Need Help with Sound Reactive LED's

[Sizer009]

Firstly Hi!...noob here....

Im trying to do a project with my two lads and don't know a great deal about electronics but I do know what we want to achieve

We want:

10 LED's to light up to music (all at the same time not a bar type thing).
To be able to turn it off and on.
To be able to turn off the light syncing leaving "all LED's" lit.
To be able to adjust the Electret Microphone Sensitivty.
To Run off USB.

At the moment I believe the power from the Microphone needs to be amplified but I dont know how or how much to amplify it by.

The Mic :
(0dB = 1V/µbar at 1kHz, Vcc = 4.5V, Rl = 1kΩ) 60dB ±3dB
**broken link removed**

Done a bit more digging around and found these circuits which I mocked up in iCurcuit....

Source for the left one : http://www.electro-tech-online.com/custompdfs/2012/11/picaxe_sound.pdf
Source for the right one (with video) : http://www.ledhoops.net/2011/10/01/sound-to-light-with-an-electret-microphone/

They both seem to work when simulated so was hoping for some input on wether they will actually work, which ones better or if there is a better solution.

Any help appreciated.

 

[chuckey]

LEDs are current driven, that means that they are rated at some current, say 30mA. The volt drop across any one LED might vary a bit about 2.2V, so if they are connected all in parallel as in the first figure, it is likely that one LED will "hog" too much current and be very bright, the others might be very dim (or out!). Likewise if the transistor turns on properly it will drop .2 of a volt across, giving the LEDs 3.6 - .2 = 3.4V which is too much for most sorts of LEDs. For a circuit to work and the LEDs to have a long life, they need about 2.2 V at 30mA (or what ever their rating is) so 3.4 - 2.2 volts must be dropped across a resistor. So 1 Volt at 30mA = 1000/30 ohms~33 ohms should be put in series with each LED.
Frank

 

[Sizer009]

Thank you for the input, the LEDS i bought off ebay...(bad idea) and the seller gave me the following information.

Details from seller : Superbright LEDs, 3v, 10mA and a voltage forward of 3v

I'm not convinced thats correct though to be honest, i was going to base it on 20mA and 2.2v.

The voltage should be 5v, thats my mistake, i am hoping to use a usb cable for a power supply so it can be plugged into an xbox. USB 2.0 can so im told cope with 200mA. Although I'm not 100% sure i will get away with that!

Edit : these if it helps... **broken link removed**

 

[Sizer009]

After some advice from other forums, Ive now updated the curcuit...what do you think?

**broken link removed**