Hi all, I’ve done about 5 saber installs using Proffieboards now, so I’m still relatively new at this, but I’m having some trouble on the latest one with the volume being very low once turned on.
I’m using a 24mm 2W 4OHM bass speaker from KR Sabers and I’ve set the volume parameter in the config to 2700 but it’s still very quiet compared to any other sabers I’ve installed, including one that had a smaller speaker (22mm) and also set to the same volume setting. It’s easily half as loud or less.
The audio sounds good in terms of quality, no crackling, and is crisp, but I’m very confused what’s going on with the audio.
The only sound fonts I have on the saber are the 3 that come with the Tusken Terminator from Kyberphonic.
At one point when I was first inserting the chassis into the saber to test how everything fit, I accidentally touched the neopixel pins to the metal blade plug as I had forgotten to put the plastic cover on it. It shorted and then I pulled it out immediately. There was no smoke and the board itself looks perfectly fine from what I can tell.
Does anyone have any ideas on why the volume might be so low?
Thanks!
Was it low before? The config problem is if you installed a new version and used #define BOOT_VOLUME to less than #define VOLUME 1500.
The other is that it might have killed the booster. Should start by testing GND and 5V. If you don’t have 5V there, you might have fried the booster circuit.
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I would start by going into the serial monitor and use the get_volume command. This would show the volume you’re actually using, and if it is low, then this is a software issue. If it is high, then it’s a hardware issue, and checking the 5v booster would be the next step.
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Sorry for this basic question but how do go about doing this? Is it within arduino while the proffie board is plugged in via usb?
Ok I did the serial monitor and used the get_volume command. It told me the same value that I set it to in the config.
At this point should I assume the board needs to be replaced? Or is there anything else I should try?
Thanks.
Well, at this point we should have hopefully ruled out this being a software problem, which probably means that this is a hardware problem of some sort. Next step is to try to narrow it down a bit to avoid having to re-solder things too many times.
First thing to do is to see if you have 5v on the 5v pad. So bring out a multimeter, set it to DC voltage measurements and measure between GND and 5v (while sounds are playing) to see if it’s close to 5v or not.
Second thing would be to set the multimeter to AC and measure the voltage on the speaker terminals at the board. You should see some number in the 1-10 volt range, depending on the font. I recommend comparing to another saber to see if the numbers makes sense or not.
Third, measure AC between the speaker terminals on the speaker, obviously this should be roughly the same as at the board.
If all of of these measurements look reasonable, then start with replacing the speaker to see if that helps.
If first and second look fine, but third does not, inspect the wiring between the speaker and the board.
If first looks fine, but second and third doesn’t, then either there is a short somewhere, or the amplifier on the board is broken.
If you don’t have 5v at the 5v pad, then the booster isn’t working properly, which usually means you have to replace the board, or short 5v to BATT+, which reduces volume but makes stuff work.
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Ok will do.
I should mention that already did change out the speaker because the previous one was crackling. Once I changed out the speaker the crackling stopped but somehow the volume is still low.
I’ll diagnose using the steps above and see what I find.
So I just did the tests you recommended with the multimeter and all of them appeared to be fine. The first came back with 5v. The tests on the speaker pads on the board read around .8 up to around 2 volts while sounds were playing depending on which sounds I played. The speaker itself came back similar.
We tested another saber that works fine and the readings came back almost identical.
Any other recommendations?
Thanks again.
Try another speaker.
If the voltages are reasonable, it really should have a reasonable volume too.