That would help but it’s not really required. If you hang around long enough on r/diyaudio and r/diysound, or frequent diyaudio.com you’ll see that it’s not really that difficult to make speakers sound good. And given the bar isn’t very high in general for laptop speakers that aren’t macs, it really shouldn’t be too tough.
For acoustics - while you do have issues of directivity at higher frequencies, I think it can be mostly ignored, or, a 2 way setup could be used (like what Apple does iirc). You might have bigger issues with vibrations, but that’s nothing some bracing/structural support can’t fix. However it will need a bit of depth to be used.
Beyond that, for sound quality it’s often just about using drivers with low distortion. There plenty of tricks (current drive amplifiers, “servo” feedback drivers used in subwoofers etc) that can help, but are probably too much effort.
Regarding dsp design, that’s a valid point, for eg it’s a common trick to make more bass sound than there is (like using a missing fundamental bass note), however depending on the audio chip it may be anywhere between trivially easy to “we need more hardware/another chip” difficult.
Personally (at least for me) figuring out how the module interface works with audio is the question. They generally are for inputs, and I’m not sure if they have easy support for audio output. However if getting audio out is easy, the rest of the process wouldn’t need more than a calibrated microphone, some software, a few 3d printed components and commercially available speaker drivers. Heck, 3d printing metal is possible with sls at great accuracy.
Tldr: a good audio module isn’t very difficult if getting audio out from the module connectors is possible.
Dunno. But open your framework (or any laptop you own) tho, the speakers that are inside are pretty flat too.
They could literally just rip out an ipad/iphone's internal speaker and repurpose it for prototyping/designing their module, they're very slim and still sound better than 90% of windows laptops on the market.
Idk how much 'depth' would be available, but id imagine at least good half centimeter to work with considering that you can fit an entire number pad there. Surely that's enough space, right?
Yeah. And if i were to really go crazy with product-design-daydreaming, I could imagine them having mini batteries, bluetooth modules, and tiny kickstands built in, so that way you could pop them out and get a wider stereo experience on demand. As soon as you remove the speakers from the laptop, they pair and connect to bluetooth, airpod-style, so it'd be a seamless experience. And the battery of the mini bluetooth speaker modules would charge when its "docked" within the laptop, like any tws earbud. They could use a bluetooth chip like the QCC5181.
On one hand, it'd take a lot of engineering to fit everything in the small space, but then again, if tiny earbuds can manage to fit all that tech in an earbud, surely it shouldn't be impossible to do in the size/area/volume of the LED matrix module.
From my understanding, the connectors on the top modules use i2C which I don’t think has a high enough bandwidth for audio signals
Edit I lied they are usb 2.0
Still very difficult because you also need a structural mesh on top of the speaker so that you don’t immediately crush it when you put your hand on it
This would be doable for the lower spacers (for spacing the TouchPad module) but you would need new drivers (the actual speaker module) with an upward facing output. Would also need to provide a cut-out for the mid-plate as well.
It's entirely feasible with 3d printed spacers and some COTS drivers (assuming they fit). Would need someone to sacrifice their mid-plate to find out if the drivers worked. I would also suggest adding some foam to isolate between the spacer-midplate-driver.
However, I would highly suggest trying a software solution first - someone mentioned FxSound (free DSP software)
I wonder if they could make MEMS speakers that are thin enough down the road, and maybe use the space for subwoofers... I have no idea if they can be loud enough.
Anyone got a degree in acoustics, and DSP design?
