Here's a test of a super bright LED. It gets so hot, that it has to be submerged in a cup of water, until I mount it on an appropriately sized copper heat sink. The water keeps it entirely within specifications at 4.75 watts. This is one of the brightest I've seen, I can't believe it! The picture just doesn't do it justice, since the camera auto dimmed the background.The LSDX-4, at full power, is putting out over 20 watts per channel at about 86 percent efficiency. The problem is that I've yet to find a single LED with this type of power rating, so originally I had been using cups of salt water to act as dummy loads. Amazingly the water eventually boils, but the circuit board doesn't even get warm! All with one channel! Using strings of 5 LEDs, like these pictured here, 20 watts can be absorbed, but the voltage minimum of the power supply is raised. For simplicity of the circuit, anything from 3.6 to 25 volts can be used as a power supply, but the power supply must be rated higher than the LED minimum voltage, which is usually a max of 3.9 or less. This bright one I was using is 3.4 volts.
Here's a picture of the prototype LSD-X4 LED driver circuit powering a 25 watt halogen bulb. The size of the circuit will be greatly reduced in the finished product, these pieces were chosen for ease of assembly on a bread board.
This picture reveals the microcontroller's built in knowledge of the current draw from the LED output channel 1. While the LSD-X4 will not contain a 4 digit 7-seg display, it will record measurements which will be available to the user through the computer interface via USB. The LSD-X4 will automatically maximize efficiencies and allow the user to select the best bulb, configuration of bulbs, or power supply input voltage, based on it's internally calculated efficiencies. When given an arbitrarily selected battery and LED, the LSD-X4 will automatically attempt to power it most efficiently. In the event that the drive is impossible, it will shut down to prevent damage to itself or to the light. All of these features will go mostly unnoticed to the typical user, but behind the scenes, just know the LSD-X4 is doings some amazing things!We're pushing for 95% efficiency, only a couple more days until these design needs to be submitted for fabrication.
Wow freacking awesome!!
ReplyDeleteReally excited about this..
Could you give us a closeup of the board?
Soon Mati.... =)
ReplyDeleteOk, so at full brightness, (100W) it's like it's day time!
---
Now... some forward thinking...I determined 2 ounces of antimatter (reacted with 2 ounces of regular matter) would release enough energy to accelerate a 1 ton space craft to Proxima Centauri (4.2 ly away) at a .0098 m/s/s arriving there in only 92 years, reaching about 1/20 the speed of light at the end of the travel. That's some high density energy. Too bad it's not commercially available...yet.
In 50-100 years I can foresee antimatter becoming available in the form of special miniaturized reactor cells, which will probably be illegal to the public. However, such a reactor cell would easily allow for the potential of real, weapons grade light sabers, capable of cutting through any known material.
You have done an amazing job with R&D on this board. Much more than I believe anyone of us could have anticipated! Keep up the great work and take your time...I know that some are eager, but it's better to "measure twice and cut once". Really an unbelievable job your're doing Jesse!
ReplyDeleteLedengin may have the LEDs you are looking for... up to 40W beasts in RGB(A) or RGB(W) configs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ledengin.com/ledengin_products-dataLZ.htm
I still eagerly await information on Sound and Programming Software....
ReplyDeleteGeez Jesse! Antimatter use should be restricted strictly to starships. Nuclear bombs are only 0.1% efficient at converting matter to energy; antimatter annihilation is 100% efficient. God forbid containment should fail, but if it did I'd never know!
ReplyDeleteI did find a cool source of LED bulbs, but typically only white colored. All you have to do is take apart the new LED residential "light bulbs" and inside is something much stronger than a Luxeon! Anyway... this is probably not useful to saber design, but it's useful to me in testing =)
ReplyDeleteThanks badmofo, this is my philosophy exact. I had executive go ahead to have these prototypes processed already, but I told them to give me just a little more time. I think I can make it better!
Skott, me too. Once the prototype is done, practically all of our updates will be in regards to programming and high level features.
Since dark matter is not predicted by the standard model of physics, no one really knows much about it. Wouldn't it be fortunate if dark matter was "immune" to both matter and antimatter? Then it would be relatively easy to contain antimatter, and to make reactor injection nozzles and things like that.
hey jesse!!! wow im so excited this is coming so close to a finish! im so excited some of my proposed ideas are going into this board thanks alot man. the USB connectivity and multiple channel driving is going to be so dang bomb man its so cool!!! just wow. this made my week let me tell ya. i sent you an email hope to hear from you. we gotta lot to catch up man.
ReplyDeletethe LED engin 10 watt rgba and rgbw are the LEDs i will typically be using with this. also im anxious to program a fade color mixing sequence so the blade will basically automatically fade between all the colors. this was what i suggested when me and jesse thought up the multiple channel idea a while ago. but the color fading should be cool and unique will also make for a cool dual phase lightsaber. pulse red and green or something. this new driver really has no ends in its capabilited. IMHO this puts the CF to shame.
ReplyDeletehey jesse could you possibly make PCB mounts for the 15 watt RGBW and RGBAs? the 15 watts dont come on PCBs.
Looking awesome!
