Help with a simple envelop detector filter. (averaging the signal)

[plasmaninjaa]

Hi guys.
First off I know nothing about audio, and am slowly learning electronics.
This will be my first electronics project that has to do with audio so we'll see how it goes.
I am looking to eventually make some simple lights that fade in and out with music from my computer.
I have found an op-amp circuit which works fine, however i've hit a snag when it came to the envelope detector part of the circuit. I've never heard of an envelope detector before but apparently it's supposed to take a signal and average it out like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Analytic.svg

So I am trying to get mine to take the audio from my laptop and average out the signal. However when I try it with an led hooked up, the led blinks quite a bit which makes me think that it is not working correctly.

here is the circuit I am using: http://i.imgur.com/7QuQPa3.png (should say "envelope detector" rather than "lowpass filter")


When I play something like a 1khz tone the led's flicker rather than their brightness being constant.

I'm not sure if the envelope detection circuit is built wrong or if the values of the capacitor and resistor are wrong.

If I hook the led up before the signal goes through the envelope detector, it is pretty much the same result. So obviously its not doing what its supposed to.

I would really appreciate any help!!!

thanks in advance,
James

 

[Mooly]

I haven't a complete circuit for this but it is easy to do (in years gone by I used to do this sort of thing).

Building blocks... you need an opamp to match and give gain (or attenuation) to your signal. In other words a simple x10 amp with volume control. Thats block 1

The output from this now goes to another opamp configured as a rectifier. You can use either a full or half wave configuration. This gives a constantly changing DC level in response to the input. Thats block 2

http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/01353A.pdf

You then add a "peak detector" (in the same pdf) that essentiall just charges a cap up to the max voltage from the rectifier. Adding a resistor across the cap sets up a time constant so that the peak voltage can discharge "between peaks". Thats block 3

You then need something to use that signal. An opamp or comparator can be used to give a "high" output when ever the peak voltage exceeds a certain (preset) level. Thats block 4

Next you need to decide if you want to "stretch" those peak pulses. If you dont then any light or LED will flicker dimly. So for this you need something like a monostable delay that will trigger on the shortest peaks and give a fixed pulse output. Thats block 5

They are all simple basic building blocks.

 

[plasmaninjaa]

I haven't a complete circuit for this but it is easy to do (in years gone by I used to do this sort of thing).

Building blocks... you need an opamp to match and give gain (or attenuation) to your signal. In other words a simple x10 amp with volume control. Thats block 1

The output from this now goes to another opamp configured as a rectifier. You can use either a full or half wave configuration. This gives a constantly changing DC level in response to the input. Thats block 2

http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/01353A.pdf

You then add a "peak detector" (in the same pdf) that essentiall just charges a cap up to the max voltage from the rectifier. Adding a resistor across the cap sets up a time constant so that the peak voltage can discharge "between peaks". Thats block 3

You then need something to use that signal. An opamp or comparator can be used to give a "high" output when ever the peak voltage exceeds a certain (preset) level. Thats block 4

Next you need to decide if you want to "stretch" those peak pulses. If you dont then any light or LED will flicker dimly. So for this you need something like a monostable delay that will trigger on the shortest peaks and give a fixed pulse output. Thats block 5

They are all simple basic building blocks.

Hi, thanks for the response.
What is a monostable delay?
I also seem to be getting better results when i decrease the capacitance.

 

[Mooly]

A monstable is a simple logic circuit that once triggered (no matter how briefly), gives an output of fixed duration which can be used to light an LED for example. For example a monostable of 1 second could light an LED for 1 second whether triggered by a 1 microsecond peak or a half second peak.

Look up 555 monostable on google