Wireless guitar

The nRF24L01+ has enough bandwidth for audio, but the problem is going to be driving it from an Arduino fast enough (you'll be handling A/D traffic at the same time remember). I've sent audio with nRF24L01+ before but with a 32-bit microcontroller and an I2S ADC, but I think its hard to get that working on an Arduino because its only 8-bit.

The version with built in ADC/DAC support might be the answer for the audio (haven't looked at that module/chip myself), and you could use a separate transceiver pair for control data on different channel.

Thanks for the quick response. I may have come across a solution: fm transmission through the data line.
Guitar-> arduino fm transmitter on one freq, receiver on another->ADC-> nrf24l01+.
With this principal I could communicate between the guitar and pedal board as well as power the guitar (capacitive coupling for AC, inductor for the DC), I just worry if it will mess with the signal going through an ADC->(wireless)->DAC. But a frequency higher then a guitars signal, shouldn't be affected if its significantly higher than it, right?
I suppose I'll have to try it out, lol.

But with separating AC and DC @ 9v, I've come to the idea a 1 farad cap on series will block DC, bit I don't know how to calculate the inductor to block the AC. Any ideas?

In response to the AC blocking for the DC power to the arduino, this post has given me insight:

majenko:
The act of converting AC into DC is called rectification.

There are two basic types of rectification: full wave, and half wave.

Full wave rectification takes 4 diodes and flips the lower half of an AC waveform upside down and superimposes it over the upper half:

Half wave rectification only uses 1 diode, and effectively cuts off the lower half of the waveform:

The Arduino has a single diode in-line with the power input jack to protect the system against reverse polarity connections. This diode acts like a half wave rectifier.

A capacitor after a rectifier smooths off the peaks and troughs of the waveform:

If the ripple voltage remains above the minimum level of the voltage regulator, then all will be well. The ripple voltage, however, is a function of the current drawn - the more current you draw the faster the capacitor will discharge and the more ripple you will get.

You will be fine running with an AC adaptor at low currents, but there will be a cut-off level where you will start to get glitches and voltage drops on the 5V line when you draw too much current.

So my question is, is that will I need to bias the guitar's AC signal into a positive AC signal instead of a +/- 0-1v or should that not matter? It will be sharing a 9V DC line, so it will still have power, I just don't want the guitar's AC signal to mess up my arduino.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
So my question is, is that will I need to bias the guitar's AC signal into a positive AC signal instead of a +/- 0-1v or should that not matter? It will be sharing a 9V DC line, so it will still have power, I just don't want the guitar's AC signal to mess up my arduino.

When overlaying an AC on an existing DC signal, the resulting voltage level will be the sum of the two signals at any given instant of time. For example, if you have a ± 1 VAC on a 9 VDC line, the crest will be +10 V and the trough will be +8 V. Another way of thinking about it is to start with your AC at ground and shift it based on the magnitude and sign of the DC voltage. Personally, I don't like laying data signals over power when running a separate wire is feasible, but an AC signal with an amplitude of 1 V shouldn't be a problem (± 4 V would be because you are going beyond both the minimum and maximum recommended voltage ranges for the voltage regulator).

Also, if you can wait a few weeks, the new Arduino Due will be out the 22nd of this month. Not only is it based on a 32 bit, 84 MHz, microcontroller; it will also have 2 real DAC outputs (I think 12 bit resolution, like the ADC). That might make this project easier.

For the AC over DC, that makes me feel better about whether or not it would fry my arduino. The only thing though, I was unable to effectively do capacitive coupling for the guitar's signal. When I would apply the DC to it, it would just stop any sound. I was using a small cap (don't have any 1 farad non-polarized lying around) so that may be the issue, but if not, have I then done something wrong?

I would prefer to utilize a single mono cable (They are easy to come by, and if anything happens on stage I can easily swap it out; To make it backwards compatible without adding a proprietary jack beside the 1/4"; I don't want to use a Stereo 1/4" because I worry a roadie would put a mono in by accident and it would short my 9v to ground/I would have to add short circuit sensing circuitry to my pedalboard, which I find overkill if there is a better solution to just using a mono cable).
And I would go for the Due, only I would need 16 bit ADC and DAC at a minimum and would preferably use a 24 bit set, and space is an issue. I would need a Due the size of the Nano or Pro Mini to fit in the guitar. I could use it as my pedal board's processor though. I will look into that, thanks!

