TK Talkie DIY Comm Effects

[Darkpain714[TK]]

Yeah, I seem to have the version 2. But still working great. Used the same Samsung earbud box you did and its working quite well. I added a couple screws to keep the board in place as it was sliding around in there a bit too much and couldnt plug things in without opening it up. I'm still looking for an acceptable vocal mod for the mando setup. Bitcrusher alone doesn't seem to do it.

 

Pics:

 

 

 

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[lerxstrulz]

FWIW, I'd be leery of making tolerances too tight. In my limited experience, one thing I've definitely seen is that boards go through revisions all the time, and the "X" board you bought from company "Y" two months ago but end up being revised, and the "X v.1.1" board has a different shape with different components.

Yeah I'm going with more room on the redesign. Really wanted the SD card accessible without having to remove the lid, but don't think it will be possible.

 

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[lerxstrulz]

Yeah, I seem to have the version 2. But still working great. Used the same Samsung earbud box you did and its working quite well. I added a couple screws to keep the board in place as it was sliding around in there a bit too much and couldnt plug things in without opening it up. I'm still looking for an acceptable vocal mod for the mando setup. Bitcrusher alone doesn't seem to do it.

Nice setup! I am going to put my V2 on a breadboard with some pots and hook those up to settings for the different effects and play around with it and see what I can get.

 

Maybe we should see if the guys at Teensy can add a "New Zealander Accent" module to get that "just right" Mando sound 

Edited August 20, 2016 by lerxstrulz

[lerxstrulz]

I'm still looking for an acceptable vocal mod for the mando setup. Bitcrusher alone doesn't seem to do it.

FWIW I posed this question on the Teensy forum and Paul (the developer) said he has a phase vocoder on the to-do list for the upcoming Teensy 3.6. Hopefully it makes it in that release. It will allow you to shift the pitch of the inputs (microphone) up or down, which will be really cool.

 

Also, I just updated the code a tad after digging around in the Teensy docs. There is an onboard equalizer (both 5-band graphic and 7-band parametric.) I added the 5-band and set the bands to push up the mids for more of a "tin-can" sound. Add this code after the input select code in the setup function:

// Activate the onboard pre-processor
audioShield.audioPreProcessorEnable();
// Turn on the 5-band graphic equalizer (there is also a 7-band parametric...see the Teensy docs)
audioShield.eqSelect(3);
// Bands (from left to right) are: Low, Low-Mid, Mid, High-Mid, High.
// Valid values are -1 (-11.75dB) to 1 (+12dB)
// The settings below pull down the lows and highs and push up the mids for 
// more of a "tin-can" sound.
audioShield.eqBands(-1.0, 0, 1, 0, -1.0);

You might be able to tweak this or use the 7-band to get closer to the sound you are looking for.  The settings above work really well with my voice, at least.

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

FWIW I posed this question on the Teensy forum and Paul (the developer) said he has a phase vocoder on the to-do list for the upcoming Teensy 3.6. Hopefully it makes it in that release. It will allow you to shift the pitch of the inputs (microphone) up or down, which will be really cool.

 

Also, I just updated the code a tad after digging around in the Teensy docs. There is an onboard equalizer (both 5-band graphic and 7-band parametric.) I added the 5-band and set the bands to push up the mids for more of a "tin-can" sound. Add this code after the input select code in the setup function:

// Activate the onboard pre-processor
audioShield.audioPreProcessorEnable();
// Turn on the 5-band graphic equalizer (there is also a 7-band parametric...see the Teensy docs)
audioShield.eqSelect(3);
// Bands (from left to right) are: Low, Low-Mid, Mid, High-Mid, High.
// Valid values are -1 (-11.75dB) to 1 (+12dB)
// The settings below pull down the lows and highs and push up the mids for 
// more of a "tin-can" sound.
audioShield.eqBands(-1.0, 0, 1, 0, -1.0);

You might be able to tweak this or use the 7-band to get closer to the sound you are looking for. The settings above work really well with my voice, at least.

Totally doing this when I get home from work today, thanks!

 

 

Jim - TK50899

[Darkpain714[TK]]

FWIW I posed this question on the Teensy forum and Paul (the developer) said he has a phase vocoder on the to-do list for the upcoming Teensy 3.6. Hopefully it makes it in that release. It will allow you to shift the pitch of the inputs (microphone) up or down, which will be really cool.