ReplyDeleteYou would still need to reflow those LedEngines, Justin, if you got PCBs for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd putting the CF to shame? Sorry, but IMHO the only thing we've really been told about is the LED driving capabilities. I have asked time and time again on info about the sound and programming, which is like 2/3 of the features. Since we have no info, there is no way it puts CF to shame yet.
Skott... I'm pretty sure there has been some information detailing the sound capabilities throughout these blog posts.
ReplyDeleteAnyway here's the current information I can quickly give you before I eventually write a full posting on the matter.
---
**Two channel (stereo) Audio - 3 watt / channel, 24 bit sound precision, 96khz
**Polyphonic sound driver, up to 32
simultaneous sound streams, with dynamic adjust per each stream. Crystal Focus can play only one sound stream at a time. The Ultrasound 2.5 can play a max of 2 sounds at a time. The LSD-X4 can PLAY 32 STREAMS at a time! This is highly important when multiple high speed impacts are being made by the saber.
*Sound CPU = 32 bit - 120Mhz
--controls sound playback functions
based on EXACT inertial movement of saber
--handles instantaneous pitch adjust based
on motion.
--digital volume control
--multiple stream control
--frequency attenuation / band stop filters/
fast fourier transform support for
advanced digital control of sound wave
*DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) 24 bit
--dual channel - built in phase adjust
*Amplifier (2 independent units) @ 3 watt /un
--Higher wattages possible with lower ohm
speakers. Two 8ohm speakers in parallel
will work as work as a load 4 ohm speaker.
With 2 channels extra volume or extra
sound effects are possible.
yeah, but why do you need 32 simultaneous sound streams... your saber doesn't do 32 simultaneous movements, and i think you are wrong about the CF... if that's true then why does CF sound so much better than US?
ReplyDeleteim sure the 32 streams are for a reason. to my understanding this will provide for the most relaistic sound possible. heres how i see it. a CF or US make swing sound yes when moved. okay cool but its still a simple wav sample. with 32 possible streams it will be able to pitch bend and modulate the sound wave depending on how hard you move it, how long the swing and also the direction of the swing. and if you all notice. the US and CF all play the hum sample and play swing sounds and clash sounds on top of it i believe. the LSD will be able to detect when the hum sound is needed because the saber is being still and beable to smoothly fade between needed sound effect. with 32 streams doesnt necessarily mean its for 32 movements. you also have to consider pitch bending, modulation, compression.... what ever jesse has in store for us really. plus if i read right this board will be able to handle two speakers well then theres more options right there. you could send different sound effects to different speakers for more sound mixing capabilites... like i have said before. there is no end to what this can do. as far as driving capabilities this makes CF look like trash. at least jesse wont decide, on the last minute, to make this an exclusive board available to JSS members and only to normal people that pay to have a saber built with it like erv did with the petit crouton.
ReplyDeleteso as far as all the information on this blog has told us about this board? i think the driving and USB real time programing capabilities (especially real time USB programing of RGBA(W)) of this board alone out do any other board on the market. sorry erv.,
Alex,
ReplyDeleteif I'm wrong about the CF then that would only be due to an error in the CF tech specs page on their website.
32 independent sounds is useful due to the variable length of sound file playback times. It Has nothing to due with the number of movements it can do. Each collision, motion starts a stream, but who knows when a particular stream might be done? The speed of the playback is variable depending on inertial frame of reference.
The CF might sound better due to higher precision. The us is only 8 bit. But the LSD-x4 is 24bit, 96khz, 2 channel/ 32 stream polyphonic. This is off the charts better. Ask any DSP engineer.
So will you be able to split the sound. Send the low frequency to one channel and the highs to another? The lows could be sent to a speaker pointed into the hilt to get better resonance and the highs could be on a speaker pointed out the pommel for a cleaner sound.
ReplyDeletewe haven't heard much discussion on sound fonts though
ReplyDeletethats the thing... you can use CF sound fonts if you want, but the LSD will not ONLY accept that stupid fricking format that erv made the CF ONLY compatible with. it will take a variety i believe. most popular being wav. so you could also make your own. since i am a Electronic Dance Music producer and farily well versed in synthesis. i will try my hand at makin a couple fonts.
ReplyDeletehey jesse? will we be able to put 8 and 16 gig micro SD cards in it? or are the SD cards built in?
Justin, you obviously haven't realised that since early this year with the release of CF v5 there is now total .wav support. And "that stupid fricking format" was pretty much 98% .wav anyway, the files just don't have headers.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, this board should have FLASH memory, not microSD, though I'd personally prefer microSD over micro USB.
ReplyDeletewhy should it have flash memory? that's stupid... then you have to worry about size of usb (any size is bigger than micro SD) and losing the plugs
ReplyDeleteKevin: Yes, the sound processor will be able to perform frequency filtering on the sound output, digitally, and split to the two channels. Additionally, it could do this to several streams and simultaneously send them to the correct channels. The more things it has to do at the same time, however, the less streams it will be able to handle. 32 streams for the very simplest tasks, possibly only 6 or 8 streams for maximally complex tasks.