Current question: what would be the correct value cap to use for a 9v powered system(I may use diodes to half/full rectify the signal to stay at about 10v then regulate it before the arduino, or figure something out), that also has a min resistance of 8k ohms, max of 25k ohms?

MattiasOfTheMetal:
For the AC over DC, that makes me feel better about whether or not it would fry my arduino. The only thing though, I was unable to effectively do capacitive coupling for the guitar's signal. When I would apply the DC to it, it would just stop any sound. I was using a small cap (don't have any 1 farad non-polarized lying around) so that may be the issue, but if not, have I then done something wrong?

Do you have a scope so you can see the what is on the output side (what should be AC) of the capacitor? Also, are you only using a capacitor or is there a resistor going from the capacitor's output to ground? If you don't have a resistor adding one would make the circuit a first order high-pass filter. This might be more reliable, especially if you are using smaller capacitor values.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
I would prefer to utilize a single mono cable (They are easy to come by, and if anything happens on stage I can easily swap it out; To make it backwards compatible without adding a proprietary jack beside the 1/4"; I don't want to use a Stereo 1/4" because I worry a roadie would put a mono in by accident and it would short my 9v to ground/I would have to add short circuit sensing circuitry to my pedalboard, which I find overkill if there is a better solution to just using a mono cable).

There's no technical reason why you can't or shouldn't use a single wire cable, I was just stating a personal preference. Although I can certainly see why a traveling performer, especially when they won't always be the one setting-up the system, would want to keep things simple while using readily available cables. However, have you thought about using custom solution based on a commerically available multi-pin cable? For example, you could get MIDI compatible circular audio connectors and wire up only the pins you need (of the five available, I think you'd need two or three). This way the power and signal can be separate, it would be impossible to accidently connect it wrong, and it's possible to use an normal MIDI cable as a replacement.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
Current question: what would be the correct value cap to use for a 9v powered system(I may use diodes to half/full rectify the signal to stay at about 10v then regulate it before the arduino, or figure something out), that also has a min resistance of 8k ohms, max of 25k ohms?

The math for this is fairly simple, but it will be dependent on the frequency the ripple you are trying to smooth (which in this case will be related to the frequency of your original AC signal). You want a capacitor large enough such that the RC time constant (?) is significantly larger than one full ripple cycle. I don't know what the ripple period, but you don't have to match it exactly just exceed it. Here's an example...

? = R * C
? = 5*10-5 s (I got this by inverting 20 kHz, your target value could be different)
R = 8000 ? (lowest possible load is the worst case)
Solve for C

C = 5*10-5 s / 8000 ? = 6.25 nF

I don't have a scope unfortunately. And I tried that, but it did the same thing. I think I just can't find the right cap/resistor combination.
On my breadboard I had it like this:
To pedaboard, Cap leg with resistor to ground, Cap leg to DC power, DC power, DC power to Cap leg, Cap leg w/ resistor to ground, to guitar;
and of course common ground between the AC signal and DC power. I tried with smaller caps, but it would just cut out sound, and larger caps in parallel let more sound through, but as soon as DC was applied there was no sound at all, minus an oscillating whine.

I have been considering other cables. sigh I have so many mono 1/4 cables as backup, I'd hate to have to switch to another type.
As for a midi cable, that is a good idea; but the music I play, we tend to not have any use for midi..(YET! until I build a midi tracker for my guitar, but thats another story).
I have considered using a Stereo 1/4 cable. On the tip would be the guitar's signal, ring would have the ground, and the shield would have power.
I would swap the ground and power only if it wouldn't make it sound horrible. And all I would need is a short sensing circuit on my pedalboard, basically measuring the resistance between the DC and ground. The arduino would do a test on startup and make sure the resistance is >100 ohms, then enable the DC power. So it could sense a mono cable plugged in instead, and automatically disable the power.
But then I'd have to buy some Stereo cables, and they may be less common on stage.

