Music Sync Light Display

[itsjames]

Hey guys! Hope you’re all well. I’m trying to setup a light display this year that’s synced to music and broadcast via FM. I’ve never done anything like this before and clearly don’t have heaps of time until Xmas to bring this together.

basically what I’m looking for is a kit or something that has everything I need to get started. Something that will let me plug in my existing Christmas lights that I already own such as LED icicle lights, rope lights and colourful string lights. I don’t require any fancy RGB controlling. As long as I can plan it out in a software and make the lights blink to the music I’ll be very happy.

I’ve looked at Light O Rama kits as a solution but from what I can understand, you need a certain type of Christmas lights for them to work. Plus I wasn’t sure if they had AU plugs and if the voltage would match from US to AU.

Any help would be really appreciated

Thanks,
James

 

[Notenoughlights]

First do you know what voltages the light strings run on? Not the mains side, but the low voltage side. Most are 31v some are 24v. There are 3 wire types and 2 wire types, this is the number of wires coming from the factory flasher unit. If you are able to source that info it will aid in finding you a suitable controller.
This will be a lot of DIY work as there generally isn't a kit as everybody uses the gear in different ways (except LOR but we stay clear of that)

 

[djgra79]

Welcome to ACL James.
As noted above, both the voltage and wire count (2 or 3) of your existing lights will determine what controller hardware is required to make them computer controllable. Hanson Electronics is based in Bendigo VIC and will no doubt be able to assist and sell you the board you need for these lights.

Have you read the 101 Manual as yet? This will hep you understand what else is required which includes but is not limited to: Power Supply(s) (PSU) cabling, cable connectors (aka pigtails) weatherproof controller/PSU enclosure(s), a show player (either PC/laptop running xSchedule or a Raspberry Pi/Beaglebone Black running FPP.

Have a bit of a read through of the above and search through the forums but if you get stuck, ask away either here or in the chat room.

 

[thewanderingpine]

Here’s a good place to start:


View: https://youtu.be/jf7uLhUObAk

 

[i13]

I can help with getting existing traditional LED strings working. My display is mostly traditional LEDs: https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/9545/

My suggestion would be not to buy from LOR. Most LED strings in Australia have lightweight plugpacks which (I'm told) can catch fire if you accidentally dim them on an LOR controller. They can also have a delay between when they receive mains power and when they output power to the LEDs. If you do decide that you want a LOR controller, they're quite easy to come by second hand on this forum at a fraction of their original price.

I'd suggest using DC controllers which replace the original plugpacks and blinker units. The difficulty with traditional strings is that the voltage they require doesn't always perfectly match the voltage printed on the original plugpack. It varies from string to string. In a DC control setup, the controller passes the same voltage from a central power supply to multiple strings. In order to get the correct voltage to each string, the options are:

• Modify the light sets so that they use the same voltage as each other. This was the option that I chose in my display. It requires a bigger time commitment for the first year but it makes the setup easier for many seasons to come.
• Run multiple voltages. This will require more power supplies and possibly more controllers depending on the type of controller you need. The type of controller depends on the type of LED strings that you have. The advantage of this option is that it is faster when you're in a hurry in your first year.

I suggest prioritising which strings you want to control this year and posting more information about them. In order to help, the details that I would need are:

• The number of LEDs in the string
• The number of wires between the blinker unit and the first LED
• Whether there is a blinker unit
• The number of places where the number of wires between the LEDs is the same as in the lead-in wire. If there's a long section at the far end with this many wires, count it once.
• Whether the string is connectable
• The voltage and wattage or current rating of the plugpack
• Specifications of the LEDs themselves (if available)
• The number of wires attached to the majority of the LEDs. There will be a few LEDs with a different number but I need to know what is the most common number.

I don't have the knowledge to help with an icicle string that has more than two wires connected to the majority of its LEDs. Once I have the above details, I can calculate the current that the LED string should draw. From there, you'll need to test it to determine the exact voltage that it requries. This is done by supplying a voltage and gradually increasing this voltage until the current flow is correct. If you overshoot this, too much current will flow and this will ruin the LEDs.

