Something a little different: quick-and-easy iPod Horn

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Hi guys,

Having seen someone's link to an iPod dock-horn, I figured I might as well see what the noise is about.

So I broke out the cardboard and masking tape (in typical scruffy teenager style), and made myself an exponential horn. Pictures attached. You get maybe 6-9dB gain out of mine, which is nice to have. Sounds reasonable enough - very good when you consider it's cost nothing.

Anyone else done something similar?

Chris
 

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Hi guys, thanks for the encouragements.

In order:
Boscoe, no plans were followed. I simply set a compass to its widest radius and went from there: iPod width at one end, 6" across at the mouth. I pretty much made it up as I went along.

Thunk, cheers. I might be thinking about making a bigger one: upon hearing it, my sister asked if a bigger one would be louder. One way to find out.

Rjbond, there were no calculations here. Optimal? Probably not. It definitely works, though. The problem is that I have no idea of the characteristics of the iPod speaker, so Hornresp isn't an option (AFAIK - if someone wants to show me how it can work this out, I'd be happy to learn).

Dave, I'll see what I can do - just don't expect anything as neat as the plans on your 'site.

Kristleifur, thanks again for the encouragement. I was amazed at what this could do, just with the expanding horn section - when I made a proper cradle for the iPod, there was more improvement (I'd guess it was down to sealing the iPod to the horn).

I'll try to get plans done this weekend for those of you that might be thinking of making your own ;)

Chris
 
Much better than my method of sticking the bottom of the phone between my fingers to use my hand as a horn. I know nothing about building horns but your method looks like a great starting point. Even if you just post the basics of what you built, that would help greatly. Thank you for sharing!
 
Here ya go, guys.

Nothing professional, but I reckon you'll be able to make one (or lots) if you wanted to.

When it comes to construction; tape, tape, everywhere.

I've completed a Mk2 version with gaffer (duct) tape - the masking tape was constantly peeling, so I replaced it.

For the curved bit (where I wrote it has to be smooth), I used about 5 layers of tape to give a smooth surface. Also taped the mouth edges for good luck.
For piece E (ironically, D-shaped), I drew around the near-completed horn to get the curve etc, then cut & taped that in place.

Have fun,

Chris
 

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I've been attempting to simulate this horn using Hornresp (which I'm slowly getting to be able to use). Is there any way to simulate only the gain of the horn using Hornresp? Finding the t/s parameters for the in-built speaker isn't an option, nor would it be helpful as there's plenty of DSP behind it. So, anyone got any ideas?

Of Apple's range of devices, this horn will work with the iPhone 3G onwards, and the latest iPod Touch. Anything with a speaker in the bottom (or top) should work fine.

Chris

PS - if anyone else tries one of these, I'd appreciate hearing about it.
 
I just made one for my Droid X. The speaker is on the lower back side. Its my first horn. Has that bull horn effect but it does make it louder when its pointing at you. Will come in handy in the morning since I use my phone as my alarm. The Eagles "Hotel California" plays every morning at 6am. Will post pics later tonight.
 
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