Far-seeker:
The math for this is fairly simple,

This is the math:
|
V _________
---/ d(0.0)b --->
^
Right over my head.. ha
How would I know which frequency to drown out for the AC? I may be wrong, but I though DC was a low frequency.

Far-seeker:
? = R * C
? = 5*10-5 s (I got this by inverting 20 kHz, your target value could be different)
R = 8000 ? (lowest possible load is the worst case)
Solve for C

C = 5*10-5 s / 8000 ? = 6.25 nF

How did you invert 20khz into 5*10^-5 ?
And to what scale would I use the resistor to ground the cap?
Since it would be a cutoff for (above?) 20khz, would that alter all sound above it? (fm frequencies for communication between arduinos)

Thanks for your patience, I appreciate it!

I would need 16 bit ADC and DAC at a minimum and would preferably use a 24 bit set,

Interesting. While you see 16/24 bit in digital audio, keep in mind that bit depth is dynamic range. If you have access to recording software toss on a "bit crusher" to a guitar DI or even a recorded guitar track. I'd imagine there are 2 people on Earth who could hear the quality "loss" at 12 bits. Those extra bits are chewed up almost entirely by the outrageous noise floor of just about every guitar setup on the planet. The kind of distortion we hear down @ 3-4bits is a bit on the fizzy side but you'll never hear that @ 8 bit.

For that matter, there isn't much at all happening at 11k on a guitar DI. 22Khz sample rate would probably result in zero tone change.

It sounds like you've got an incredible project here and I'd hate for it to be compromised because your specs are a bit "overbuilt" (as in inaudible). These are the kinds of things us recording engineers fight over all the time and the differences are sooo subtle. Now, when it comes the hardware to push this (as you are doing) the differences are NOT subtle.

Good luck!

Brandon

Yea, I would figure there would be no humanly-noticeable difference. But I guess it came down to myself being a tone-whore. haha
The last thing I want is for it to sound worse than it does now with just a cable.
My own ears seem to be more sensitive to higher frequencies than most other people it seems, so I tend to like a lot of high end freq.

It sounds more "open" to me; would the bit depth/sample rate make so little of a difference in the amount of headroom it has?(not only the sound quality)

But I could care less about any thing altering the sound out of the audible range. As long as it doesn't alter the communication.
My goal is to have the guitar signal within audible range(20hz to 20khz right?), then block between 20khz and my Guitar-to-pedalboard Serial freq, block between that and the Pedalboard-to-guitar frequency, then isolate those from the DC.

If this is the case, I may be able to lower the required audio quality in my ADC/DAC combo and it may be easier to create.

Thanks Brandon!

MattiasOfTheMetal:
I don't have a scope unfortunately. And I tried that, but it did the same thing. I think I just can't find the right cap/resistor combination.
On my breadboard I had it like this:
To pedaboard, Cap leg with resistor to ground, Cap leg to DC power, DC power, DC power to Cap leg, Cap leg w/ resistor to ground, to guitar;
and of course common ground between the AC signal and DC power. I tried with smaller caps, but it would just cut out sound, and larger caps in parallel let more sound through, but as soon as DC was applied there was no sound at all, minus an oscillating whine.

I revisited my calculation example below, but that should give you a value that will work. However, this might be a good place to recall that even if you don't have the exact value needed with a single capacitor, it's possible to get close to it with combinations of parallel and serial capacitors. Just remember that they combine differently than resistors, basically the rules for parallel and serial addition are reversed.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
I have been considering other cables. sigh I have so many mono 1/4 cables as backup, I'd hate to have to switch to another type.
As for a midi cable, that is a good idea; but the music I play, we tend to not have any use for midi..(YET! until I build a midi tracker for my guitar, but thats another story).
I have considered using a Stereo 1/4 cable. On the tip would be the guitar's signal, ring would have the ground, and the shield would have power.
I would swap the ground and power only if it wouldn't make it sound horrible. And all I would need is a short sensing circuit on my pedalboard, basically measuring the resistance between the DC and ground. The arduino would do a test on startup and make sure the resistance is >100 ohms, then enable the DC power. So it could sense a mono cable plugged in instead, and automatically disable the power.
But then I'd have to buy some Stereo cables, and they may be less common on stage.