ReplyDeleteJustin: Yes, that's correct. The LSD-X4 will handle multiple formats. Imagine an MP3 player where the user can simply drag and drop sound files into. Similarly, the LSD-X4 will allow the user to drag effects into "triggers" which will call certain sounds depending on the trigger operation. The whole interface is completely graphical on their computer. All of the sounds are simply MP3, WMA, PWM, AIFF or something... they are files. No sound font has to be explicitly made. The sound files are dynamically "assembled" at run time depending on inertial (accelerometer and gyrometric) readings. Of course, the user never explicitly needs to know that. It's internal.
Skott: You're right. Except, without a header, a file would be 0% *.WAV (arguably) because it's the header that makes it a WAV file! Otherwise, without a header, it would simply be an undefined PCM file =) =).
Mati: We haven't definitely ruled out the removable FLASH card (SD), but the USB will definitely exist. So hopefully there will be both =) Now... I'm somewhat confused with what you said, since microSD IS a type of FLASH. The LSD-X4 was supposed to have built in non-removable FLASH... but it's starting to seem there is an interest in removable media. I believe the overall majority is in favor of not having removable cards, since they'd require disassembly of the the hilt. This was the original reason I proposed Bluetooth, but that idea never seemed to catch on with our followers. Hope that answers your questions.
Alex: Not sure what you mean here exactly, so bare with me, I am writing in a tone to answer all possibility of questions, not necessarily to answer things that you already know... All memory cards / solid-state media will be a type of FLASH. EEPROM could be used, but that's super expensive. That would be similar to the technology behind solid state hard drives. The LSD-X4 will have FLASH memory out of simple practicality. It's cheap, versatile, impact resistant, and readily available. Now, however, this FLASH could take on different forms, it may be removable SD / microSD, miniSD, XD, USB FLASH stick, etc. or it may be non-removable, a soldered on chip for example, straight on the circuit board. The capacities of these media can be quite high, and there may be no real desire for the memory to be removable simply because the capacity is never reached. In the case of non-removable memory, the user is guaranteed a reliable media to record sound and settings and never has to go through the hassle of providing an externally connected card. The USB connector is something altogether different. It provides a user interface between the LSD-X4 and the user's computer allowing incredible functions to be controlled through an easy to use graphical interface. Like I said before, if the user wants the saber to change colors from red to green if the swing speed of the tip of the saber reaches 18 km/s, then they drag and drop cause and effect relationships together from the menu system on their computer and make that mode happen (not saying its desirable - but it illustrates the degree of freedom allowable!!!). Then, they save the settings into the memory of the LSD-X4 and the program runs appropriately. Also, the USB interface allows testing effects while the saber is still attached, and cool calibration abilities. The USB abilities will be amazing!
How do I reserve one of these? or alternatively where and when will they be on sale? I hope they aren't going to be as impossible to get hold of as CF!
ReplyDeletesee thats exactly why i stopped supporting erv and his CF and more so when he made the crouton exclusive ONLY to jss. and appearantly when one stops supporting erv alot of other people get mad about that. oh well. IMHO: removable SD cards are nice okay but not when you have to remove the card everytime you want to program it. also it limits your building possibilies of the saber itself. i dont know why people think having USB connectivity is stupid. you wont have to dissasemble your hilt you can see in real time your blade color as you RGB mix in the program, sample sounds off the card adjust what you need as you hear it from the saber itself. its a break through here. and it think what this board SHOULD have is what jesse deems to be the most practical.
ReplyDeleteUmm... Erv' never made PC exclusive to JSS. JSS asked Erv to make a soundboard FOR THEM.
ReplyDeleteAnd besides, JSS doesn't even have ownership of PC any more, it now belongs to the International Sabersmiths' Guild.
Get your facts straight.
well from i learned before i got fed up with all the BS and left was people wanted a cheaper version of CF... at the last second he decided to keep it exclusive. thats what i know thats story im sticking to. wanna keep fighting about this heres my email djmoonbass@gmail.com.
ReplyDeleteim more than happy to continue this debate here but not on jesses blog. this isnt about CF this isnt about PC its about his new board.
Oh yeah, I don't know if this question has been answered but, can you make your own sound fonts for this board? I presume so, otherwise what's the point of USB right?
ReplyDeleteAnd HOW DO I GET ONE!
yes you can program your own fonts. and this board makes it easier than anyother board on the market since the software that comes with the board has the user friendly interface to do so. (i believe so, i could be wrong)
ReplyDeleteand right now this board is still in prototyping so the first run wont be available for a while. till around mid 2011 is what jesse has said. so just hold it out will be sooo worth it.
so are the followers going to get first dibs on the card since we actually show our interest publicly? jk, but still... it would be nice
ReplyDeletethat could be a very good possibility. ill bring this up with jesse
ReplyDeleteAlex, I like that idea.
ReplyDeleteSkottsaber says...
ReplyDelete"...my op on this entire thing [LSD-x4] is that it's overkill, complete and utter overkill. Where CF is refined and made only for what it is going to be used for, This thing takes more of a "Lets make it all 10x more than it needs to be and hope nobody complains."..."
Skottsaber, the LSD-x4 is about 10 times better, like you said, but WHY would ANYONE complain about that? I very well could make the board 20 times better... Should I worry about an increase of complaints?
The CF then, by analogy, must have been designed with the philosophy, "Let's make the CF with the bare minimum of features, not too advanced, and everbody will like it."
How do others feel about this? Should we drop 90% of the feature list?
