# Hacking audio of Spirit animatronics?



## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Like most of us here (I'm sure), I have acquired several animatronics from Spirit Halloween Store, as well as other stores and websites, over the years that I populate my yard with every 31st of October. But the reality is that I would probably have even more had I not chosen to pass on several that initially caught my eye. The problem is I have come across so many store bought animatronics that LOOK really cool, but SOUND absolutely horrible. It's probably my chief pet peeve when it comes to commercial animated props... the manufacturers always seem to give their props the silliest, stupidest, most ridiculous audio tracks. They take a decaying zombie or wicked witch or creepy crawly of some sort and give it an awesomely cool, eerie, spookily-effective appearance, but the effect is absolutely ruined as soon as it opens its mouth and starts to spout the cheesiest, most un-scary dialog and gibberish. They are obviously trying to be creative, but the sad fact of the matter is that the prop would be 100 times more effective if they would forgo the silly banter and just make it groan and growl, scream, or laugh maniacally instead of making it go off and talk to the ToTs. On top of the cheesiness of the dialog, I also typically find that the ToTs and their parents just move along and enjoy the scenery and don't take the time to stand there and listen to the props and their little holiday-themed orations, so having the prop go off on a 2 minute long diatribe is a waste of time and effort. The prop would be so much more impactful if it would just lunge or pop up and loudly go "GRRRRRRRR!"

I would love to find a way to hack into the electronics of these props, bypass the factory installed audio tracks, and replace them with my own audio. Maybe wire in a CD player or MP3 player somehow and let that be the source of the audio. I know there used to be a way to do that with the old Boris Talking Skull props with the wired in microphones that you could speak into, allowing you to talk through the skull. I imagine there HAS to be a way to hack into these pre-recorded props roughly the same way without completely ruining them and making them inoperable. But though I have some basic skills with soldering and wiring, I lack the knowledge of electronic circuit boards to be able to figure out how to do such a thing. 

Has anybody ever tried to hack the audio of these Spirit props and been successful? Any tips or tricks or how-tos that could be shared?

Thanks.


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

I have a few of that style of prop and have been looking at ways to upgrade their electronics. A lot of them share the same overall design; speaker, LED eyes, jaw motor and either a light or sound sensor for the trigger.

They all seem to have the sound file embedded in the control board's chip and modifying it for different audio is not possible. I have heard of some that have an external input that can be fed from an audio board, but they seem to be in the minority.

Another option is to replaced the existing board with a prop controller. This would have the same types of outputs as the original board, but with your choice of audio track.

I have seen some boards that control a jaw motor, but are meant for servos, not the cheaper DC motor and spring arrangement used on most props of that type.


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## poplarhouse (Aug 2, 2015)

I agree totally about the silly voices, but what annoys me even more is the awful (and awfully loud) music and sound effects. I have a John Doe in my mad lab. A groan as he rises would be ok, but the music and sound effects recorded over it ruin the effect. I opened the electronics box and added a small potentiometer in line with the speaker so now I can turn it 'way down or off. That's the extent of my electronic know-how, but I plan to make the mod to several other animated props I have.


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## DarkOne (Oct 16, 2012)

I had to replace the audio in a whack a mole game at work. I couldn't replace the audio directly in the computer board, there was no removeable storage. So I rigged up a catalex board with an arduino and small amplifier. The button that started the game was then wired to the arduino. The arduino then did two things when the button was pressed, it closed a relay to simulate the pressing of the button for the whack a mole game and then the catalex player started the new audio. I just wired the game's speaker to the catalex/amplifer.


Parts were:
yx5300 mp3 module ( this is just like the catalex board, look on ebay)


MicroSD card for audio file(s)


1 channel relay module( or 2 channel and just use one)


Amplifier module( many on ebay, choose one that meets your needs


Arduino compatible board 12v tolerant.


Cable to go between mp3 module and amplifier, depends on your amp, but 1/8" to 1/8" male cables can be found at DollarTree.


Power supply, 12v to split between arduino and amp (wall wart type, just need enough amperage for your amplifier and the arduino)


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

Having the jaw movement in sync with the replacement audio track is the big thing for me. I'll have to get around to designing a board for this. Not sure I'll have time for this Halloween though.


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

You might be interested in this board that we worked on a few years back - https://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=26340


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## Batbuddy (Sep 3, 2014)

In working on the arduino 4 banger by Mikko Jay I got working on this very issue. Mike (AKA MikkoJay) has up on his site the "jawduino" and I have been meaning to roll out my work on the thing since last year. I have it working quite well and it is as easy to put together as the arduino 4 banger hardware. Let me know if you are interested and I will try and speed up my posting of the method.


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## mkozik1 (Sep 6, 2010)

Following as I am currently working on a Leaping Lily with no audio. All of the other functions are working just fine. I thought I would be able to find a trigger point to start the audio playing, but I am not doing so well! Everything I have tried, the voltage seems to reverse itself when other functions start. I am thinking I might have to replace the factory controls with an Arduino as well. Working to validate the jaw function currently.


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## Sirlordwhitman (Nov 9, 2019)

Couple simple ways you can go about this. First is to simply crack open the control box and snip the speaker wire and put on a looping mp3 audio track on a bluetooth or wired speaker. Second way is to either snip the speaker wire or it has volume control, turn it down completely. Purchase the scream box micro and record your own sound effect. Insert its trigger wires in the same step pad as the prop. As soon as someone steps on it, both prop and scream box will be triggered.


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## Sirlordwhitman (Nov 9, 2019)

Scream box micro - https://www.frightprops.com/scream-box-micro.html


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