Well you are the one who will be using it so ultimately you will have to balance all the factors and decide which wiring approach is the best, all things considered. What I do know is if the AC has it's own dedicated wire, high-pass filters or coupling capacitors shouldn't be necessary. :stuck_out_tongue:

MattiasOfTheMetal:
This is the math:
|
V _________
---/ d(0.0)b --->
^
Right over my head.. ha

Honestly it shouldn't be over your head. It's true deriving the the RC time constant formula involves calculus. However using it to get a capacitor value in this case only requires solving for a single unknown using algebra. This is only 7th or 8th grade math, and you've demonstrated a grasp of mathematical concepts at least as, if not more, difficult in this thread.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
How would I know which frequency to drown out for the AC? I may be wrong, but I though DC was a low frequency.

DC is basically zero frequency, but the confusion is really my fault. I'm an EE that doesn't work with audio much. Off hand, I do know that the range of human hearing is kilohertz in magnitude, but I didn't double check the exact range. So for my example in an effort to get something that would yield some fairly easy numbers, I ended up choosing a frequency for the high pass filter that would actually exclude the entire audiable range for most human beings. :blush: The math is still sound, but you probably want to try something around 20 Hz , 0.05 seconds, instead.

The corrected example:
? = R * C
? = 0.05 s (20 Hz, inverted)
R = 8000 ? (lowest possible load is the worst case)
Solve for C

C = 0.05 s / 8000 ? = 6.25 ?F

MattiasOfTheMetal:
How did you invert 20khz into 5*10^-5 ?

The snarky answer would be "I just hit the '1/x' button on a calculator." :wink: However a more meaningful answer is that the frequency and period are reciprocal for a time varying signal. Therefore inverting one will always give you the other. Yet, as mentioned above these exact values were entirely incorrect for what you want.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
And to what scale would I use the resistor to ground the cap?

If I've understood you correctly, when hooked-up to the guitar the load would be on a range between 8k and 25k ?. In this case you really shouldn't need an additional resistor if the load is directly between the capacitor and ground. Although using one will be necessary if testing the circuit unconnected to the actual load.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
Since it would be a cutoff for (above?) 20khz, would that alter all sound above it? (fm frequencies for communication between arduinos)

It's my understanding that we were discussing overlaying AC on the DC power, not on any of the wires going directly I/O (should never be done because the Arduino microprocessors can only withstand about -0.5 V on these pins). If that is correct, the communication between the Arduinos will be on another wire or using wireless radio. Therefore, barring electromagnetic interference (which can be mitigated if it occurs), this AC signal shouldn't affect the Arduino serial communication by either means.

Honestly it shouldn't be over your head. It's true deriving the the RC time constant formula involves calculus. However using it to get a capacitor value in this case only requires solving for a single unknown using algebra. This is only 7th or 8th grade math, and you've demonstrated a grasp of mathematical concepts at least as, if not more, difficult in this thread.

I never took calculus nor have I seen that equation before, so I didn't have any background info on what was what. (I'm still new to AC concepts and combining them with DC and whatnot). Thats what I meant by over my head. lol

DC is basically zero frequency, but the confusion is really my fault. I'm an EE that doesn't work with audio much. Off hand, I do know that the range of human hearing is kilohertz in magnitude, but I didn't double check the exact range. So for my example in an effort to get something that would yield some fairly easy numbers, I ended up choosing a frequency for the high pass filter that would actually exclude the entire audiable range for most human beings. smiley-red The math is still sound, but you probably want to try something around 20 Hz , 0.05 seconds, instead.

The corrected example:
? = R * C
? = 0.05 s (20 Hz, inverted)
R = 8000 ? (lowest possible load is the worst case)
Solve for C

C = 0.05 s / 8000 ? = 6.25 ?F

Ah, that will be of much help. I picked up a few caps from radioshack(way overpriced, if not for my discount) and I will give them a try tonight.

