Neons That Flash With The Music

[Steve03TropicTeal]

So.. Hoe do those neon lights that flash with music work? Do they have little microphones that sense a difference in sound level? Or do they look for changes in amperage or something?

i was looking around on the sponser page...

http://www.oznium.com/

and i saw this:

http://www.oznium.com/PlasmaGlow-Neon-MiniStix-Tube

and

http://www.oznium.com/Cathode-Music-Interface

is this what i would need?

or, can i get a neon/cathode whatever, that has this music pulsing feature built in? Thanks for any and all help!

[FormulaNERD]

some are sound activated, and some pulse with change in power. and yes you can get neons with this built in, but i'm not sure about cathodes...

[FormulaNERD]

oh, and cathodes are the way to go... alot brighter.

[umplumpa10]

yu don't even need to buy those special neons that are made to bounce with the music, if you buy a normal neon and wire it straight into your amplifier it will produce the same effect. And i have seen neons that have microphones so that if you yll loud enough they will beat....which imo is pretty stupid.

[Hobbes]

yeah and they shine when the engine revs too!

the best way is to wire a bunch of cathodes to a sound sensor in the trunk right next to the subs, thump thump thump...

[cwm33]

only problem with that, is that you have to wire in a cutoff switch up front as well, so that you can shut them off easily.

I've got a Music Interface, it cost me about $50 CDN, and it works quite well. My only gripe is that they don't flash to the bass, it flashes more to the higher-end mid range. Which I guess could also be my fault for wiring it in up front right by my steering column. Such is the price of easy access. But, it works, and works quite well. :thumbsup:

Only problem with wiring the lights to your amp, is that if there's ANY power going to them, they will light up, especially smaller LEDs which require next to nothing for power. I'm probably going to wire in a LED to my speaker wire, and ground it, just to see how well it runs, and if it works good, I may set up a few that way, but only in the trunk so that I have a way of hiding them from the cops...should the need arise that is...

[ImSoBored]

mine pick up road noise too, so I can be driving and they'll be on, when its set to go with the music

[Steve03TropicTeal]

i think i like hobbes's idea.

put

http://www.oznium.com/Cathode-Music-Interface

in the trunk near my sub, wire the power to my dist block, with a switch somewhere up front so i can turn it off.

and run for now, just one small cathode off it. see how well it works.

do they sell cathodes in small sizes? the oznium website only seemed to have learge cathodes. i need like 4-6" ones. any suggestions for a good retialer?

[havik]

If you ask maybe oznium can provide them in 4"-6" sizes. Otherwise, do a google search (http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=cathodes&btnG=Google+Search&meta=)

[Hobbes]

Wait a minute, my exhaust will probably trigger it if in the trunk... rev rev!! Boom Boom!

[Steve03TropicTeal]

they only have 12" cathodes. i talked to the people in charge, and he said the cathodes would prolly be to bright for my application anyways.

so im going to run a bunch of LEDs in parallel.... question: any suggestions for a distribution block? id rather not run 10 30ft wires back to my distribution block in my trunk..

is there something i can use for like one 20awg coming in and like 5 or so 24awg coming out?

does this make sense?

[gxryan]

I wouldent wire one of those LED's up to one of ur speaker wires dude. You'll end up blowing a channel on ur cd player. It's just not worth it, Buy a cheap Walmart amp or something or one from a pawn shop for 20 dollars.

Put the low pass filter on it. wire all the lights up. And toggle the remote wire with a switch up by the drivers seat so u can turn them on and off as you feel fit. It's really an easy install but you might wanna turn down the gain on the amplifier so they just barely reach max glow. I used trailer lights in my car with green covers and hooked them up like this and hid the lights behind things. it worked great.

[Steve03TropicTeal]

when did i say i was running them to my speakers?

and why the hell would you run LEDs off an audio amplifier?

[gxryan]

I'm probably going to wire in a LED to my speaker wire, and ground it, just to see how well it runs

by cwm33

[Steve03TropicTeal]

hmm, ah yes. dont i look like an idiot, eh?

my project is coming along, ghetto fabulous.

pix to come.

[Silentalero]

Ok time i chime in

wiring lights to your amp = stupid

Just get a cathode set, they are brighter than normal neons but alot more fragile and get the sound box, there is a sensitivity leveler on it so if you want to put it in your back seats or trunk you can have it on constant or just when the music gets to a certain level. And always put a switch on them no matter how you wire them just incase of fire and plus if you decide to tap off your amp Id hope you have a separate inline fuse to go on that line as well because dont expect the fuse on the amp to go out because your wires crossed.

[bassboss]

I use Eurolite LED's under my car and they are great. the music sensor is built right into the controll box ( i have 7 color multi fuinction ) and it's great. Looks awsome too. not to much light but enough to make people look.

EuroLite Recomenned :thumbsup:

[Steve03TropicTeal]

Silent, I just finished this project and did it just like you said, but without reading your post.

i took the music interface put it in the trucnk (more about how this worked out later) and ran power off my +12v remote turn on from my radio. shouldnt be an issue using LEDs that use like 3mA each... Ran a switch because it's distracting (and illegal) to have flashing blue lights while you drie anyways.

I did not get cathodes because the d00d at oznium.com said it would be too bright. Which i agree with, because these LEDs are almost too bright (i used 4 for my application)

Ill post some crappy pics, and hopefully a movie if i can find a place to host them

Now about mounting this Music interface in my trunk? yeah, when im driving it picks up the road noise. =\ so they work a lot better when im stopped.

[ImSoBored]

Originally posted by ImSoBored@Aug 16 2004, 01:56 AM
mine pick up road noise, so I can be driving and they'll be on, when its set to go with the music
and I quote