Freitag, 21. Februar 2014

The SoundCube


Finally I've got some time to write about a project I finished nearly two years ago. It's a portable music box and it's also a Companion Cube. 
It's created to supply your weekend with your favorite sound and your gadgets with power.

The key features are: 

Speakers:
  • 4x Alpine SXE-1725S
Amplifier:
  • TDA7318 - DIGITAL CONTROLLED STEREO AUDIO PROCESSOR
  • TDA7560 - 4 x 45W QUAD BRIDGE CAR RADIO AMPLIFIER
  • Arduino Mega with 3,5" Touchscreen for volume control and input selection.
  • BELKIN F8Z492CW - Bluetooth Music Receiver

Power supply:
At the top there are two USB ports to charge mobile devices and two 12V car power sockets for additional gadgets. 
To get your music to the speakers there are two channels with analog jacks or you can do it via Bluetooth.  

The audio amp has two parts: the main amp and the digital audio processor. This digital audio processor is controlled via i2c which is done by the Arduino Mega. Well yes, this is a little bit over-engineered but works fine. 

I put the code on github: https://github.com/4ndreas/SoundCube

The speaker grills are of course 3D printed, as well as the mounts for the electronics. 

Even though this is an older project I've collected some experience in the field. The battery runs for at least a full weekend. The sound quality is more than satisfying for this purpose. The only drawback is the weight if you have to carry it to your favorite spot. 

I've got a lot of additional pictures from constructing the wooden frame:

Building the SoundCube




This post contains a lot of pictures from making of the SoundCube.