It's my understanding that we were discussing overlaying AC on the DC power, not on any of the wires going directly I/O (should never be done because the Arduino microprocessors can only withstand about -0.5 V on these pins). If that is correct, the communication between the Arduinos will be on another wire or using wireless radio. Therefore, barring electromagnetic interference (which can be mitigated if it occurs), this AC signal shouldn't affect the Arduino serial communication by either means.

That is correct, I will isolate the Arduino IO pins from any AC signal. The onboard ardy is going to control each pickup's(what I call presence: fades between full series to a ratio of series/parallel/bypass then to a bypass state.) and will also control the LEDs on it(vine fretboard hollowed out and has RGB LEDs in it; should look good I think). The mcu will only share a communication and power line with the actual guitar's signal.

One thing though I hadn't thought of earlier. FM signals, dependent of amplification power, potential distance will vary. But if its through a shielded wire directly to a reciever, would there be such a distance factor? Or is a 'typically' low distance longer than about 30~ feet?

EDIT:
I tried with a few different size caps, and the dc signal still cuts out any sound. I even tried up to 300uf in caps both parallel and series. The only thing that would make sound is when I would have atleast 200uf and be connecting another cap. When the leads would touch it would make a sound kind of like plugging in a guitar. So I think I may be getting closer, but how much higher would I need to go? Or is there another aspect I may be missing?

MattiasOfTheMetal:
One thing though I hadn't thought of earlier. FM signals, dependent of amplification power, potential distance will vary. But if its through a shielded wire directly to a reciever, would there be such a distance factor? Or is a 'typically' low distance longer than about 30~ feet?

Most of my experience is with controls, instrumentation, and sensors; I only have a little bit of knowledge and background in RF communications like FM. However, in my non-expert opinion running an normal FM signal on copper wire probably wouldn't degrade or otherwise significantly affect the signal within a hundred feet or so. Just like any other signal there will losses due to the innate wire resistance, along with the effects of parasitic capacitances, etc... Still FM broadcasters must run these signals to transmitters and antennas on some fairly tall structures, and that's not even considering whatever length it takes to get from the studios to the outside. So unless there is some special signal conditioning involved I'm unware of the distances you mention should be fine. Although, if someone with more expertise in this area has different advice I would defer to their input.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
EDIT:
I tried with a few different size caps, and the dc signal still cuts out any sound. I even tried up to 300uf in caps both parallel and series. The only thing that would make sound is when I would have atleast 200uf and be connecting another cap. When the leads would touch it would make a sound kind of like plugging in a guitar. So I think I may be getting closer, but how much higher would I need to go? Or is there another aspect I may be missing?

Could you post a quick schematic drawing of how you are arranging the capacitors and your load? I'm still a bit unclear if you are trying to go for a filter or still just trying coupled capacitors.

My circuit so far:

EDIT:

The insert image thing didn't work.

But the minimum load can be as low as a few hundrew ohms (volume control) or less.
The new guitar I am installing this into(hopefully) will have selective bypass resistance which will cut out of the pickups.
I forgot to include that info originally, since I was testing it on my currently built guitar.

As for the diagram, it will look like I'm adding pointless DC power to the signal. I just decided to leave out the rest of the circuit (guitar-side arduino) for simplicities sake; its a proof of concept. I just need a 9v DC supply between the two capacitors, basically.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
But the minimum load can be as low as a few hundrew ohms (volume control) or less.
The new guitar I am installing this into(hopefully) will have selective bypass resistance which will cut out of the pickups.
I forgot to include that info originally, since I was testing it on my currently built guitar.

Yeah that is something worth knowing ahead of time... The fact that there is a variable load with a range of over tens of thousands of Ohms does complicate designing a passive filter. Do you have a potentiometer avaialble in the range of 20k to 50k ?? If so wire it up as a variable resistor in series with your guitar's load and use that to keep near a specific resistance that yields a desired cut-off frequency with the capacitor(s) you are using. Alternatively, it might be worthwhile trying a RLC high-pass filter with your guitar's load as the resistive element. Finally, there's always the possibility of making an active circuit using an op-amp but that shouldn't be necessary just seperate a sinusoid from a DC offset.