 

Also, I just updated the code a tad after digging around in the Teensy docs. There is an onboard equalizer (both 5-band graphic and 7-band parametric.) I added the 5-band and set the bands to push up the mids for more of a "tin-can" sound. Add this code after the input select code in the setup function:

// Activate the onboard pre-processor
audioShield.audioPreProcessorEnable();
// Turn on the 5-band graphic equalizer (there is also a 7-band parametric...see the Teensy docs)
audioShield.eqSelect(3);
// Bands (from left to right) are: Low, Low-Mid, Mid, High-Mid, High.
// Valid values are -1 (-11.75dB) to 1 (+12dB)
// The settings below pull down the lows and highs and push up the mids for 
// more of a "tin-can" sound.
audioShield.eqBands(-1.0, 0, 1, 0, -1.0);

You might be able to tweak this or use the 7-band to get closer to the sound you are looking for.  The settings above work really well with my voice, at least.

I'm very happy with this addition. This is quite excellent. My family was complaining I sounded too "high pitch". I assume it's from my cheap little amp. But these settings with a bit of tweaking fixed that AND I got the tin can effect. 

 

Mando can wait till 3.6. *crosses fingers for vocorder*

[lerxstrulz]

Version 1 Case
 
I was able to 3D print a case for the Version 1 setup today.  It came out pretty well.  I printed it with PLA plastic (may try ABS just to compare.)  Everything fit really well!  I had to drill out the holes I made for screws (they were too small) so I'm going to tweak the STL before posting it.

 

Version 2 Case

 

I also printed a case I designed for the Version 2 setup, however some of my measurements were just slightly off so more tweaking of that and another test print tomorrow.  Almost there, though!  It's a lot thinner than the Version 1 case, although the V1 case is about a millimeter shorter than the Aker speaker so will fit under the breastplate just fine.

[lerxstrulz]

I'm very happy with this addition. This is quite excellent. My family was complaining I sounded too "high pitch". I assume it's from my cheap little amp. But these settings with a bit of tweaking fixed that AND I got the tin can effect. 

 

Mando can wait till 3.6. *crosses fingers for vocorder*

 

Excellent!  Glad to hear it!

[lerxstrulz]

V2 Case Update

 

Well....have been tweaking both the V1 and V2 cases for a couple of days now, trying to get them as compact as possible and still get clean prints.  Then the 3D printer decided to take a dump, so had to pull it apart, fix it, put it back together and spend half a day recalibrating it....sigh...

 

I was finally able to get a pretty decent V2 case printed today (the very first print of the V1 case was nearly perfect, except I wanted to enlarge the mounts a bit.)  Still needs a couple of tweaks but completely functional...yay! Unfortunately I won't have access to the printer for the next 4 days...

 

Also, these photos are of the box straight off the printer, before sanding and touchups...and you can see the 3D printer could probably use a little more fine tuning...

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2016 by lerxstrulz

[Darkpain714[TK]]

V2 Case Update

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like you can access the SD card. That is awesome. I really need to get one of those newfangled printer thingies. 

[lerxstrulz]

Looks like you can access the SD card. That is awesome. I really need to get one of those newfangled printer thingies. 

 

Well, you kinda can...with a pair of tweezers  One of the tweaks I have made to the sketch is to bring the back in more so you can actually reach the card.  I have a new printer showing up Sunday and will get to try the new design hopefully Sunday night or Monday.  I'm also about to add a PTT button to the mix, so have added another hole in the back for the 3.5mm jack (that can be used or not....)

[lerxstrulz]

While I'm waiting on the 3D printer I fiddled with the software a bit and made some improvements

 

I posted the updated sketch on my github.  Because of the new changes I had to tweak some of the settings regarding the thresholds, but the result is a much truer Voice Activation and now it supports PTT.

 

• Added a pink noise generator that activates when you are talking to make it sound more like a radio
• Added support for PTT...the system starts in Voice Activated (VA) mode and the first time you push the button it goes into PTT mode.  You can hold the button for 2 seconds without talking to switch it back to VA mode (of course this is all customizable.)  I did this so that you can switch between the two modes without having to unplug the PTT button  When using PTT mode it looks for a WAV file named BUTTON.WAV (just a copy of TKT_CLK3.WAV) and plays that each time you push the PTT button, then plays a random burst afterwards.
• When you are not talking (in either PTT or VA mode) the mixer channels for the mic are turned off, and will turn on when you push the button in PTT mode or start talking in VA mode.  Had to tweak the threshold settings a bit...again, this is customizable to your voice.  You MAY need to set these thresholds according to your voice so that they fire correctly...everyone's voice is a tad different

 

There are a lot of changes in this sketch so if you upgrade, be sure to make a backup of your current sketch so you can apply any tweaks you have made. I put the original V1 sketch in an archives folder on github.  The new sketch is Version 1.1.

