for the adapter I used. Eventually I never used the switch. But I did use the socket to plug the adapter in. Thats the left part on the wires. The right part is the switch.

[motadacruz]

That's a powerswitch plus the input from the adapter attached to it. The input is the thing on the left. This way it's easy to plug in the adapter. And on the right it's the switch. This way it's easy to turn it on and off.

[gastropod11]

Thank you, but do i need this? And if so, where would i find it, im not quite understanding that one part. And one more thing, did you use 5mm, or 3mm LEDs? At first you were talking about 5mm LEDs, and then at step 5, you sttart talking about 3mm LEDs. And thank you very much again i really appreciate your wwork

[Guitar Wizard]

I Used 5mm they work fine... just make sure you don't over-power them. meaning that you have two 5mm, 3v LED's and you are powering them with 9v DC power without a resistor.

[toreyk482]

Sweet project! I was planning on building your simple light box (I'm just waiting for a few parts to ship) but then I saw this one and I think I wanna make this one instead :) 2 questions: 1) This is gonna be my first time ever building a circuit so excuse my ignorance, but if I included a simple switch into the circuit that completely bypasses the transistor (aka, the switch will connect 1 LED directly to the power source), will I be able to either play music through the box so the lights flash with the music OR just have the lights flash on their own, depending on what position the switch is in? 2) Do you know if there's a way to plug the box into the headphone jack on your laptop and still have music come out of the laptop speakers? You would need to somehow tell the computer to split the signal before it goes into the audio jack. Not even sure if that's possible... Cool idea, I can't wait to get started on this :D

[gastropod11]

also is there an alternate for the 3.5 audio jack cable? like anything else i can use?

[jjeellee]

where can i buy tihis stuff??????
if you now where e-mail me please [e-mail]
thanks

[phephq]

i go to ebay. you usually need to buy more than 1 at a time, but the prices are so much better than radioshack that the total $ spent it not much different, or lower. That way you'll have spares in case of a shortage or over-heating

[-Syrus-]

 www.conrad.nl or www.conrad.de for EU

www.radioshack for USA

Gezien je adres denk ik NL : P

[janw]

Conrad has a lot but is far to expensive. If you live in The Netherlands try dickbest.nl. Good service, cheap and most of the time delivered within 1 or 2 days. Only downside it that he doesn't have everything. I buy 90% of my stuff there and never had any problems.

[-Syrus-]

 Seems a good store, like 0,50 E  for a LM386 chip :P

I have a local store here, its prices are outrageous. Asking something like 2,50 E for the same chip. 5 times as much ! 

Thanks for the tip, conrad is also not my fav but it does the job for my Modelling equipment and brushless engine needs ;)

[Deadly_Combo]

Also, try eBay. I got my LM386's from there... 10 plus holders for 0.99p with free postage...  

[-Syrus-]

 That sounds way to cheap...

OMG

50 pcs for 7.20$ what a steal.... : (

Good tip :P

[Deadly_Combo]

Glad to be of service. ;)

[lol101lol]

looks like an awesome project but how i could i hook it up to my stereo speakers?
and i could only find a TIP122 NPN transistor, would this still work?
Thanx :D

[moleyjoel]

would this still work if i replaced the audio-in cable with a microphone?
so that i can still hear the music through my speakers, however would the led's still light in time with the music?

[Mehheh77]

 Nicely done! I have lights like this wired along the walls in my room. I used two different transistors so each side would react differently as the music dictated.

[millercl]

i was wondering what kind of transistors you used because i am going to make spkeaker boxes that is going to have led in it with a Plexiglas front that is going to blink to the music, and would like the leds to blink differently in the boxes

[Rhamkota]

 I found any transistors work (as long as the have the right voltage). It depends on the type but some get the bass note or the high notes.

[natalinowerty]

radioshack dont works in portugal:(
i dont find it in the local stores

[natalinowerty]

es portugues? pelo nick parece
bom projectgo tamben quero fazer um

[ewitwins]

Damn your lucky, my TIP31 NPN's cost $1.59

[mad.hatter.]

 yea mine was about the same.  i got it at radioshack

[Beduk]

Lucky you!!!!!!!!!!

[joostm8]

do you have any idea where i can get that tip31 transistor cause i just took apart an old pc and i was wondering if i could find one in there

[Beduk]

I dont think so that you shall get the transistor in a pc.You will get it in an Electronic Storeor a Radio shack.if there is no access buy it on www.ebay.com.

[joostm8]

ok thanks i was just wondering

[hobbyhawk32]

I desolderd an old power supply for a computer a while ago for parts, i have a bunch of parts that look a lot like your tip31, how do i tell if one is the same, is there  a good chance that at least one is?

[Beduk]

A transistor has the following characteristics-

1.It has 3 wires or terminals
2.It is cylindrical or flatback.
3.In case of the TIP 31 it is black in color

[gentlemoose]

It should say right on the face of the transistor - printed on the black plastic housing.  It may be dim, faded, etc, so look for it in good lighting and try a magnifying glass.  Be very careful as different transistors do all sorts of different things - they are definitely not all drop-in equivalents for one another.

[fafan74]

could you use a pc power supply?

[Beduk]

Yes offcourse you can!! But make sure that the power supply does not exceed 12 volts or the demand of the leds.If it exceeds use suitable resistors.You can use the following ones-

100k ohms or any higher value.

[Submit]

Where can you get the TiP31?? I asked in my electronics shop, but they don't have it....