Battery powered sound effect

July 2, 2012 8:58 PM

How do I make battery powered sound effect device?

I'm making my son a monster truck. Yes, I will post pics and a description of the build when finished.

I want my son to press a button and for loud VROOM VROOM noises to spew forth.

I've looked into audio greeting cards, but I don't believe they are loud enough. There are ways of increasing the volume of them (adding a plastic shot glass I hear works well), but I still don't think that would be loud enough to satisfy my monster boy.

The vital elements:
Have to be able to add my own sound (vroom).
Have to be able to initiate that sound clip by pushing a button (from radio shack).
Have to be portable (fit into the car)
Has to have a replaceable power source (C cell batteries?)
Has to be loud (loud enough to satisfy a kid)
volume control is a bonus.
multiple sounds tied to multiple buttons are also a bonus.
Lastly, and sadly, it must be cheep. I'd like to keep the project under $20.

Thanks in advance mefi peoples!

posted by crumblydonut to technology (9 answers total)

Cheap mp3 player + cheap small speaker. Just set the thing to random and have like ten sounds on it or whatever. I'm seeing cheap mp3 players on amazon for $10 (and up). I have a speaker (Scosche) that I paid about $13 and I'm sure there are cheaper speakers.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 9:03 PM on July 2, 2012

MP3 Trigger meets all your criteria except price.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 9:04 PM on July 2, 2012

If you're reasonably handy with a soldering iron, there are several voice recording chips out there that will do what you want, and require minimal support circuitry. It looks like the ISD1700 and ISD2500 series are both obsolete now, but if you can find the chips they're easy to use. An even easier solution may be this pre-assembled ISD1932 module from Sparkfun.
posted by twisted mister at 10:04 PM on July 2, 2012

Thank you all for the suggestions. All very helpful and thought provoking.

1. I have a cheep mp3 player and I'm sure Daiso can hook me up with a small speaker.
How to initiate the sound by a switch or button tho?

2. MP3 trigger is way too expensive. I can go a little over $20.

3. I can operate a soldering iron and follow precise directions, but otherwise, I'm an electronics dum dum. the pre assembled deal seems okay, but at $15, I'd still have to come up with the speaker and the trigger device.

4. Is there an old school, non digital way of doing this?

5. Checking the internets again, theres a Haier Mp3 player at Walmart for $10. It has a big friendly play button. that might work for everything but the amplified sound.
posted by crumblydonut at 11:17 PM on July 2, 2012

This?
posted by alexei at 11:58 PM on July 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Here's another electronics kit option that includes the speaker, battery box, and buttons: Digital Voice Recorder Electronic Kit MK174
posted by twisted mister at 1:09 AM on July 3, 2012

4. Is there an old school, non digital way of doing this?

Pre-recorded cassette tape loops, eg: Teddy Ruxpin
posted by twisted mister at 1:12 AM on July 3, 2012

Looks like the radio shack one is perfect. Even includes a button. I'll report back!
posted by crumblydonut at 11:48 AM on July 3, 2012

Ok, reporting back. Radio Shack device is purchased and my sound has been recorded. The playback is loud >enough<> This guy appears to have the answer:
http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/HalloweenTech/audrec_RecordableSoundBox.html
I'll get on it and report back this weekend.

btw, the project at large goes well.
posted by crumblydonut at 4:26 PM on July 10, 2012