I think it depends on what you want out of a sound board. Some folks just want something that sounds like a saber. (Toy hacks, US?)
ReplyDeleteOthers want something configurable to an extent, but still plug and play. (CF?)
Other folks want something that they can dig in to it's deepest secrets and make it do EXACTLY what they want it to do (And maybe even more than it was designed to do) .... and don't mind learning the system to do it. (LSDx4?)
I'm in the latter group...
I actually enjoy the process of programming/tweaking and seeing the results of my efforts. I like having a saber that does what no one else's does. That's why I made what was the first >10W LedEngin saber that I'm aware of, and I'm currently working on an Open Source lightsaber driver using the Arduino as a base. It's why I will be an early adopter of this card when it comes out. To me, that IS the fun of making sabers. I say to each their own... it's not about which is better, but which is better FOR YOU.
I guess overall my thought is why compete in an existing market, when you could just make a new market?
I think as long as the unused 90% does not impact the use of the 10% it would be okay. What I mean is those people who will only be using the 10% of features will not have a difficult time of programming the card. I have been wondering what the GUI will look like and how user friendly and intuitive it will feel.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side I can see why some people would only want a 10% feature version. It's like a cell phone that you pay $300 dollars for and you don't use all the bells and whistles. Unfortunately you can't buy a phone with just the features you want and have the cost reduced.
Well Jesse, I congratulate you.
ReplyDeleteYou have proven that you are prepared to go to no end to create deception and make others look like the enemy.
I do believe you have served the purpose you have in life, to be a decietful, undignified, dirty rat.
You've lied to Ultrasabers, stolen from them, and overall provided a buggy, problematic board. Blame whoever you want, we know the truth.
You then continued to sell the board yourself, a design that belonged to Ultrasabers, at ridiculously high prices on ebay, and sent out boards that didn't work. You then never responded to emails regarding repair, or sent back any boards sent to you.
I could go on, but I won't.
And now, you go hunting for somebody whose words you can twist and use somebody who has not done anything to you, and try and turn their words into more of your lies.
Well done. You have served your purpose in life.
And don't worry, I'll ban Justin from saberconcepts as quickly as possible
Don't count on many people buying your "soundboard" either. You have reputation enough already.
Delete this post if you choose. You are coward enough already.
To the rest of you: I support those who support the furthering of the hobby. Not those who take money from innocent people trying to have fun and have a great time building/experiencing lightsabers.
ReplyDeleteI think you should too...
Skott, calm down please, I'm not going to erase your post. Everyone is welcome here. Why are you banning Justin? That sounds hypocritical. Inferring I would be more of a coward for deleting your post is unwarranted, for you'd be the same for erasing Justin, by your own reasoning. ...ok let's just take a step back. Just wait a sec before acting harsh.
ReplyDeleteSkott, I like you I enjoyed your criticism here. I didn't know I was quoting you when I quoted "skottsaber"... I definitely didn't mean anything hurtful whatsoever by what I said.
Now look, you have your facts wrong about me and ultrasabers. I received 80% of the amount due from Alex. On an order of 500 boards. I then sent 470 boards out because hand testing revealed 30 damaged boards. Alex and I agreed he could wait for the remaining 30 and I would be motivated by the remaining 20% balance ($9000.00) to get those 30 done aSAP. Well I finished a couple days later but Alex never e-mailed me again. I never got paid.
6 months later or so, I sold his 30 on eBay and made about 3600 dollars not counting eBay fees!! Well the lesson? Never send a full order without full payment. Live and learn I guess.
Alex publically blamed his lack of payment on me producing the saber sound. Although Alex had original given me consent personally. I can back up all of this with emails.
It irritates me when people fail to understand that I almost lost my home, over forclosure over Alex not paying me and me being out serious money over producing his board. The factoring company imposed daily fines over the fact that Alex was over a month and a half late on this first 70% payment... Which I ate for him. Alex saw my generosity. But now he shows his thanks by fabricating stories to alienate me from the light saber world.
The problem between Alex and me shouldn't change anything. If he had a case against me (as you seem to think) he would have sued me, but he
didn't. I would have sued but it was interstate and a small claim. Was pretty big to me though. In the end I repossessed th rights to the ultrasound 2.5 surprisingly Alex said he didn't care if I sold them I guess all is even between us now. I got the design an he got my money!
lol wow.
ReplyDeleteand he said i should get MY facts straight.
most people just fail to realize the point of this board. alot claim its to undermine erv and to make a profit. no its to make a board that is available to entry level people who cant get advanced boards. CF is only available to JSS members and to the general public about twice a year. its stupid and unfair. in my opinion the only one playing the market to his own advantage is erv. and thats why i have no repsect for him. but this is my opinion. not anybody elses. its an opinion so why should it matter?
this board will be very user friendly. it will take about as much skill to program and use as it does to make the saber its going in.
you think its all overkill. no its not. its designed to meet anypurpose you want. be it most advanced RGB mixing possible, advanced sound capabilies for the most realistic sound possible, or high power and driving capabilites. want to drive a seoul P7, SSR90, LED engin 10 or 15 watt at max with sound and make it as easy as to build as using a standard 3 or 5 watt? well now you can. its all about fun. sure maybe you dont need a saber that bright but thats for the maker to decide that not other people. it all depends on what you want. the computer on the soundboard does all the thinking. all YOU have to do is tell it what to do. and its as simple as drag and drop. it can be for beginer sabersmiths, or advanced sabersmiths. it will only take a little bit of time to play with the program and figure it out. theres also such a thing as a user manual. its like playing with a new smart phone. eventually you learn it inside and out. just takes time right?
