Hi Melanie,

I didn't notice any real increase in volume with the resistor & capacitor in series with pins 1 and 8? What I do notice is a light ticking (almost like a white noise) sound that seems to always be there. Actually I had that noise there before I added the resistor/capacitor but is was ever so slight. The clicking sound seems to get a little louder when I press the push button to leave the mainloop of my program and enter the set-up mode which is strange? I downloaded the datasheet for the 386 but I couldn't find any helpful hints that would suggest anything (at least that I could understand) to alleviate the problem. I found a log pot and it does work good to lower the volume..... thanks.

I have my sound circuit sharing a bread board & the same power supply with 2 other pic projects and that could be part of the problem.

I just finished soldering all the components for the sound circuit (except for the 386 amplifier circuit) on a pre-manufactured circuit board and my Lcd and the program is functioning good. Before I add the 386 I thought I'd seek a little advice. According to the 386 datasheet I can operate the 386 on up to 15V, so do you think it would be a good idea to add a 7812 voltage regulator to run the 386? Also I remember reading in the archives that you like to run your Lcd's on a separate 7805 in some instances which I thought I might do too if you think it would be warranted.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
jessey