RGB LED Chromoflex Setup for a Newbie

[TerryMasters]

Hey guys. I've been super interested in RGB LED's lately after watching a few YouTube videos showing how beautiful they look However, I have a ton of questions about getting some of my own, as most of the resellers aren't in my country making payment vs stock a bit of an issue. Here's a run down of the situation I'm in, with the questions and concerns I have about buying the setup:

Requirements:
1. The flexible pcb MUST be white - it can't be your regular copper/brown pcb color. The LED's will be going on a white ceiling where anything other than white would be an eyesore.
2. I'd love to buy the best, most vibrant RGB LED strips on the market if possible.
3. I live in America, but I haven't found any distributors here for the white strips or the Chromoflex boards making it somewhat difficult to purchase.
4. I'm pretty sure the only way I could pay for any of this stuff is through PayPal - something I've seen accepted nowhere on any of the sites I've checked so far.

Questions:
5. I'd like to run the strips all across my room, which would require about 4 16ft strips, maybe more. The problem is, I don't know how to wire all the strips to the Chromoflex so they can work together - do I solder and run them all to my PC, or do I need 4 seperate Chromoflex adapters to make this work? I don't have a serial port on my computer which if I did my research correctly means I need the USB adapter, which is expensive but not a huge problem I suppose. Daisy-chaining them together also worries me a bit as I'm not sure how one resolves the power situation and don't want to end up overvolting/undervolting the strips.
6. Does anyone know if Winamp can do multiple plugins at once? I also have an amBX setup and I'm afraid using the Chromoflex plugin will force me to turn the amBX off, where I'd like to use both simultaneously.

I'm ready to purchase right now, because I really can't wait to bring them home and make this a reality. Any help I receive is greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance to anyone who puts up with my inane questioning

[r_255]

Welcome Terry,

- buy a cheap usb2serial adapter and it will work fine.

- i can't confirm that the ambx is working next to the winamp plugin but i could try that for you as i also own a few of those.

- about the connecting it is easy, just keep in mind you have enough amperage and dont draw more than the chromoflex can handle ( see the specs )
the connecting is done by screw terminals on the chromoflex side, and if you make your own serial cable its 2 wires you need to iron. Tx and gnd pin

- rgb led is at its best when its indirect, so you could consider something to cast thru and dont fit them direct on your ceiling.... and yes white casts your colours the
best so thats why you should prefer white.

[Esteban]

Hi,

All the above.
I have no special recommendation regarding which LEDs to buy States-side.But LED strips come in various sizes, colors and amount of LED's per foot, so finding a white strip should be no problem. The weatherproofed strips come in a silicone (?) sheeth maybe that would work better for you since you want as little as possible of the internals visible.

Anyway, be sure to get a power-supply that can handle the amount of LEDs you want to use. (as mentioned already double-check the specs of the Chromoflex and of the LED strip you decide to use)

[TerryMasters]

Thanks for the replies everyone

I think my biggest issue right now is wiring everything together. Say like before I buy four 16ft RGB strips, all with their own power supplies. I was under the impression that the Chromoflex only deals with data and color signals, am I supposed to run the power to these strips through the Chromoflex itself? At first I thought I could just plug each strip in individually to it's own power supply and just wire up the data/RGBW lines to one Chromoflex. Now I'm starting to think I actually do need four seperate Chromoflex boards, which will not only cost a fortune but I wonder if they would even work together.

Then you have strips that are 4 wire, some are 5 wire... This whole thing is so confusing. Ugh

[TerryMasters]

Also, from the research that I'm doing it actually seems like you can't use Milkdrop and the Chromoflex at the same time... which sucks because I don't particularly like "beat-detecting" music controllers but I absolutely love Milkdrop. Maybe the Chromoflex isn't what I'm looking for, I wonder if there's something better than a beat detector though?

[Bwired]

Yes the ledstrips are powered from the Chromoflex, you can connect multiple chromoflex devices together (bus system) and control them all via 1 RS232.

[r_255]

The winamp plugin Is not only beatdetection, it has also has spectrum analyzing or vu mode and you even can combine them or use them with a seperate colour.

As it is a vizualize plugin it will not run 2 of those at once in winamp, but as i hear you talking i realise what you want could be done ambilighther a piece of software for the chromoflex.

http://www.my-digital-home.com/2008/04/ ... ighter-05/

I personally love the winamp plugin as its stronger in its timing and overall expierence than a ambilight effect on the milkdrop visuals.
as i have a ambilight tv i have tried that but that doesnt contribute as much as the beat detection.

I did try if winamp can just drive te leds from a line in or live stream, but sofar i did not had positive results.
my end goal would be winamp driving the leds, other pc drives the visuals and ambx that is sended to the ambilight tv.

Depending on what you want and expect i would reconsider and have a look at some other controllers or even go dmx.
in the end its software that has to drive it.