Saber Forum

Hello there, everyone.  First time posting. 

So I just got my very first saber recently, the Dark Initiate V3 LE with Obsidian V4 sound, and was hoping for a bit of help, as I'm totally new to the saber community.  I absolutely love the product, but I've been having some issues with the sound/speakers.  At first everything worked perfectly.  A bunch of different sound fonts to choose from, with crystal clear quality at a very loud volume.  I actually decided to customize the soundboard to have the Blackstar font at several different volumes, because that was the main one I used with my red LED, and at times the default volume proved to be just too loud given my living circumstances.  After very little troubleshooting I was able to do exactly what I wanted, setting three different sound fonts on the saber that were all Blackstar at different volumes.

However, ever since this I've noticed issues with the speakers.  At full volume, the sound gives off an extremely noticeable humming/hissing/crackling/popping from the speaker, especially during the hum sound and at the beginning of swinging/clashing sounds.  I have no idea whether this has something to do with my customizing the soundboard, or whether it's a coincidence and I've just blown the speakers or something.  Honestly I have no idea how this stuff works.  I'm hoping I didn't ruin something by configuring the saber the way I have.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Did you acknowledge the rules on here first? Someone will get after you if you don't.  It sounds like the speaker has been damaged.  You may need to contact US.

Ah yes, thanks for the heads up. My bad.

Anyways, is this a common issue?  After purchasing mine, my brother ordered one as well with the lite sound, and after a little light use he's got some popping sounds at the beginning of his swinging sounds as well, though they aren't as bad as mine and his hum
 still sounds fine.

I guess part of my question is, could it be from messing with the settings, and could switching it back to defaults make a difference?

That was going to be my first suggestion, I would, then if that doesn't work contact US.

Is there an option to reformat the chip back to factory settings?  I had formatted the size of the banks, and I don't remember the defaults.

If you're absolutely certain there has been a change in quality, then it may be a hardware issue. But I had pretty much the same experience that you describe, and have come to the conclusion that clicks and pops are likely due to the nature of the sounds in the fonts I'm using, and I just didn't notice them before.

There are several fonts that I find a lot of clicking in (Blackstar is definitely one of them), but others that are still pretty clear when I switch back to them (the default Obsidian font is pretty good when it comes to this). I find that editing the sound files of a problematic font to make sure that the volume is at 0db at the start of the file tends to remove the click that is so prevalent when swings and clashes play.

Then again, I'm no expert, maybe we both have some kind of hardware issue.

I know you can load defaults for the soundboard parameters, but, offhand, I don't think you can call up the default bank formatting. I would guess that this isn't the problem anyway.

Akheron & Keeavin,

I bought a Consular with Obsidian v4, with the intent to later pair it with the Guardian.  When I first received the Consular I was amazed with how loud and clear the sound was.  I had seen several YouTube videos on how to pull the speaker/obsidian chip out and connect it to the computer without damaging the speaker, so I went very slowly and did so.

After I changed only one font bank, I heard popping as your describe.  I remember saying to my wife, "I think I might have damaged the speaker, but I don't know how--I was so careful!"

I visually inspected the speaker (which looked perfect) and then started to decide that perhaps the pops had always been there, and in the initial "rush" of holding a childhood dream, I just hadn't noticed them.  In fact, I did a bit of testing and found out that when you hold the saber as a Jedi would (speak towards the floor), you can't hear the pops on Obsidian font, but if you hold the saber with the speaker grille towards your face you can.  It becomes extremely noticeable when you have the speaker/obsidian board out of the hilt, as when you are uploading sounds form the computer.  That's why I think I felt I had damaged the speaker when I changed fonts.  I just couldn't hear the pops until the hilt was disassembled.

For what it's worth, I have taken ownership of the Guardian Obsidian v4 as well, and it sounds/behaves exactly like the Consular.  So I feel that this is a pretty good list of what to expect:

-Some fonts have slight pops in them, some more than others.
-When the saber is assembled and the speaker is facing away from you, you're very unlikely to notice any pops on Obsidian font.
-You'll think you damaged it when you go to load fonts, because the popping becomes more noticeable.
-In practice, none of this is distracting or a real problem (this part is aimed at prospective buyers)

I just post this in case others are concerned.  Don't be.

As for the original poster, I can't be of any help about issues like extreme hissing/crackling, etc. My only assumption there is that the center area of the speaker was crushed or pushed in, only the outer edge and sides of the speaker are to be grabbed when pulling out the electronics of the lightsaber.

For the "pops" you guys mention in sound fonts, they're known as clicks I believe. It's a common issue in poorly made sound fonts (or at least ones that hadn't been properly designed).

Clicking occurs when an audio wave (audio is shaped like a sideways S - think light waves) doesn't end at a "zero point" (the middle of the audio wave where there is no sound at all), and thus an abrupt click/pop can be heard at the beginning/end of the affected audio files.

The default Obsidian V4 fonts disappoint me because they've (un?)knowingly used sound fonts with clicks.

If you want to fix the issue, the files can be opened in Audacity (a free audio editing program) and the clicks can be removed - they even have a button that automatically locks to the zero points so the audio can be correctly trimmed.

If you guys don't feel like doing the work, let me know what fonts you wanted to use and I can clean them up in a matter of minutes. When I have sound (which I always do), it's gotta flow and be smooth.

Hey, if the offer is still up I would love it if you could edit the blackstar font to get rid of the clicks. It's also one of my favorite fonts but the crackling just bothers me a little too much! I have a couple of your fonts on my saber right now and I absolutely love them. So yeah! Big fan of your fonts! If you want to clean up blackstar I would highly appreciate it!

Is that one of the default fonts? I'll try and find the time to clean it up.

He asked me and I cleaned it up for him already and gave it to him. I'll post it here in case someone else is looking.
Blackstar hum fix:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/88pizg1x6ovwjs4/AAC-9UU1_tEGkwpI6f6NHvypa?dl=0

I'm glad you're around  ;D

It's all because of your training my master.

Very nice, bless your heart!!

Thanks Akheron I can use all the blessings in life I can get. 😊 Are you working on any sound fonts!

Actually, I'm currently looking for the discs for my music software so I can try to make a font using software synthesizers. I had the idea to pitch-bend and modulate elements of the hum sound for swings instead of mixing a separate swing sound in over the hum. Not sure how it will turn out, but if anything comes of it, I will post it here.

Synthesizers sounds like a fun idea.  I wish you luck, I hope to hear how it turns out.

Gah, I'm having trouble finding my discs in storage. I have copies of Propellerhead's Reason 4.0 and Record. I tracked down the DRM dongle, but can't find the discs. I think this project is going to be on hold for a while.

It's down. Any chance you could reupload this, please? I would be very thankful! :D

May the force be with you.