Sound Reactive Help

[jakxxx]

Hey, I just finished the sound reactive mod using the lm386.  I have everything connected according to the layout by lordnico.  I used orange 306's but they are barely reactive.  If I look really close I can see them blink a little.  I put a resistor on the output of the lm386 to the leds.  I have 4 leds connected in parallel with a 47 ohm resistor.  The LED's just seem to stay lit.  Are they suppose to be off until there is sound?  thanks

[xSLICKVICx]

no there suspose to be on even with no sound. If you want it to go off when there is only sound connect the leds directly to the speakers

[rceckspurt13]

Actually it's the other way around. If you connect it to the speakers, the LEDs will always be on. The point of the amp is to make the LEDs come on only with sound.

I've had a similar problem before. Do not put the resistor on the output of the amp, but instead put the two required resistors on the audio input lines. That May help.

This may not be the problem, but I've accidentally hooked the LEDs onto the amp backwards and it results in what your describing. You could try switching the direction of the LEDs and see if that helps.

[W-Gaming5]

 

[jakxxx]

I have the required resistors on the inputs.  30k and 191k.  I had the LED's connected to the output of the amp with no resistor and they were on, very bright, but there was no blinking or pulsing.  That is why I added the 47 ohm resistor.  Once added I got a little pulsing with the music.  I know the LED's are wired in correctly because I used two different color kynar wires.
Here is the link to my amp

http://ca.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=NJM386BDvirtualkey51310000virtualkey513-NJM386BD

[rceckspurt13]

Ok well I'm not sure what to tell you then.

[jakxxx]

Here is something I noticed...

People have said that even if there sound is all the way off that their LED's continue to pulse.  Well mine will only start to pulse when the volume is 3 notches below max.  If I go to max then I can get pretty decent results.  Any idea why this is happening?

[rceckspurt13]

probably that the speakers don't output enough power for the lm386 to use to control The LEDs until it's near to full volume.