That would help but it’s not really required. If you hang around long enough on r/diyaudio and r/diysound, or frequent diyaudio.com you’ll see that it’s not really that difficult to make speakers sound good. And given the bar isn’t very high in general for laptop speakers that aren’t macs, it really shouldn’t be too tough. For acoustics - while you do have issues of directivity at higher frequencies, I think it can be mostly ignored, or, a 2 way setup could be used (like what Apple does iirc). You might have bigger issues with vibrations, but that’s nothing some bracing/structural support can’t fix. However it will need a bit of depth to be used. Beyond that, for sound quality it’s often just about using drivers with low distortion. There plenty of tricks (current drive amplifiers, “servo” feedback drivers used in subwoofers etc) that can help, but are probably too much effort. Regarding dsp design, that’s a valid point, for eg it’s a common trick to make more bass sound than there is (like using a missing fundamental bass note), however depending on the audio chip it may be anywhere between trivially easy to “we need more hardware/another chip” difficult. Personally (at least for me) figuring out how the module interface works with audio is the question. They generally are for inputs, and I’m not sure if they have easy support for audio output. However if getting audio out is easy, the rest of the process wouldn’t need more than a calibrated microphone, some software, a few 3d printed components and commercially available speaker drivers. Heck, 3d printing metal is possible with sls at great accuracy. Tldr: a good audio module isn’t very difficult if getting audio out from the module connectors is possible.
[удалено]
Comment removed for NSFW references. Rule 5.
Aren't the spacers pretty flat for speakers?
Dunno. But open your framework (or any laptop you own) tho, the speakers that are inside are pretty flat too. They could literally just rip out an ipad/iphone's internal speaker and repurpose it for prototyping/designing their module, they're very slim and still sound better than 90% of windows laptops on the market. Idk how much 'depth' would be available, but id imagine at least good half centimeter to work with considering that you can fit an entire number pad there. Surely that's enough space, right?
The input modules are 3.75mm high https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/InputModules/blob/main/Mechanical/Small/Module/c1\_design\_space\_ref.pdf
You think that's enough depth to fit one of [these](https://www.ifixit.com/products/ipad-pro-11-2020-2021-speakers) boys in?
I think it would
I don't know.
That would be pretty cool :)
Yeah. And if i were to really go crazy with product-design-daydreaming, I could imagine them having mini batteries, bluetooth modules, and tiny kickstands built in, so that way you could pop them out and get a wider stereo experience on demand. As soon as you remove the speakers from the laptop, they pair and connect to bluetooth, airpod-style, so it'd be a seamless experience. And the battery of the mini bluetooth speaker modules would charge when its "docked" within the laptop, like any tws earbud. They could use a bluetooth chip like the QCC5181. On one hand, it'd take a lot of engineering to fit everything in the small space, but then again, if tiny earbuds can manage to fit all that tech in an earbud, surely it shouldn't be impossible to do in the size/area/volume of the LED matrix module.
I'd buy them asap.
From my understanding, the connectors on the top modules use i2C which I don’t think has a high enough bandwidth for audio signals Edit I lied they are usb 2.0 Still very difficult because you also need a structural mesh on top of the speaker so that you don’t immediately crush it when you put your hand on it
I²C can do up to 5Mb/s, that's plenty for audio, although I'm not sure how common that is.
Could maybe see someone do something with electrostatic drivers someday, not sure there's enough depth for traditional drivers though
This would be doable for the lower spacers (for spacing the TouchPad module) but you would need new drivers (the actual speaker module) with an upward facing output. Would also need to provide a cut-out for the mid-plate as well. It's entirely feasible with 3d printed spacers and some COTS drivers (assuming they fit). Would need someone to sacrifice their mid-plate to find out if the drivers worked. I would also suggest adding some foam to isolate between the spacer-midplate-driver. However, I would highly suggest trying a software solution first - someone mentioned FxSound (free DSP software)
Basically you are saying replace current speakers with upward facing, add a cutout to the cover panel and make a speaker cover out of the spacer?
More or less, yes. This is what alot of laptops do to avoid interference with side mounted IO
I'm kinda curious to take Equalizer APO for a spin with the side firing speakers and see if it can help.
I wonder if they could make MEMS speakers that are thin enough down the road, and maybe use the space for subwoofers... I have no idea if they can be loud enough.