Visualisation of sound gives an extra dimention in the experiance of music. The LM3915 chip makes it possible to easily create a circuit that can accomplish this task.
For around 2 euro it is possible to get a complete PCB board with all components where you can build this small project. You can buy this set in Chinese web stores. The package consists of a PCB board with the LM3915 chip, LEDs and other components needed to build this VU meter.
This is the schematic that was included with this LM3915 board.
I placed all the components according to the schematic and put the PCB board in crocodile pcb stand to start the soldering process.
This is how it looks after the soldering is done.
It's time to test the project. I have connected the board to 12V power supply and to sound output of my computer.
It works well. When the volume of the music rised more leds lid up. With R3 potentiometer you can control the level.