DIY Stereo Volume Control Module(easy)

by Mr.Gizmo

53K5612

Intro: DIY Stereo Volume Control Module(easy)

Hello, I am new here at this site and would love to share my projects with everyone who finds them interesting. This particular project was inexpensive and easy to make. All you need is some basic soldering skills and how to read the easy schematics. In my free time if I am not producing or recording music, I am building electronics projects. This one came in mind when I found it annoying to reach all the way or walk all the way up to my audio source to turn down the volume or mute it. It is a volume control module which controls the volume and mute and even has gain. All the electronics can be purchased at radio shack the only thing you will probably have trouble finding is a housing for all the electronics. When I made mine, I had an old tin box that I got off a broken TV set and its rare to come across so just try and find an alternative like perhaps a wooden pox or an altoids tin box should do. Also, the knobs on the potentiometers were off an old car stereo you don't really need them to turn the volume though. The parts you will need are as follows:
2- stereo audio potentiometers
2- stereo 3.5mm input jacks
1- toggle switch
soldering iron and solder
wire cutters-/strippers
a drill depending on material used for box
and some wire(gauge is your choice)

STEP 1:

Here is the simplified schematic drawing for the circuit. I drew the back side of the potentiometers a bit different than they will look to simplify the view. When you have all of your electronics ready you will first need to drill the holes for everything in the order you would like it. All of the components used in this project come with thread and a nut and washer for tightening on a surface. Once your box and holes are done, place in your components then start soldering the wires.

STEP 2:

Hopefully yours comes out nice like I think mine did. If it doesn't work try to inspect all the wiring and make sure nothing is rubbing up on metal if you decide to go with a tin box. Mine was designed to use the Gain as the primary volume adjuster and the volume knob will adjust the volume after the gain. Works great if you think the volume goes too high because all you do is preset the Gain. Good luck and shoot me any questions.

11 Comments

soccerman24 7 years ago

I am looking for a sketatic for 2 3.5mm jacks with independent potentiometers that is USB powered

buzzripper 7 years ago

I'm not an electronics expert, but the 2nd pot is confusing to me. You're calling it 'gain' but there's no amplifier - it will never be louder that the output of the device you're hooking it to, right? If that's true, then aren't you really just running 2 stereo resistors in series? And if so, what's the point, why wouldn't just 1 stereo pot work? Sorry if this is a noob question! I'm asking because I just want a simple volume control, i just want to leave the unit on full volume, run a long cable to my DIY unit, and then attenuate the volume from there.

Thanks,

Buzz

JamesS511 7 years ago

I made one. It has cutoff switches and uses a pair of 250k/500k Fender amplifier pots. I also added cutoff switches. This will plug in to my studio speakers via the parallel input jacks and feed to my outdoor speakers with tone and volume controls. It lets me drop the volume outdoors and provides an easy cutoff.

HaridarshanP 8 years ago

I forgot to mention that in the diagram the colours are red, brown and purple. in my version i've done green and yellow as red, brown as brown, and purple as blue.

ollekruyt 11 years ago

Hey, thanks for sharing. I have a quastion though: how can I determine what kind and size of pod to use? From what I have read, it seems that log pods create the most sensible relation between the turning of the knob and the change in sound level. Is this right? And how do I establish what resistance the pod should be (I have 80 watt, 8 ohm speakers)?
Thanks, Olle

joroul 10 years ago

Hey! Did you ever figure that out? I'm having the same questioning over here.. ;) thanks!

joroul 10 years ago

hi, thanks for sharing! Quick question, how do I know which impedance to choose for my potentiometer? thks!

tjdrumman 10 years ago

so im trying to build this with outputs going to speakers. So on the audio out side what would the wires connect to?

Mr.Gizmo 10 years ago

if you want to control the volume of music coming from a music player then input is for the player and output is to speakers.