I think it's awesome that there's so much new interest in getting into eStim. I'll tell you this; it's a long learning curve. It's not steep, but it's long. I almost gave up a few times because it didn't feel as good as I had hoped. After getting the right box(es) and the right electrodes (I have a drawer full of trials and errors
), I've finally landed on a good setup for me.
So, here's my guru-ly advice for boxes:
memma wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 7:35 am
I have a soldering iron, experience with arduino and a small but reasonable budget. I'd like to put together my own stim setup (mostly inspired by
this post) to try out with cock heroes and similar.
Where should I start these days?
I don't know what your version of a small but reasonable budget is, so modify this all as needed.
If you want to get a plug and play device, and $400 fits your budget, the 2B device is as simple as it gets.
https://www.e-stimsystems.com/index.php ... 0&page=all
Now on to the cheaper (and in this case, cheaper does not mean worse - it means different) DIY devices.
Midistim box:
I've put the schematic for the Midistim box here:
Midistim schematic
This is pulled right from the smartstim post and, when followed correctly, works great. The parts list listed on that same post is woefully out of date so here's what I used:
Amplifier:
https://www.amazon.com/SMSL-SA-36A-Digi ... 434D8ZJEA6
Transformers:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001M ... UTF8&psc=1
Resistors:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NQ ... UTF8&psc=1
These are listed as unavailable, but there are a bunch of alternatives that should work. Just type, "25 watt 3.9ohm resistor" and you'll find plenty of options.
Housing:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T ... UTF8&psc=1
This got surprisingly cramped when everything was wired. I would not go any smaller.
Banana plugs and jacks:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PJ ... UTF8&psc=1
These sucked. They're cheap and a pain to work with. I do not recommend.
The whole setup cost me just under $100. The biggest expense is the amplifier. I have no idea if there's a cheaper option; I went with what was recommended.
You can also make a Davy box. There are schematics out there, but it's very similar to the Midistim but uses a cheap pair of powered speakers (can pick them up at a resale or thrift store for a few dollars) as the amp and leaves out the resistors. I think I built my first one for less than $20. If the midistim is in your budget though, I'd go with that - the sensations are much smoother.
The difference between the 2B and the DIY boxes is that the 2B has advanced processing for handling incoming stereo sounds. This prevents sharp sounds from hurting you; basically it's got built in dummy-proofing to keep you from getting hurt trying to stim to your favorite rock album or porn video. If you're building and using a DIY box, the sound you give to the DIY box gives it right to your electrodes. If you send a sharp sound, it passes that on and, OW!
The problem is that, sometimes sharp painful sounds are part of a tease or CH video. The 2B processes this down to what it decides is a manageable sound, kind of taking the threat or anticipation of pain/punishment out of those experiences. It also mis-processes some sounds and can actually cause unexpected variation - I found that out with some of my recent CH audio files. The 2B actually made those files more painful (not my intent!).
That should get you rolling towards your first stim device. I'll put up another post on electrodes soon.