What is a good illumination amount for LEDs?

headrott
headrott Posts: 5,496
edited March 2011 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
I am looking to get a blue and a white LED for my DAC to indicate the "mute" and "lock" on the DAC digital input. I don't really have a clue how much 1mcd of light produced by the LED emmits. Can someone give me an idea how bright a say 650mcd LED is compared to a 60mcd LCD? Also, do you guys recommend clear or diffused lenses on them? I know the brighter they are the more likely you would want it diffused to cut down on the "light shining in your eye effect". I appreciate your help.

Greg
Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
"I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

"Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

"Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • bikerboy
    bikerboy Posts: 1,211
    edited February 2011
    Hi Greg,
    Is this for the BuffII? If so I used the included led for lock as an indicator. Just mounted it on the front panel. If it doesnt lock why do you need to know if it is in mute? At least that was my thinking. Works for me. Just use any color you want and the resistor needed to give you the brightness you want. Look at what TPA use in the kit and compare that to any other led you want to use. I like diffused only. White and blue are very bad in low light for me so I run them at a low brightness. 1mcd is very low, 60 is medium, 600 would be very,very bright. This should help. Pm me if you have any? Glad to help.
    http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz
    Main system: Lyngdorf TDAI 2170 w/ Pioneer 42" plazma-> Polk LSiM 703 w/Tivo, Marantz tuner, BRPTT: Nothingham Spacedeck-> Pioneer PL L1000 linear arm-> Soundsmith DL 103R-> SUT->Bottlehead ErosDigital: I3 PC w/ Jriver playing flac -> Sonore Ultrarendu -> Twisted Pair Audio ESS 9028 w/ Mercury IVY Vinyl rips: ESI Juli@24/192-> i3 PC server
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,739
    edited February 2011
    Do you want a blue and white in one LED or two separate LED's?

    Diffused is the only way to go. If you have a clear LED, you can always diffuse it by scuff sanding with 600 grit sandpaper.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited February 2011
    bikerboy wrote: »
    Hi Greg,
    Is this for the BuffII? If so I used the included led for lock as an indicator. Just mounted it on the front panel. If it doesnt lock why do you need to know if it is in mute? At least that was my thinking. Works for me. Just use any color you want and the resistor needed to give you the brightness you want. Look at what TPA use in the kit and compare that to any other led you want to use. I like diffused only. White and blue are very bad in low light for me so I run them at a low brightness. 1mcd is very low, 60 is medium, 600 would be very,very bright. This should help. Pm me if you have any? Glad to help.
    http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz

    Yep, for the Buff II. I was thinking of doing the same thing with the supplied LED, but thought a chrome bezel would look nicer. As far as mute/lock, it just gives more info that way and LEDs don't cost much, so I figured what the heck. Thanks for the help with luminocities and the link.
    F1nut wrote: »
    Do you want a blue and white in one LED or two separate LED's?

    Diffused is the only way to go. If you have a clear LED, you can always diffuse it by scuff sanding with 600 grit sandpaper.


    I was looking for 2 sepearate LED's Jesse. I was looking at Shin Chin at mouser as they have both in stock. The luminocities would be 400 mcd. I am not sure how good the quality is for these? They have the chrome bezel and look nice in the picture. But, never used them so I don't know what the quality is. I was thinking that diffused is the way to go. Thanks for the tip on the sandpaper. What do you guys think of these:http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=R9-104L-12-UDvirtualkey11230000virtualkey358-R9-104L-12-UD

    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,739
    edited February 2011
    Should be fine. Like bikerboy stated, you can dim them down with a resistor if you find them too bright.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited February 2011
    OK sounds good. Thanks Jesse.

    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited March 2011
    OK I got the blue and white LED's. It states that they are "2V" LED's. The voltage being applied to them is 1.95V. I have found that I cannot get them to light up because the voltage is too low. I have also tried a red and green LED and those do light up no problem. I have found that blue and white LED's are typically in the 3.7 to 4.0V range, so the 2V is not accurate (obviously). Is there a way to get the blue and white LED's to light up using only 1.95V? I am getting the DC voltage off the Buffalo II DAC and I don;t know that you can increase the voltage output to the LED's. Any suggestions on how to work this? Thanks again.


    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,739
    edited March 2011
    Are there any resistors in series with the LED's?
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited March 2011
    F1nut wrote: »
    Are there any resistors in series with the LED's?

    I have 2 different white and 2 different blue LED's. One set of white and blues have a resistor in the positive line of the LED. They are rated at 12V. The Shin Chin LED's have no resistor and claim they are rated at 2V each. Neither set lights up though Jesse. Even the red LED I have with a resistor in it rated at 12V lights up though (dimly).

    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter