I don't have any experience with the arduino (basic coding skills), but would it be possible to create something reasonble (in price and complexity) to control the volume of my speakers?
I have these:
They use a wired in pod to adjust the volume and bass (no remote available at this price point). The top of the pod turns to control the overall volume, and the bass is controlled by a small radio tuner-like dial on the side of the pod (only the edge of it is exposed). I'd like to make something that I can use to control the volume (and bass if possible) remotely so I don't have to get up every time I want to adjust the volume.
That sounds possible, but I'm not sure if it's a beginner project... If you want a fun project, cool!!!
You can get an IR (Infra Red) shield for the Arduino. (A quick search turned-up [u]this[/u].) Or you should be able to find an IR receiver for the Arduino, then you could program it to work with any "universal" remote control.
You can use digital potentiometers ([u]example[/u]) to control the volume. If you wanted to wire-up regular-manual potentiometers as volume controls, do you think you could handle that?
You'd need a pair of pots for the main left & right line-level signals in-between your soundcard (or other source) and the speakers, and another pot in-line with the subwoofer to control the bass.
You'll probably have to open-up the subwoofer box (where I assume the amplifiers are) to get to the woofer signal. (You need the signal into the woofer's amplifier, not the wires out of the amp that go to the woofer driver.)
If you want to be practical, I'd suggest just buying a receiver with a remote. [u]Here's one[/u] I just found for under $100 USD.
If you build something with the Arduino, I'd guess you'll be in the $50 - $100 range by the time you buy the Arduino and all of the parts with a power supply and a nice box, etc. If you don't already have a soldering iron and a multimeter, there's more expense. (You don't need a multimeter, but you can get one for $10 or $20 and when you run-into trouble it makes checking voltages & checking connections, etc. a lot easier than without one.)
There is one issue with using a receiver. Receivers are made for passive Hi-Fi speakers, not powered/active computer speakers. (Home Theater Receivers use passive main & surround speakers and an active sub.) For it to work "right", you'd need an attenuator such as [u]this[/u], or you can build one yourself with a pair of [u]voltage dividers[/u] (a pair of resistors for the left and a pair of resistors for the right).
I'm pretty much completely new to this notion of wiring things. Do you have any resources detailing what setting up those potentiometers would entail?
I'm using these for television speakers, and I since you mention both left and right channels, I figure it's worth noting how the wiring on these run. There are two wires coming off the control pod. One wire from the pod leads to an audio out jack on the back of my television, and the other leads to a rounded, 8 pin connector that plugs into the sub. The two satellites end in a single jack that also plugs into the sub.
I've been curious about this stuff lately, so I'm willing to learn.