One minor thing, unless you know the pedal board output will have an unwanted DC or very low frequency signal you might remove C1 for now just to simply the circuit.

As of yet, a few things I have discovered.

  1. The power supply was the culprit in disabling all audio signal. (It also powers my processor/preamp)
    Not sure theoretically how an AC audio signal would cancel the digital signal through the processor's power(maybe inverted phase cancellation?)
    I had to run a separate power supply to get it to work.

  2. I have only been able to get any sound with ceramic disc caps. I've tried electrolytic caps back to back(+ - +), metal film caps, and polyester film caps.

  3. The more resistance, the stronger the signal is. (Because its a bigger load?)

  4. The capacitance didn't seem to change sound level. I used as small as a 1nf, and as much as 0.5uf with no noticable difference.

  5. Multiple caps in series seemed to increase the sound level just barely. While multiple in parallel greatly decreased it.

As for the variable resistor, it seemed to not make a difference. And the RLC method is for a low pass filter isn't it? I could try an LC method, but not sure how I would incorporate the resistance. Also, I've read places that a guitar's pickup is basically an inductor in series with a cap and resistor in parallel(RLC)

The op-amp circuit you describe.. by which you mean as a buffer to keep a specific resistance? That may be a good idea to try out, but would be sensitive to different pedal layouts(different IO impedance).

There also seems to not be any 20hz high pass filters available in a small package. I found this schematic however:
http://www.eeweb.com/blog/circuit_projects/20hz-to-200hz-variable-high-pass-filter
May be useable, but the schematic states 15v input voltage, and the tl072 is rated ±15v.
Could I just swap for a lower voltage chip, or just run this with 9v?

Thanks for the help Far-seeker, you have really helped me out so far.

MattiasOfTheMetal:

  1. The power supply was the culprit in disabling all audio signal. (It also powers my processor/preamp)
    Not sure theoretically how an AC audio signal would cancel the digital signal through the processor's power(maybe inverted phase cancellation?)
    I had to run a separate power supply to get it to work.

Hmm, I didn't think of that but in retrospect perhaps I should have thought to check the power supply. However, I’m not sure about your proposed theory of inverted phase cancellation, instead my initial suspicion would that preamp was too much for the power supply to handle along with everything else. In any case this is progress.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
2. I have only been able to get any sound with ceramic disc caps. I've tried electrolytic caps back to back(+ - +), metal film caps, and polyester film caps.

Welcome to the world of real, rather than theoretical, components. :slight_smile: I know it hasn’t been discussed in this thread, but material and construction can cause a lot of subtle and not-so-subtle differences between two parts with the same basic ratings. In this case the difference is probably due to the ripple current limitations and higher ESR for film and electrolytic capacitors.
I probably should have brought this up on my own. However, I presumed that if you were using electrolytic capacitors they would be intended specifically for audio applications, not the general purpose ones. However, it seems you don’t mind learning through experimentation, which is a good thing.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
3. The more resistance, the stronger the signal is. (Because its a bigger load?)

Yes, since we are mainly concerned with voltage levels and not power levels in this application. If you want to know more about this, read up on the concept of impedance bridging.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
4. The capacitance didn't seem to change sound level. I used as small as a 1nf, and as much as 0.5uf with no noticable difference.

Remember the intended purpose of the capacitor(s) in this application is to separate the variable signal from the constant DC and that will determine the target value. In this case the goal is to have capacitors that block the DC without attenuating any of the audio frequencies when combined with a given load. There should be a range of capacitances that will do this, especially with a load that can vary by thousands of Ohms.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
5. Multiple caps in series seemed to increase the sound level just barely. While multiple in parallel greatly decreased it.

