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Build A Stereo From an Old Hard Disk

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the because-you-can dept.

An anonymous reader pointed us to an amusing little hack site that demonstrates how you can build a little stereo out of an old hard drive. Of course I don't need a stereo for I am a human beat box.

17 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Surely by (1337)+God · · Score: 5, Funny

    There's gotta be SOME kind of law this violates.

    Whenever someone does something cool with music or technology these days, it seems they get SUED by some American company!

    C'mon. DMCA maybe? RIAA violation? It's gotta be somethin!

    --

    Background: 28/M/Bi-Sexual; Owner of a Linux company; MBA Harvard 2003; B.S. Comp Sci MIT 2000
  2. WTF??? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny


    > Of course I don't need a stereo for I am a human beat box.

    I thought marriage was supposed to fix that!

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:WTF??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You have obviously never been married.

  3. Old News by googleaseerch · · Score: 5, Informative

    There was a different article like this one over a year ago. The other person made 3.

    1. Re:Old News by mpeg4codec · · Score: 5, Informative

      That was an Afrotech Ghetto Hardware Mod. Sorry, couldn't find the /. article on it.

  4. Harddrives can be pretty versatile by zaunuz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That's what i've been saying for years. I've used old harddrives for many things. These includes:

    1. Weapon (seriously.. excellent self-defence tool. Saved my ass once)
    2. Ash-tray (screw it open)
    3. Toy (Am i the only one who find those rotating plates amusing?)
    4. Paperweight

    --
    this is probably the most boring sig in the world
    1. Re:Harddrives can be pretty versatile by kzinti · · Score: 5, Insightful

      5. Magnets

      If you keep nothing else, at least keep the magnets out of your hard drive. They're amazingly powerful for their size... wonderful toys!

    2. Re:Harddrives can be pretty versatile by zaunuz · · Score: 4, Funny

      SCSI may be better than IDE, but no hardware can match the danger of a man weilding an ATX powersuply.

      --
      this is probably the most boring sig in the world
    3. Re:Harddrives can be pretty versatile by zaunuz · · Score: 4, Funny

      When i think of it... iMac would be the most dangerous hardware-weapon. You could get a good swing at it, because of the good grip you get on the handle, and it weights alot more than the human skull can take at the apropriate hurling-speed.

      --
      this is probably the most boring sig in the world
  5. Commodore 64 music? by isny · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Does anybody else out there remember a program for the Commodore 64 that use the 1541 floppy disk drive to make music? By moving the drive head at different speeds, it played "Jingle Bells" or something else like that. The drive still ran OK after that one. Can't say too much on this project, though.

    1. Re:Commodore 64 music? by The+Clockwork+Troll · · Score: 5, Funny
      Yes, although your memory is a little off.

      I have a copy of "CATALOG: The Commodore 1541's Greatest Hits" sitting here. Tracks include:

      1. Drive - The Cars
      2. Step By Step - New Kids On The Block
      3. You Spin Me Round - Dead Or Alive
      4. Crash - Dave Matthews Band
      I can't make out much of the label after that, can anyone help me here?
      --

      There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
  6. Um... by Athas · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, yeah, it's possible to build a stereo from a hard isk...

    I'm sorry, but I don't think very many people enjoy the screeching sound of a needle penetrating a harddisk-platter.

    --
    Gnusay -- for all your talking gnu needs.
  7. Not quite stereo by GarbanzoBean · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think you need TWO speakers for that. Yes, a RAID streo system is in order.

    My "stereo system", computer with two harddrives is the best source of white noise around. Unfortunately, my power supply is louder.

  8. Re:Translation please... by wideBlueSkies · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you don't have the proper screwdriver handy, try drilling through the screws.

    Be careful when using a drill bit that's small enough to wear away a screw of the type used to secure hard drives. Because of their size, they have a tendancy to snap when caught on jagged metal. It's not nice having little pieces of drill bit bouncing into your face.

    I've been there.

    wbs.

    --
    Huh?
  9. Does reverse engineering in this case by TobiasSodergren · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... mean that you can get a harddrive from an old speaker?

  10. Re:Translation please... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Be careful when using a drill bit...

    Check. I'll add that to: never solder in your underwear.

  11. Don't try this at home... by tiger99 · · Score: 5, Informative
    ... or you will destroy your amplifier. Note that he says that you need to join the left and right channels together to get mono, if you are only making one speaker. Two low-impedance sources carrying different voltages......

    In any case it would work far better if the coil was kept within its original magnet, and the edge glued to a diaphragm. It is designed to work that way! If you were only wanting a woofer, you could simply attach the diphragm to the existing head arm, but don'y expect any response above a few 100 Hz.

    I honestly wonder why anyone bothers with something so stupid anyway.