Do you like RGB?
Do you really like RGB?
Do you really really like RGB?

If you answered all of the above with "yes", then this is the right project for you!

I am going to show you how you can build your own software-controlled RGB-Speakers.

Lets start!

Step 1: Parts

I was using these specific parts but you can replace them with similiar parts if you have some lying around (like I did):

Note: I am not affiliated in any way, shape or form with any of these websites, you can buy your parts wherever you want

2 meter, 5 volts RGB-LED Strip: amazon
10 meter RGB-LED Cable: amazon
optional: 1 meter RGB-LED Cable (had some spare): amazon
chinese Arduino Nano clone: dealextreme

Okay, now that we have everything we need we can proceed with Step 2

Step 2: Circuit Diagram

The circuit is pretty straight forward:

We use all of the available six PWM-pins on our Arduino so we have a two-channel controller.

Just wire it up like in the circuit diagram and youre ready to proceed.

Step 3: Assembly

I used an old headset stand from a wireless headset to build my Arduino into and soldered the connections (I also soldered connectors for the cables to the arduino and the speakers so that its fully modular).

I cant really give you any directions here because it really depends on your speaker and personal taste how you want to have the LEDs and the housing for your Arduino.

Step 4: Software

When everything is assembled we need to upload the sketch provided in this Instructable to the Arduino so that its able to read the commands it will receive from our computer.

Just open it with the Arduino IDE and click "upload".

If everything was done correctly your speakers should light up red now (you can change the color by editing the setup part of the sketch).

Last but not least you have to download the setup for the software that I have written to control the LEDs.

The setup file can be downloaded here, but you can also compile the sourcecode yourself if you have trust issues or want the absolute latest version from here.

The software itself is pretty self-explanatory so im just going over the basics here.

The software will ask you to select a COM-Port. This port is the same you had to use in the Arduino IDE to upload the sketch. Please close all other applications that may use this port (eg. the Arduino Serial Monitor) before starting the Control Panel Software).
Now you should be able to change the colors of your speakers and select different modes.

Try it out!

The Arduino Sketch and the Softwareclient are still in early beta and will most likely receive a few updates in the next month, so please be patient and check here or at my GitHub Repository if a new version is available.

Future Versions will feature Auto-Update.