VELLEMAN MK171 Voice Changer Kit, 1.5"

This is a great little kit. As stated in many other reviews for this product, you do require a soldering iron and a speaker to assemble this thing fully. The instructions, in my opinion, are excellent. They don't have much words or explanation but they make up for that with their very complete diagrams showing location, orientation, and proper assembly practices. One common problem I've read about this kit is the lack of volume, and while details on preventing this are briefly noted in the instructions, I do see how it could easily be overlooked. First is speaker selection. This circuit is designed for used with either a 4 ohm or 8 ohm speaker, if you use higher resistance speakers (more ohms) then you will get a much quieter output. If you want the most volume possible, pick a 4 ohm as it will give double the Watts of an 8 ohm speaker. Second is the actual amplifier circuit used. This kit uses an LM386 amplifier IC that has a hardware-programmable gain. If you build this kit as specified, it will have a gain of 50. However if you feel that this is insufficient for your particular application, do not place component R10 and instead solder a wire where it should be. By shorting R10, you will increase the gain to a much more substantial 200. (Please note that you MUST put a short in place of R10, if you remove the resistor and leave it open you will get the minimum gain of 20)

It was unclear on the description that this is just all the parts and needs soldering!! It was for my son's Halloween party, so we weren't able to use it because it was in pieces. Luckily my dad was able to put it together before trick or treat time. Then it was a neat little novelty toy.

It is a good starting point, but there are some problems. I ordered two kits. The first kit would not work no matter what I tried. The speaker would not output any sound aside from a slight pop when turning it on. When I soldered one component, the copper began flaking off of the board. The second kit worked, but the included microphone is terrible. It will begin squealing when turned on. I bought a small clip on microphone that helps to filter out background audio and wired it to it. The changer works well enough with this addition. You may also have to play around with the sensitivity adjuster for the mic on the board.

SO it's not an easy job, I have a bit of experience (nothing in a few years) of soldering so I'm rusty but I still managed to get it to work. Works pretty well when its done, just a few bugs here and there. the quality definitely depends on the speaker you get to go with it as well. I do have some advice if your planning on doing this:1. Find an extra pair of hands, seriously, some of the parts are tall and its hard to make sure everything is in place and solid by yourself so if there's someone you can ask for help holding things, ASK.2. For everyone that says the resistor codes are hard to read- I have a mind melding piece of info.... they're in order...its not that hard.... but yes starting from the one on the other side of the weird clear with a black line resistor thingy, it goes from number 1 and then next to said clear thing is number 10. (I'd still quickly scan the resistor codes to double check this but I got two kits and both were in numerical order).3. In case you are unfamiliar with resistor codes, the silver and gold lines that aren't listed as colors on the instructions are obsolete for us (in truth they mark the tolerance of a resistor but we don't need to worry about that since this kit is already set up so the resistors WILL work)4. If you're wondering what to use for soldering, I used 0.6mm solder wire which served it's purpose nicely and due to how small it was kept it from overflowing into another copper rings.that's all I can really think of besides overall paying attention to the instructions (some of the capacitors use different micro farads so watch what you put where)

So the instructions are not in the best format. It is cheap parts. The worst part of this kit is the circuit board. It is bad. So be careful while soldering. After I had it assembled (took about 20 min using a component tester, instead reading color codes of resistors) I was pleasantly surprised at the tone it has. It does clip easily with provided mic. I had the mic sensitive lowered completely, that helped the audio a lot. Running a 9.2v lithium produced a hum. A Duracell pro cell 9v was clean @ 8.5v. This needs a low pass filter around 5-6kHz to get rid of popping and noise of the modulation. I tested this with a tangband 2” speaker with PR.

I'm a bit new to tinkering with electronics like this, so I had to order two since I messed up my first time around. The instructions were minimal but clear, and I managed to put it together rather neatly the second time around. I attached it to two 8 ohm speakers that I bridged, taking into consideration that the maximum suggested range was 32 ohm. However, it was when I switched it on that I ran into some trouble. The light came on as expected, and there was a pop sound that came from the speakers that accompanied it, but the microphone was unresponsive. About the third time testing it, it worked well for about 30 seconds, and then afterwards, it was back to the microphone being unresponsive. As I said, I'm a bit new to this, so I'm uncertain if this is a product flaw or my own inexperience.

purchased two with a friend for a cosplay, the robotic voice is pretty good, it is kinda difficult to build since you need welding tools but not impossible

The voice changer worked out great! It does not include a speaker, so remember to get one. The board is clearly labeled, and the instructions inside help you map the components. A soldering novice could easily complete this project. The finished product is very effective, just pay attention to the mic sensitivity adjust. Definitely a fun project, and great for costuming. Note that the components are soldered in individually. This makes it pretty easy to put speakers, mics, buttons, and volume knobs in more convenient locations. Just a bit of wire, and you're set.

Quick assembly with beginner's soldering skills. Works great! Resembles Kylo Ren voice. Quality European product.

Tried to make a cosplay voice changer. I am a novice solderer so I could not get this to work at all. Must know how to read circuit wiring diagrams and have experience soldering. Poor instructions

This product is exactly what I was looking for!The package was complete and I was able after an hour or two to build it!It works surprisingly well!Best bang for the buck voice changer!

Very easy to build. Resistors code was can be tricky but only took me about a minute to sort them.Added mic and headphone jack to mine so I can use portable amplifier speaker and any micSo it’s very loud and clear.