yes the CF is this way, give it time you will figure it out. to but its harder to program because its not th most user friendly thing in the world, and its limited on what it can do. im not sayin the quality isnt there. hell that is one hell of a board. the biggest mistake i ever made was selling my CF for a custom saber for my now EX girlfriend. stupid stupid stupid.
so yeah all we ask is have an open mind. dont hate on it. try it and if you dont like it you dont like it. simple. if you do you do. also simple. its just another board on the market designed for new purposes.
maybe the sound wont be as good of quality as CF. so then there you have a choice. want sound quality? or Driving options. there ya go. personal preferance. if you dont want to even consider it then fine. your choice. just dont go out hating it.
Yeah I dont care what Jesse done or Alex. I just want a board thats available. I try to throw money at Erv but he doesnt want it. And Jesse, even if commsion sabersmiths wouldnt support this, DIY sabersmiths would. I would. And I for one dont want to spend 800 and up on a saber when I can makeone myself. Jesse please dont give up on this not saying you are...just dont think about it. You are a good man in doing this.
ReplyDeleteAll this misplaced loyalty is confusing to me. I have no doubt that Erv is a great guy and it's obvious he is totally into the hobby. But making so few boards that end up in the hands of a very limited "elite" within the saber community does nothing for me. I realise that, for Erv, this is something he does for the love of it rather than the money. That's awesome, but it doesn't help me or anyone else out there who wants a board that is better than a MR and doesn't want to pay £1000 for it.
ReplyDeleteI just want a board that performs well and is AVAILABLE. It seems this may be just the thing. I don't care about the politics involved, it seems to me that Jesse is enthusiastic about what he does and interested in producing a board that does what he wants it to do. Well that's great. I just hope I can get hold of one, as I gave up all hope of getting a CF a long time ago.
@Daniel too right, it seems rather hypocritical that sabersmiths are happy to buy up (or make exclusive) all the CF and PC boards, and at the same time stop this board from getting any good publicity, therefore stopping anyone other than themselves from creating great sabers - which I presume is what the hobby is all about?
ReplyDelete@techjelly and daniel.
ReplyDeleteyes that is exactly whats going on here. its all politics. they all say this is an open community with common goal of pushing the hobby forward. lol no its not. but yeah this board WILL be available weather elitists like it or not. its not up to them how this board works, what its better than, and where its available. sorry but they dont set the rules.
"and where its available. sorry but they dont set the rules."
ReplyDeletemaybe not the "elitists"
but the people who pay for TCSS and FX forums do.
the two main venues are no go. I doubt their positions will have changed any on the subject.
Posting it on the RPF will likey get you harassed by other sabersound entities.
here and ebay will likely be the only places you will see it. and there isnt any promise that other entities couldnt make it diffecult on ebay.
Ive said it once and Ill say it again. the only possible way I can see the LSD being open to discussion or sales on FX is if Jesse became
involved in the hobby.
Doesn't creating a soundboard of your own design involve you in the hobby somewhat?
ReplyDeleteit sounds like we need to get jesse makin some sabers to test his board with. lol.
ReplyDeletebut illuminated weapons makes an excellent point. whats RPF? drawin a blank on that one. but i would say watch out for Hyperdyne. since he sort of "patended" or copyrighted or whatever the use of accelerometers in saber sound. so yeah could be a potential problem there.
@techjelly.
well yes and no. to those of us that knows jesses true intentions yes. he is doing this for the good of the hobby, not personal gain, sure profit is there as well but thats not the only reason hes doing. but others, especially JSS are solidly convinced he is in this for the money only.
hey jesse build some sabers man. ill help ya out. ;)
To techjelly, that's how I feel! I've made so many sound boards at this point and spent about 2,500 - 5,000 hours total in the process. I'm surely half way to the Master classification. =)
ReplyDeleteI'd love personal advice on how to approach building my own saber. I have a lathe and CNC machines. It's a start.
Things that I would personally want in my saber would be to take use of the LSD-X4's two output speaker channels. So, I like Kevin's idea for pointing the speakers in two directions. Additionally I'd want multiple speakers on each channel for increased "loudness" intensity or at least improved bass. Something that in my opinion has never been made loud enough. Well I'm starting to wander off now, thinking of water cooling for 100 watt LED RGGB bulbs. !!!
... you know, I don't believe that the LSD-X4 or any light saber driver ever offers "too many features". This just doesn't make sense to me.
ReplyDeleteBut, I do understand the analogy between it and a 300 dollar smart phone. There are many features that some users will never use. But, I think that most people building there own sabers are the kind of people that like advanced features. Maybe I'm wrong.
Regardless, the LSD-X4 is preloaded with a "operating system" it is a light saber right out of the box. So, even the most novice users will be able to take advantage of the LSD-X4s advanced features. Then, the advanced users though, will be able to take advantage of it's extraordinary features by reconfiguring it's modes. If one wanted to, they could configure the LSD-X4 to act pretty much exactly the same as the CF or US2.5, only with more power, more loudness, better sound quality, and overall better performance.
