←back to thread

Reverse-engineering my speakers' API to get reasonable volume control

(jamesbvaughan.com)
287 points jamesbvaughan | 7 comments | 25 Jul 24 15:11 UTC | HN request time: 1.219s | source | bottom
Show context
laurencei ◴[27 Jul 24 02:03 UTC] No.41083968[source]▶
Hey OP - if your thinking about a smart knob with haptic feedback etc - check this open source project out that you can build yourself - its amazing:

https://github.com/scottbez1/smartknob

Video demo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip641WmY4pA&t=1s

replies(4): >>41083995 #>>41084269 #>>41084367 #>>41085179 #
1. albert_e ◴[27 Jul 24 04:02 UTC] No.41084367[source]▶
Wow!

I had dreamed of physical "analog" controls as a standard feature on keyboards and input devices for various applications -- would be great productivity booster for power users.

I wish this catches on and gets mass adoption.

replies(4): >>41085387 #>>41085895 #>>41089315 #>>41091923 #
2. laurencei ◴[27 Jul 24 09:13 UTC] No.41085387[source]▶
Yeah - me too - I dont have the time/tools to build these myself - but would happily pay for them as a product.
replies(1): >>41097940 #
3. netsharc ◴[27 Jul 24 11:35 UTC] No.41085895[source]▶
Logitech has such a keyboard: https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/keyboards/craft.920-...
replies(1): >>41089071 #
4. vunderba ◴[27 Jul 24 20:22 UTC] No.41089071[source]▶
Nice - be interesting to see what kind of integrations they have for the knob (at a bare minimum I better be able to play break out and scrub video in da Vinci).

I use a Keychron Q2 which has a dial at the top-right - it's mostly pretty good though I wish it were a little bit easier to program and of course it doesn't have haptic feedback.

https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q2-pro-qmk-via-wi...

5. auc ◴[27 Jul 24 21:02 UTC] No.41089315[source]▶
The Das keyboard has a volume knob that’s pretty nice
6. hyperman1 ◴[28 Jul 24 08:16 UTC] No.41091923[source]▶
Dell had this. Also a button to get instant silence, and an USB port for the mouse.

https://universaldatasystems.org/shop/wp-content/uploads/201...

7. albert_e ◴[29 Jul 24 04:41 UTC] No.41097940[source]▶
Same

While I wish I had the time and talent to pursue this as a hobby - and I dabbled in PCBs and DIY electronics in youth - life has other plans.

I see some sibling commenta that link to keyboards with a knobs-- that is cool - but I am imagining having access to more than one knob so I have a bank of at least 5-6 knobs, slightly smaller than the DIY project, so I can program them for multiple uses like we do for Function Keys today.

Imagine stream deck with knobs instead of buttons - and available either as a separate USB/wireless device or as a simple "nuneric keypad" / "function keys /media keys" kind of addition to keyboards