Given the differences capacitors combine in series versus parallel that’s to be expected.
Furthermore, even if you are using multiple capacitors configured in different ways to achieve the same total capacitance there could be some small but detectable differences in circuit behavior. Although capacitors can be combined to form an arbitrary effective value in the filter, there will be some differences between using one physical capacitor and multiple ones. This is because in reality they don’t all charge and discharge at exactly the same rate. In series they will tend to charge and discharge one after the other, in parallel each individual capacitor can charge and discharge (mostly) independently of one another.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
As for the variable resistor, it seemed to not make a difference. And the RLC method is for a low pass filter isn't it? I could try an LC method, but not sure how I would incorporate the resistance. Also, I've read places that a guitar's pickup is basically an inductor in series with a cap and resistor in parallel(RLC)

You can configure an RLC circuit as either a high-pass or a low-pass filter. Look Figure 9 & 10 from the link, the first is low-pass and the second is high-pass. Did you notice how the positions of the capacitor and inductor are switched?
Also, remember for an AC signal the load is impedance, which is DC resistance plus the phase varying contributions of the load’s capacitance and inductance, known as reactance. This matters for the impedance bridging mentioned above. However, when designing the filter it’s the load’s resistance, not the impedance, that will be used in the formulas.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
The op-amp circuit you describe.. by which you mean as a buffer to keep a specific resistance? That may be a good idea to try out, but would be sensitive to different pedal layouts(different IO impedance).
There also seems to not be any 20hz high pass filters available in a small package. I found this schematic however:
http://www.eeweb.com/blog/circuit_projects/20hz-to-200hz-variable-high-pass-filter
May be useable, but the schematic states 15v input voltage, and the tl072 is rated ±15v.
Could I just swap for a lower voltage chip, or just run this with 9v?

This chip can be used at lower voltages and the datasheet shows some testing done at as low as ±5 V. However, there will be modifications necessary to the values in this circuit, and proper setup of an active filter can be more a bit complicated than a passive one.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
Thanks for the help Far-seeker, you have really helped me out so far.

No problem, but are you starting to see why I avoid overlaying AC signals on DC when I can? :wink:

I see what you mean. Better to have tried and failed than to have wondered what if. :slight_smile:

I think I may default to using a stereo cable instead of mono. I'm trying to make something that would be easy to incorporate into guitars without much circuitry. Thought I'd try if it would just be something simple like a cap in line, you know?

But as for the stereo cable, I just need to make a sensing circuit for the pedalboard so it will stop supplying 9v power to the 2nd lead on the cable if a mono is plugged in. In this way, if the 1/4" stereo plug is used with a mono cable, the 2nd lug will connect to ground. I haven't decided on which method I may use: Use arduino to sense current, resistance, or voltage(I think voltage may be the easiest), or to just use a relay that will switch itself given the ground signal returns 9v, and then it will sustain itself there, then when powered off it will reset itself, or along the lines of that..
Can't really think of much else than that.
But if I used the arduino's analog input to determine the voltage(with a voltage divider of course), would the AC signal hurt the input if only for a short moment? I would like to not use an inductor if possible, unwanted distortion and low freq. loss through the arduino to ground.

But onto the communication/wireless. I picked up 4 nrf24l01+'s on ebay for <$8, so my evil idea is to communicate the ardy's with a pair(1 on pedalboard, 1 on guitar) and then transmit that directly on the audio wire rather than air. I just wonder, from the theory you have taught me thus far, I could run the 2.4ghz signal over the audio lines and the +9v line, without issue, right? Or would I be better off running it on the ground line?

Now for the possibly crazy idea. For wireless, run that into another pair of nrf24l01+'s, but with an antenna. I don't know how I would go about amplifying that signal just yet though. Off to google I go!

MattiasOfTheMetal:
I see what you mean. Better to have tried and failed than to have wondered what if. :slight_smile:

I think I may default to using a stereo cable instead of mono. I'm trying to make something that would be easy to incorporate into guitars without much circuitry. Thought I'd try if it would just be something simple like a cap in line, you know?

Well there are ways to do what want, if the load was a constant or near resistance/impeadance it would be easier. However, as mentioned the easiest solution would be to keep the power an AC signal on separate wires.