Of course, even more though, the advanced user could configure the LSD-X4 into absolutely the most refined board ever, to fit his or her lightsaber EXACTLY as if the board and saber were specifically made for each other.
ReplyDeleteThis is making me excited...well.., so Justin, are you really going to help me make my first saber?
hey man. you betcha ill draw you up some designs... heck if i knew more on mastercam i would program the parts for ya since you have CNC machines. but yeah ill get you some basic designs. are you able to open autodesk inventor files? you may even consider buying some stuff from Tim at TCSS. you can get ALOT of stuff and he has some very nice stuff and very decent prices. plus it would show you really are in this for the hobby by giving him some business. i typically buy my basic hilt pars there. like a double female hilt section then add stuff to it. it just saves so much time. so ill shoot you an email with my phone number. we can talk in person.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Lightsaber Soundboard installs, I too am in the catergory of wanting and capable of installing my own. I do understand that there may be people that do require sabers already made with sound in them. BUT ...... I do feel that there is a larger group out there that have great soundboard sabers, bought from the 'elite' or guild members as these people are 'helping' others into the hobby, while soooo many DIYers miss out time and time again on great soundboards.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we all know a lot of time goes into making a saber + lighting it + installing sound + bling, but for me the $$$ then asked for, well any DIYer knows how many $$$ they would be saving by doing themselves.
Noble to make sabers for someone else to get into the hobby? Always $$$ come into it.
Jesse
thanks for pursuing in your design. I'm happy to support you and your business.
This is going to be an action paked board that everyone will want to see and buy and use, even if their words say otherwise.
Merry Christmas, we'll see what the New Year brings (hopefully the LSD-X4)
yeah they are quite expensive. but hey its worth it in the end. you amaze your friends and you feel good when you set it down and just look: wow... i made this!!!! if you guys want here is my pgotobucket album links to 3 of my best sabers ive made:
ReplyDeletemy most beautiful saber:
http://s420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/DJMoonbass/Odysseus%20Build/
color changer:
http://s420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/DJMoonbass/Shockwave/
reverse sound saber:
http://s420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/DJMoonbass/Moonbeam%20Saber/
its a fantastic hobby, just wish i could say same for the members
i'm glad google let me find this site through star wars forum xD. overkill is better then a double kill (halo reference, shoot me)
ReplyDeletethis is amazing stuff, i mean like seriously. in the short time i've been into lightsabers (2 weeks) there's so much. and so much to look forward to. tho i have no idea on how to build just yet, i'm convinced this is the hobby i've been looking for.
so you have a new supporter, i look forward to the release of this board, cuz it's not overkill... it's jus EPIC!
Sweet sabers Justin : )
ReplyDeletehey JPGamer, the one thing i have learned is to not let the people at FX' way and TCSS get you down. they will judge you, try and tell you the "right" way of doing things when half of them dont even know what the hell there talking about and they are just basically jerks. you cant ask questions there or they jump all over you. they want you to read read read. well reading will only get you so far. its natural you will have questions no matter how basic they are. you will have questions and its your right to be able to ask them with out drawback. well you wont get that there. they want you to figure out all by yourself. well there is SO much to this. it takes alot of enginuity. design planning, lots of thinking. think it out carefuly. VERY carefully. it also takes decent knowledge in DC circuitry. but once you get the hang of it its such a fun hobby because you will get an idea and know EXACTLY how to go about building and what to use.
ReplyDeleteso i am openly posting my email here. if anyone wants to avoid the fall out from TCSS and FX sabers from asking questions. feel free to ask me anything you want: djmoonbass@gmail.com. i will be more than happy to sit down on skype, facebook chat, anything and talk to ya and help you out.
also look into the The Custom Saber Shop. the forums are okay lots of info im not dissing on the site im saying watch out for the members. but the custom saber shop is a great place to get ideas, knowledge on basic stuff and there store is absolutley to die for. if theres one proffesional in the Saber community that i still hold respect for its tim yaskus the owner of the place. he has been very fair. and i will say that his merchandise is VERY reasonably priced for being all custom machined material. and the MHS is a brilliant brilliant system. so if you want quality items. go to him. but over all if you want your saber to look unique. MHS can only get so far. it will take lots of enginuity and creativity on your part to get a unique saber.
On top of that, it arrives within a week.
ReplyDeleteemail sent, thx justin.
ReplyDeletethere's one lightsaber i've always wanted, obiwan tpm, which i jus bought like 10 min ago off ebay, now that i have that saber... is it hard to do a conversion to a us2.5? (i mean i ordered that too, but i have no idea when it'll get here, i got a paypal msg that said money transferred but other then that... i hope i didn't jus give out money xD)
the flickering option and the sound is one of the thingsi really want, since... the classic star wars films it's flickering, and what the LSD could do, like color change and what not, i figure if you have the option to change color when it clashes to yellow.... that would be awesome hahaha.
ooooh obi wan TPM conversion. im your guy, email me your skype and ill o voer conversion details with you in person. and no its not hard. like i said in your email responce the only tricky thing is your recharge port wiring. youll also be wanting to convert any switches to momentary. we can hide a subtactical mini momentary switch somewhere if needed. do you have basic machines at home. like a small drill press or something? trust me its needed. if not LMK if you want me to help you with anything at all. theres also MR dissasembly tutorials on the TCSS forums. i would HIGHLY suggest you read those thoroughly before attemtping anything.
