Sound Blaster Volume Knob
By Patrick Norton - Posted Mar 26, 2003
Volume up. Volume down. Volume up. Volume down. I set the volume of my sound card with two buttons on the front of my case, not with the software controls in Windows. If you have a Sound Blaster Live card, you can too.
Props go to "The Sound Blaster Live! Book" from No Starch Press for this project. If you have a Sound Blaster Live and like to putter with audio, get this book. It spends 600 pages exploring the Sound Blaster Live cards in exhausting detail. It's got me jilting my favorite Turtle Beach sound cards.
Editor's note: "The Sound Blaster Live! Book" can be purchased from the TechTV Store.
Parts and instructions
You need a couple of push-button switches, a spare audio cable (the kind that goes from your sound card to your CD-ROM drive), and some basic tools.
Props go to "The Sound Blaster Live! Book" from No Starch Press for this project. If you have a Sound Blaster Live and like to putter with audio, get this book. It spends 600 pages exploring the Sound Blaster Live cards in exhausting detail. It's got me jilting my favorite Turtle Beach sound cards.
Editor's note: "The Sound Blaster Live! Book" can be purchased from the TechTV Store.
Parts and instructions
You need a couple of push-button switches, a spare audio cable (the kind that goes from your sound card to your CD-ROM drive), and some basic tools.
- If you can pull your sound card out of the case, take a look at it, component side facing you. (The component side is the side without the silver dots.) There should be five boxes: yellow, blue, pink, green, and black. If you draw an imaginary line from the green box to the other side of the card, you'll find a small rectangular box labeled J11 and "vol_ctrl."
- If there aren't three pins sticking up from the vol_ctrl box, you'll have a tough time on this project. Instead of plugging the audio cable into the pins, you have to solder the cable's wires directly to the card. Not the easiest task.
See an image of the pins. - At the other end of that cable you need a pair of push-button switches: momentary contact and single pole single throw (SPST). I picked up a pair from RadioShack for under $3. (I got model number 275-1556, but model number 275-644 looked a touch better. Use whichever you like, as long as they're SPST momentary contact.)
- It doesn't matter where you mount the switches on the case, as long as you have enough depth behind the holes to mount the switches. Drive bay covers are especially easy. The main faceplate of your PC can be a problem. If there's not enough space between the faceplate and the steel in the frame of the case, you'll have to drill or cut out some space through metal.
- The switches work by making a circuit between a ground pin, a pin that raises the volume, and a pin that lowers the volume. Remember those pins opposite the green box in step No. 1? There should be three pins:
- Pin 1 is closest to the slot side of the card. It raises the volume.
- There's no pin 2. Instead there's a space.
- Pin 3 lowers the volume.
- Pin 4 is ground. It's connected to both your switches.
- I cut the connector off of one end of the audio cable. The wire that attaches to pin 4 needs to be connected to both switches. I used a short length of wire to jump from one switch to the other. Then I soldered on the wire from pin 4. The wires from pin 1 and pin 3 go to the other connector on your switches. Connect the cable to your SoundBlaster Live. Make sure everything is aligned correctly.
- Boot your system and fire up a tune. Hit a button. The volume should go up or down. The other button should make the volume go the other direction. Neither button works? Shut down the system and flip the connector on the sound card 180 degrees. If that doesn't fix it, double-check the wiring and soldering.
- At the other end of that cable you need a pair of push-button switches: momentary contact and single pole single throw (SPST). I picked up a pair from RadioShack for under $3. (I got model number 275-1556, but model number 275-644 looked a touch better. Use whichever you like, as long as they're SPST momentary contact.)
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