A "Click" with a piezo

[brue]

Hi

Im designing a product that uses capacitive sensor buttons. For better usebility, i would like to have a "click" sound if a button press is detected.

I do not have much space for a loudspeaker, so i want to use a piezo.

But how do i produce a nice sound like a click with a piezo? Is it possible at all?

 I dont want only a crappy biiiip.


Thanks
 

[AndyC_772]

I'd have thought that was the easiest sound of all!

Why not test it out? I presume you're using a microcontroller of some kind, so get hold of a sample of a piezo transducer that you can accommodate within your product, and connect it to a spare I/O pin (maybe via a transistor to buffer it).

Experiment with a few different drive waveforms - start with a single logic high pulse 1ms wide, then vary the pulse width and the number of pulses in the burst until you get a sound you like.

[ejeffrey]

A step impulse or a single pulse of several ms will usually generate an acceptable click sound, but it may be a bit quiet depending on the size of the piezo element and the environment.  To make it louder you need several pulses, but then it starts to sound more like a beep.

[mikeselectricstuff]

For the best volume, give it a few cycle at its resonant frequency - a very short beep will sound louder than a simple click.