ReplyDeleteso i kinda considered that this isn't really limited to just lightsabers. for example, RC cars could use this with motion based to create sounds... though it would be more d ifficult, you could potentially "run into things" have collision sounds, you can run LEDs as headlights, taillights etc etc... or RC planes... haahaha that would be pretty awesome having sound effects depending on the motion of the plane...
ReplyDeleteit's a speculation, but i guess this chip could really expand into a lot more detailing for other electronic things.
Couple questions
ReplyDeleteHow much power does the board use?
Could we get a soundtest?
Just load up some free fonts online? We know the specs but its all just text until a video is up. Plus its a good way to advertise.
Hey HK-maga, videos will start popping up everywhere once we have the first fully functional prototype. I've been saying sometime near mid 2011, but A LOT of people have been hoping for the first quarter and I'd like I'm shooting for this.
ReplyDelete@JPGamer015: Interesting realization! This would totally work. Some people have said that the LSD-X4 is complete overkill... haha, I guess it really might be! Through user defined "scripts" the LSD-X4 would be able to act as such a device, it would seem... although it is still OPTIMIZED for use a light saber (such as high power LED outputs and such). It would be very cool to see all the different ways this board could be used. Oh, and welcome to the blog!
Greetings all. By way of introduction I'm a first time poster, fledgling sabersmith & I've been on the FX Forums for about a year & a half. I try to avoid the politics of the hobby myself. So far I've done a ton of MR/Hasbro conversions & a handful of custom sabers. I own one US 2.5 board which had faulty accent LED connections/paths (they were like that when I bought it & I knew about the fault when I committed to buy it) & thanks to my crappy direct drive soldering iron I accidentally lifted one of the main contact points & almost an inch of track clean off the board attempting to wire it. Didn't put me off though, I managed to get it working & even though it's only powering a 3W Lux red it's still the best saber soundboard I own.
ReplyDeleteI like what Erv' has done with the CF & PC boards but I've never been lucky enough to obtain a CF or rich enough to buy one on ebay. I think I'd have to sell half of my belongings to afford a CF saber on the forum itself or have a PC saber built from scratch! lol
While I understand & share peoples frustration at not being able to get a PlecterLabs board I also understand that Erv' has a career & a family so building soundboards will always be a hobby to him. He puts as much work into it as he can but his career & family are his priority.
I hope I have more luck some day obtaining an LSD-X4 than I have had with CF's because if it lives up to the hype it'll be one heck of a board! It certainly sounds like it has the potential to revolutionise the custom saber hobby. Good luck with it Jesse. To use an obvious quote "We shall watch your career with great interest". ;)
Hello hello!
ReplyDeleteWas just wondering if there would be anny utdates soon?? Getting axious her! And du you know annything more about a release date, for us unfortunate people who came uotside the 50 first. Blody banning going on around the forums. Annyway, keep us posted!!!
Same here, where are the updates? D:
ReplyDeleteHi everyone and Hi Novaconceptions :)
ReplyDeleteI found your website hangin' around getting informations about converting Hasbro FFX lightsabers into luxeon powered saber which could rocks a ton of Sith just in one swing... :) Susan from JQ Sabers has told me about you as well :)
I would like to know if you have other US 2.5 in stock before buying in the near futur your system which will seem to be as far as I know the most powerful lightsaber driver that would have been built for the moment... As far as I analyse your advencement on the project it does not seem to be a "paper launch"...
Anyway, I tried to reach you by e-mail on the 26/11/2010 and the 01/12/2010 (object : FINALLY I CAN REACH YOU !!), but I think that you receive so many mails about US 2.5 that maybe you have not enough time to do an answer for all people :)
Well, keep up the good job with your futur magical LSD-X4 Light Saber Driver and I hope to hear from you in a near futur ! Please do not give me a rendez-vous on the Tatooine planet to give me some infos, it's too far, far away :) :)
LAURENT! My e-mail address is jesrandall@gmail.com. Please, allow messages from me! I believe this is why we have been unable to communicate. I hope you check here soon.
ReplyDeleteOh and the updates of course... they're coming soon! We can't rush a good product =) But, we're definitely trying to
hmm...
ReplyDeleteIts been ~three months since the last major update. I'm just curious if you got anything for us? It doesnt have to be "look guys I got sound all configured!!" It could be like, "wow I'm having trouble with (something), you guys got ideas? I just want to hear that you are still working on this board. If darth life came knocking on your door recently, not a problem but just keep us informed.
Cheers, Maga
Better point.. it's just shy of 11 months, yes, nearly a full YEAR, since this card was promoted. Not even a few pics of the prot-board or a working video of the base chipsets in action? *grim*
ReplyDeleteHey guys, glad to get a post today. I check everyday. I'm still here to answer questions. To HK-maga... I love ideas, they're always welcome!