 

I mounted everything behind my chest plate last night and tested it and it sounds great if I do say so myself.    The sound really comes together.

Edited August 28, 2016 by lerxstrulz

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

The new sketch is amazing. What is driving me nuts is that I am trying to figure out how to turn up the sound effects without turning up the volume. I've been playing with the mic gain and the EQ.... I know it's something simple that I'm missing. An output volume for the WAV files??? Any help would be great!

[lerxstrulz]

The new sketch is amazing. What is driving me nuts is that I am trying to figure out how to turn up the sound effects without turning up the volume. I've been playing with the mic gain and the EQ.... I know it's something simple that I'm missing. An output volume for the WAV files??? Any help would be great!

The wav files are now in the first two channels of mixer2 (0 and 1). Any setting below 1.0 attenuates the volume and any setting above gains db's. Try adjusting those inputs on mixer2 in the setup function.

 

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[MoSc0ut[TK]]

The wav files are now in the first two channels of mixer2 (0 and 1). Any setting below 1.0 attenuates the volume and any setting above gains db's. Try adjusting those inputs on mixer2 in the setup function.

 

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<face palm> Now that you point me in the right direction it's glaringly obvious!! 

 

Thank you!

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

I got the best results tweaking the //Feed from mixer 2. By boosting these values it made the effects volume from the SD card WAV files better match the volume of my voice.

 

I am having a blast tweaking all these settings. You have to take into account the sounds the fans make inside the helmet too!  

[lerxstrulz]

<face palm> Now that you point me in the right direction it's glaringly obvious!!

 

Thank you!

Lol no prob!

 

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[The Chief[TK]]

Can I use a 5v USB battery with this?

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

Can I use a 5v USB battery with this?

That's what I'm using! It draws so little power that I have no idea how long it'll last on 1, 18650 battery (same battery that's in the cheapo phone chargers you find at literally any store.)

 

 

Jim - TK50899

Edited August 30, 2016 by MoSc0ut

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Very awesome project you have here. Kind of hard to tell from your video on page 1 but does this change the sound of your voice or just add the radio static sound? I am looking at an alternative to my iCOMM as it takes up a lot of space in my helmet but not ready to throw down a lot of money on a ROMFX card. 

[Darkpain714[TK]]

Very awesome project you have here. Kind of hard to tell from your video on page 1 but does this change the sound of your voice or just add the radio static sound? I am looking at an alternative to my iCOMM as it takes up a lot of space in my helmet but not ready to throw down a lot of money on a ROMFX card.

So far I'm pretty happy with the amount of vocal modification. There is a customizable eq that is set by default to emphasize the mid range and add a bit of compression. Does that "tin can" sound we've associated with the classic TKs. There will be more effects added in the next release or two of the main package that could be fun for other characters. You'd be hard pressed to find anything currently on the market that is as small and versatile as this.

 

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[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

I think you've got me sold. Sounds like an awesome Winter project. Just gotta figure out how to wire it in my current ukswrath setup. The iComm has it's own battery so I may have to treat this more like a ROMFX and put a voltage regulator in. 

[Darkpain714[TK]]

I think you've got me sold. Sounds like an awesome Winter project. Just gotta figure out how to wire it in my current ukswrath setup. The iComm has it's own battery so I may have to treat this more like a ROMFX and put a voltage regulator in.

I just ordered my hovi speakers and Amp2 package from Tony. I'll keep everyone updated on my progress!

 

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[MoSc0ut[TK]]

I think you've got me sold. Sounds like an awesome Winter project. Just gotta figure out how to wire it in my current ukswrath setup. The iComm has it's own battery so I may have to treat this more like a ROMFX and put a voltage regulator in.

It runs off a 5v power supply. I'm currently using a cell phone charger to run mine. You can make a simple charger or simply buy one and strip off the case if you wanted to build it into a custom case to create an on board battery for this.

 

! I'm going to design a case with an onboard rechargeable 18650 battery now. Thanks overactive brain....always stealing my "free time" with new ideas.

 

 

Jim - TK50899

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

If you check out ukswrath's Gen 4 electronic thread, I have mine setup exactly like that. Should be easy enough and if it's 5v I shouldn't need to do anything but splice a USB to JST connector and plug it in my harness. 

Edited August 30, 2016 by Airborne Trooper