Mega Charizard X Cosplay - Adding Audio?

[SpiritPanda]

Hello everyone!

I've been working on this Mega Charizard X cosplay for a little over a year now. I had a completed version in May of this year, but decided to rip the fabric off and fix some things.

These are pictures from the latest test fitting. I'm currently making the necessary adjustments in the foam work.

But I was thinking about adding another cool feature to the costume -- audio.
I would really like to add 3-4 .WAV files to the suit that are played when buttons are pressed in one of the hands.
Has anyone ever done this? I've been looking at Arduino and the Adafruit Music Maker, but this stuff is just not clicking for me. It might be the only way to go, but I was wondering if there was a way I could achieve this with a simpler method?
I would really like to have one speaker in the head of the costume and 3-4 buttons in one of the hands.

Thanks so much for any help!

 

[BattleGrade]

Yes I am doing this for my next/current WIP.
10 buttons [5 each] in my palms that play actions and sounds.

Super simple if you use the Audio Effects OGG file player board 16mb.
https://www.adafruit.com/products/2341

It takes button presses straight up no need for another micro to control.
You will need a beefy AMP like a 1watt or greater.

Works great is cheap and easy to use.

 

[SpiritPanda]

This is fantastic! Thank you so much!

 

[BattleGrade]

This is fantastic! Thank you so much!

No problem, if you need any help with wiring or schematics/circuit/power stuff let me know I will be glad to help where I can.
I have used these in a few projects so I can say they are easy to use and setup and work flawless.

If your on a budget you can use an old pair of dell PC speakers and rip out the amp/speakers.
I have done this a few times and it works great for a cheap alternative to buying something.

You will need to convert your .wav or sound file to a .ogg file which is easy to do, that's about the only thing I would say would be a drawback.
I use Audacity to convert my sounds to an .ogg.file.

 

[SpiritPanda]

I will likely need some help when I get started. Thanks again, you've been a ton of help! I can't wait to try it out!

 

[Talaaya]

If you want to avoid actually soldering or figuring out the electronics, I've used this:


Link

Mine is actually a slightly different version of this with a motion sensor and light sensor. I stuck it inside my pumpkin carving for Halloween so when people walked by it would play a sound.

This other version should do exactly what you need! It comes with simple software which allows you to choose how the sounds are played. Each of the 4 buttons can be programmed to play an audio track at random, in order, once, or on repeat. If I remember correctly I think you can also have it stop playing upon a second button press. You connect it to your computer with USB. It also has a 3.5mm jack for you to use your own speakers instead of the included one!

And it's only 16 bucks.

 

[SpiritPanda]

If you want to avoid actually soldering or figuring out the electronics, I've used this:

View attachment 656268
Link

Mine is actually a slightly different version of this with a motion sensor and light sensor. I stuck it inside my pumpkin carving for Halloween so when people walked by it would play a sound.

This other version should do exactly what you need! It comes with simple software which allows you to choose how the sounds are played. Each of the 4 buttons can be programmed to play an audio track at random, in order, once, or on repeat. If I remember correctly I think you can also have it stop playing upon a second button press. You connect it to your computer with USB. It also has a 3.5mm jack for you to use your own speakers instead of the included one!

And it's only 16 bucks.

Oh wow, that's awesome! That's exactly what I need! I think the only thing is that I have Windows 10 and an Apple computer. But I see that there are other sound boards that I could try too. Thanks!

 

[Talaaya]

Oh wow, that's awesome! That's exactly what I need! I think the only thing is that I have Windows 10 and an Apple computer. But I see that there are other sound boards that I could try too. Thanks!

Oh dang. Seems like the others are just boards too. Maybe you could find a friend with Windows 7? I was going to suggest installing it on a USB stick and taking it to the library or something, but I tried it on a stick on Win 10 and it needs to edit the registry and whatnot so that doesn't work.

 

[Shiroppi]

i used something similar to that also. bought it from BigDawgs . i use it for my K9 r/c. works perfect with very minimal work. But the usb uploader software alse requires either XP or Window 7. like Talaaya mentioned, you might need to ask your friends if any of them still using W7.

 

[SpiritPanda]

Yeah I think that may be my best option right now since my time is limited.

How is the volume on this thing? Can it be adjusted?

 

[SpiritPanda]

I purchased the one from BigDawgs and it works pretty well. I'm a little concerned about the volume though. Would I be able to change to a different speaker?