ReplyDeleteSome of you might be under the impression that I don't work on this as much as I should. Well it's not my day job if you know what I mean. I was being 100% funded for a while by a third party company, but they've gotten so busy with other projects and kept switching me around. The day will come when a lot of rapid progress will return. As of recently I've been fortunate to get a few hours in every couple of days. It's become basically my full-time hobby. All of my free time goes into it. So, am I real hobbyist now or what!?
I promise there will be a day, soon where functional videos will be shown. Don't lose hope. It's necessary for a certain amount of uncertainty in this project to exist. =)
Hey, not that I think this board is mythical, I'm just wondering why we haven't seen any pics of the board. I thought the prototype was already made. Feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Skott. I bought a US 2.5 and the dang (keeping G rated) thing don't work. When I tried to contact you my emails come back undeliverable. I even emailed and called Novaconceptions, no one has contacted me. I gave you a 90 some odd dollar donation. Now I have access to a even better soundboard, the Petit Crouton Sound Module. Thanks to those who want this hobby to go beyond your capabilities. The thing about these boards, 100% of them shipped out work.
ReplyDeleteUpdates? People need pics man..
ReplyDeleteSo, how much longer? This was supposed to be ready for halloween... Now we're almost 5 months after that.
ReplyDeleteThe window for a new saber board has pretty much been slammed shut by the release of Petite Crouton. The market really isn't very big. The only large buyer of sound boards outside the TCSS crowd is Ultra Sabers, but something tells me they won't be supporting Nova Conceptions anytime soon.
ReplyDelete**Sigh**
ReplyDeleteso much promise.....
so many hopes....
The whole reason we supported this soundcard was availability, now that the petit crouton is available (I already have one installed into a saber and it is awesome, I can't put the thing down) this board better make lots of progress really fast to stay in the game.
ReplyDeleteMore than 3 MONTHS since any form of update on the blog page.. getting to become more of a chore than a pleasure to come here and look forward to new info.
ReplyDeleteCf 6 will be out before this and Im not talking about CF for LED string blades.
ReplyDeleteit is clear that today all sounboards for high-quality lightsaber have a very high price. In fact get a CF is a task of Mission Impossible and if one gets it has to be a millionaire. Now, if someone has enough financial support to create a soundboard at a good price and a higher stock will likely take him to all followers of the art of lightsabers ...
ReplyDeleteEscuchar
Leer fonéticamente
Diccionario - Ver diccionario detalladoadjetivo0.thispronombre0.this one
You don't ahve to be a millionaire. I'm not, and I got a CF. All you need is luck and faith and you'll get it.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I don't think the X4 will be much cheaper than the CF, at least not enough to make any true difference.
If maybe I exaggerated a little. I just hope that the day that the X4 is available to opt to buy one ....
ReplyDeleteAnd I have wanted to see how it works ..
I have a feeling this blog is dead.
ReplyDeleteYes....where is the people? We need some hope...
ReplyDeleteDead, no.. drawing a final breath, yes. After MORE THAN A YEAR, we are all moving back towards PC/CF boards. These folks, at the least, get something produced when they say they will do so.
ReplyDeleteSo this is where the "LSD" on the name came from. A result of a yearlong hallucination.
ReplyDeleteWell as I was one of the first 50 and the CF is out of my $ reach...I hold out hope. I check in and dream of not having to make my own sound effects... ;-)
ReplyDeleteas you can tell if you're one of the 50?
ReplyDeleteGood work.. this is now officailly a dead blog with well into 2.5 months with no update, comment or even a "hey, we are still here!' note. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteLOL, I saw this link on FX-Sabers. No update since December 5th, wow. Everyone was warned about Nova Conceptions from the very start. Why in the world would anyone trust NovaC when all the reputable smiths said to steer clear?
ReplyDeleteThey screwed the biggest players in the game: US, TCSS, and FX, but somehow you think they are going to treat the little guys right?? LOL The only smith who still does business with NovaC is SABERFORGE!! That should tell you everything you need to know.
Good thing that Paypal link still works! Gotta get paid, right? No updates in 5 months, but you promise same day shipping, huh? LOL
Honestly, you people are probably so gullible that if NovaC posted tomorrow with some BS excuse and told you the board was coming out SOON, you'd jump on the bandwagon again. Stupid people deserve to have their money taken.
With ultras recent feedback I wouldn't buy from him.
ReplyDeleteIt is still unclear who scammed who.
Saberforge has been improving A LOT recently. Get your facts straight, jeez.
And you propably registered here just to post that "bs" post of yours to annoy people.
Hope your proud.
Many have not lost hope but it would be great to a bit of information.
ReplyDeleteThis Blog looking dead and now Ultra Sabers found cheating customers with sub-standard parts, false installs, and getting thier MR Conversion Rights revoked... these are professionals? At the least, TCSS and a few other locations / smiths are still trying to hold the saber builds up to the standards we expect.
ReplyDeleteMR Conversion rights revoked? LOL, wow, that statement should earn you getting your posting rights revoked. So apparently Ultra Sabers released a new sound board, the Obsidian, and by the looks of things, it appears to be a solid board. I think this is proof positive that everything ever said against Nova Conceptions was true.
ReplyDeleteThe obsidian is missing a LED driver. It cant drive the lightsource for a lightsaber properly. Meaning, its another piece of misengineered tech.
ReplyDelete