If you want to aim for this year, you'll probably need to:

• reduce the size of the display or only control a part of it this year.
• take some shortcuts. For example, you could choose the correct voltage for the lowest voltage string on the controller and accept that the others sharing the controller won't be as bright.
• import sequences and map them to your display instead of writing your own.
• accept that you might run late or not make it in time for this season. It will be a learning experience regardless of whether you get there in time and it'll put you in a good position for next year.

Approximately where are you located? I'm in Canberra.

(edited due to a typo)

 

[itsjames]

Wow thank you so much for the warm welcome!! Really appreciate everyone’s responses especially so soon to Xmas. If I was to purchase a Light o Rama DC low voltage controller and just cut off the mains outlet from each of my lights and connect them to this device would that be a simple workaround? It says each 8-channel bank can handle a different DC voltage between 5 and 60 V. So as long as the exisiting transformers for my lights are listed between these I should be able to set the same power to output from my Controller? The tradition light o Rama gear with the 240v power worries me a bit as I’d have to run live cables around my yard. Please correct me if any of my logic above is incorrect lol

thanks

 

[i13]

I'm glad that you posted here before committing to ordering. If your LED strings have a blinker unit and you bought them within the last 6 years or so, the Light-O-Rama DC controller is unlikely to be compatible with them (and nor is an AC controller). Regardless, I wouldn't recommend buying this DC controller because you can get better value for money elsewhere. It is also an uncommon controller in this community so it may be difficult to find someone who can help troubleshoot any problems that come up.

Your logic is correct but incomplete. With that controller (and some similar controllers made by other companies), the two banks of channels can run at two different voltages. The catch is that you'd need a separate power supply for each bank. In reality, you can have an unlimited number of different voltages on any single polarity DC controller with some creative wiring and extra power supplies. See example 2 here: https://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/Controller-Setups-and-Settings
Also note my above point that the voltage printed on the plugpack doesn't always perfectly match the voltage that the LED string requires.

Please post the details of your LED strings that I listed in my previous post. I can't recommend a controller until I know more about them. The bare minimum that I need in order to suggest a controller is:

• Whether the string has a blinker unit
• The number of wires between the blinker unit and first LED
• The voltage written on the plugpack

 

[brando]

I'm glad that you posted here before committing to ordering. If your LED strings have a blinker unit and you bought them within the last 6 years or so, the Light-O-Rama DC controller is unlikely to be compatible with them (and nor is an AC controller). Regardless, I wouldn't recommend buying this DC controller because you can get better value for money elsewhere. It is also an uncommon controller in this community so it may be difficult to find someone who can help troubleshoot any problems that come up.

Your logic is correct but incomplete. With that controller (and some similar controllers made by other companies), the two banks of channels can run at two different voltages. The catch is that you'd need a separate power supply for each bank. In reality, you can have an unlimited number of different voltages on any single polarity DC controller with some creative wiring and extra power supplies. See example 2 here: https://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/Controller-Setups-and-Settings
Also note my above point that the voltage printed on the plugpack doesn't always perfectly match the voltage that the LED string requires.

Please post the details of your LED strings that I listed in my previous post. I can't recommend a controller until I know more about them. The bare minimum that I need in order to suggest a controller is:

• Whether the string has a blinker unit
• The number of wires between the blinker unit and first LED
• The voltage written on the plugpack

Hi i13,

I'm a newb at this and wife is wanting me to start a better display next year. This year we purchased these Lytworx smart led's, and wife is certain she wants the candy canes as part of our display moving forward.

Those candy canes have two sets of lights running through internally, with one set set as white, one as red, and those strings run through both candy canes and that's the excess run along the ground (which she wants more candy canes added on).

Can I use these when I move over to the rest of my display being pixels? Obviously on their own controller, the specs are

Candy cane strings - 24V/12W from controller, two strings between controller and first led
Icicles - 5V/6W from controller, two strings between controller and first led

 

[i13]

brando, I don't have high hopes for these. They're not what I would call traditional LED strings. The boxes state "16 million colours" which suggests that these are RGB lights. I am not aware of any widely available technology in this hobby that can control RGB lights that only have two wires. It might still be possible to use a DC controller plus a relay to turn these ON or OFF but I can't guarantee that.