Edit: Yet, if you still want to overlay AC on the power line, perhaps this filter tutorial will be more helpful. It's more in depth and much better presented than what I've discussed.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
But as for the stereo cable, I just need to make a sensing circuit for the pedalboard so it will stop supplying 9v power to the 2nd lead on the cable if a mono is plugged in. In this way, if the 1/4" stereo plug is used with a mono cable, the 2nd lug will connect to ground. I haven't decided on which method I may use: Use arduino to sense current, resistance, or voltage(I think voltage may be the easiest), or to just use a relay that will switch itself given the ground signal returns 9v, and then it will sustain itself there, then when powered off it will reset itself, or along the lines of that..
Can't really think of much else than that.

Technically an Arduino can only measure voltage directly, but current and resistance can be determined through Ohm's Law. So yes if you use an Arduino to detect the signal it's easiest to use voltage.
However, why not just use a multi-wire cable with discrete pins arranged so it can’t be connected incorrectly, as I’ve discussed previously? It doesn’t have to be a MIDI cable, I just thought that would be one of the easiest to find a replacement for given your situation.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
But if I used the arduino's analog input to determine the voltage(with a voltage divider of course), would the AC signal hurt the input if only for a short moment? I would like to not use an inductor if possible, unwanted distortion and low freq. loss through the arduino to ground.

First, all Arduino I/O pins are only rated to withstand about -0.5 V, so that is the hard limit for negative input. Second, I'm not quite sure what the signal is now, the 1 VAC overlayed on 9 VDC or just the 1 VAC.

MattiasOfTheMetal:
But onto the communication/wireless. I picked up 4 nrf24l01+'s on ebay for <$8, so my evil idea is to communicate the ardy's with a pair(1 on pedalboard, 1 on guitar) and then transmit that directly on the audio wire rather than air. I just wonder, from the theory you have taught me thus far, I could run the 2.4ghz signal over the audio lines and the +9v line, without issue, right? Or would I be better off running it on the ground line?

OK, I try to be very careful about making absolutist statements, but I want to make this clear it’s NEVER a good idea to put an AC signal on what the rest of the circuit uses as a ground! Ground is usually the shared reference, so if its voltage level is changing it can affect everything else that goes on in the circuit. Also, because voltage is an innately relative concept (i.e. it’s the difference in electrical potential of two points), under some circumstances it can damage logic ICs, like microprocessors. For example, the maximum supply voltage for an ATmega328P used on the Uno is +6 VDC, so you have a supply that’s giving it a very stable 5.2 DC, or 5.2 Volts above ground. Just a 1 VAC signal on ground will have the resulting power effectively swing between 4.2 VDC (when the AC is at +1 V) and 6.2 (when the AC is at -1 V), not because the supply’s output change but because the ground changed! What’s more a voltage regulator won’t help, because the voltage regulator will be using the same ground as the rest of the circuit.
If you want to run the signal on a cable without any issues, the best way is for it to have its own wire. :wink:

MattiasOfTheMetal:
Now for the possibly crazy idea. For wireless, run that into another pair of nrf24l01+'s, but with an antenna. I don't know how I would go about amplifying that signal just yet though. Off to google I go!

Well there are quite a few options for wireless communication using Arduinos. Notice that if you scroll down a little, the nRF24L01+ radios have two entries… :slight_smile:

Hey Far-seeker,

Almost a year later (correct me if I'm wrong, but I figured it would be better to revive this thread of mine rather then start a new one and have to back-reference to this one) I finally got around to working with stuff again. The issue I was having with the DC blocking out the sound was that I need decoupling capacitors on the ground side too; but I got it to work!

So it would be like the attached schematic: Guitar Power Over Audio.jpg (it's ugly, I know).

Question:
Would I need to get caps rated for at least 9v in this case, or would it not matter as it's being used only to block power, not absorb it?
Still a little confused on the Arduino and power supply side; would/should I use an inductor or diodes to filter out the AC signal, or will it not matter?
Don't want to damage the Arduino, and I may need to filter the 9v anyway otherwise it could bleed into the circuitry that will be processing the guitar's signal.

Thanks,
Matt