Windows & macOS · Electron + WebGL · Native WASAPI/CoreAudio loopback
CaYaDev Visualizer is a desktop application that generates full-screen visual effects that react in real time to system audio, microphones, and other selected audio inputs. It consists of two panels:
- 🎛️ Admin Panel — the control screen where all settings are adjusted live.
- 🖥️ Visualization Screen — the audio-reactive visual that opens full-screen on the monitor you select.
Audio can be captured from system output devices (speaker/headphone loopback), microphones/input devices, or multiple selected sources at the same time.
Selected sources are mixed before FFT analysis using the native audify module.
| Audio visualizer (live) | Frequency bars (live) |
|---|---|
 |
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The GIFs above were generated with a synthetic audio signal; in real use, they react directly to the music being played.
All settings are adjusted live from a single screen and saved automatically — display selection, audio source, background gradient, visualizer type, colors, logo, and performance.
Four main modes, numerous color presets, rainbow/single-color options, mirroring, bottom/center/full layouts, and soft/plasma background gradients provide a wide range of visual styles:
 Bars · bottom layout · rainbow · Aurora |
 Center Bars · logo · Neon plasma |
 Bars · mirror (bass in the center) · Ocean |
 Bars · centered symmetry · Ice |
 Wave · thick · mirror · Sunset |
 Wave · thin line · rainbow · Night |
 Circle · logo · Lava plasma |
 Circle · rainbow · logo · Forest |
 Solid-color background · brand-red bars |
|
npm install # installs dependencies
npm start # starts the applicationIf
npm installreturns a certificate error because of a corporate network/proxy, try again in PowerShell with$env:NODE_OPTIONS="--use-system-ca".
Developer mode (DevTools open): npm run dev
Development requirement: Node.js must be installed to run the project from source. Windows release packages include a bundled Node runtime for the audio capture helper.
npm run icons # generates icons from the SVG (build/icon.ico, .icns, .png)
npm run dist:win # Windows: NSIS installer + portable build (in the dist/ directory)
npm run dist:mac # macOS: DMG + zip (runs ONLY on a Mac)| Platform | Output | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | CaYaDev Visualizer Setup …exe (installer), …-portable.exe |
✅ Fully functional |
| macOS | …-darwin-arm64/, …-darwin-x64/ (.app), DMG (on Mac) |
The current GitHub release provides Windows installer and portable packages. macOS packages must be built on a Mac.
macOS native audio note: the native audio module (audify) cannot be cross-compiled
from Windows to macOS. The interface and visuals work in macOS .app packages produced on Windows,
but audio capture does not. For a fully functional macOS build, run npm install && npm run dist:mac
on a Mac. Capturing system audio on macOS requires a virtual audio device such as BlackHole
(the microphone works directly).
- Select a Display and one or more audio sources (system output, microphone, or other input devices).
- Click ▶ Open Visualizer to start the full-screen visual on the selected display.
- Use the cards on the right to change the visualizer type, colors, logo, and performance settings live — changes are applied immediately and saved automatically.
- Use Video Export to render a selected audio file as an MP4 with configurable resolution, frame rate, quality, and encoder.
- Press ESC on the Visualization Screen to exit.
- Audio-reactive mesh-gradient background flowing from every point (WebGL shader).
- Two styles: Soft (No Glow) — smooth, pastel mesh gradient; Plasma (Glowing) — more vivid and bright, bursting in response to audio.
- Five color points can be selected individually; 10 built-in presets (Aurora, Sunset, Neon, Lava, Ocean, Forest, Pastel, Night, Ice, Single Color).
- Flow speed, scale, warp (fluidity), audio reactivity, base brightness, grain, and vignette.
- Audio Burst (Brightness) and Audio Hue Shift can be adjusted independently.
- A solid-color background is also available.
- Bars — each bar represents a logarithmic frequency band. Bar count, min/max frequency, gap, position (bottom/center/full), mirror, and peak caps.
- Center Bars — bars expand symmetrically upward and downward from the center of the screen. Works especially well with a logo.
- Wave — oscilloscope/waveform; line width, amplitude, and mirror controls.
- Circle — radial spectrum designed for use with a centered logo; bass pulses the center ring.
- Rainbow can be enabled or disabled; when disabled, a single color is used. Sensitivity and glow controls are included.
- Places an image/logo in the center; it is automatically sized and positioned.
- Size, opacity, glow, position (X/Y), and audio pulse controls.
- Capture system output audio, microphones/input devices, or multiple selected sources simultaneously.
- Output devices use WASAPI loopback; input devices use direct capture through the native
audifymodule. - Sensitivity, smoothing, bass emphasis, and live level meters (overall / bass / mid / treble).
- Render a selected audio file as an MP4 video using the current visualizer settings.
- Configure resolution, frame rate, quality, encoder, and rendering speed.
- Includes progress tracking, cancellation, and GPU-to-CPU fallback when needed.
- Disabled by default and available only when compatible Windows Dynamic Lighting devices are detected.
- Dynamic modes include visualizer color flow, bar-spectrum mapping, advanced bass/mid/treble zones, background-light sync, synchronized beat flashes, frequency ripples, bar + background fusion, cross-device color flow, Rainbow light flow, and threshold-triggered background bursts.
- Threshold-triggered bursts monitor exactly one selected source (bass, mid, treble, overall level, or the strongest band) and react only after its configured threshold is crossed. Burst brightness scales with the amount above the threshold, while color comes from the real current background pixels.
- Bass/mid/treble response can use instant/hard, punchy/hard, or smooth/fluid profiles with configurable threshold, hardness, attack/release, and band separation. Rainbow can run sequentially across LEDs or as one shared tone and react in brightness to a selected audio band.
- Manual modes include one color across all devices, per-device colors, and per-LED/zone colors when exposed by the hardware.
- Brightness, audio reactivity, smoothing, update rate, LED layout, palette source, per-band colors/sensitivity, flash threshold/strength/decay, ripple speed/direction/width, and color spread are independently configurable.
- The installer registers the Windows background-lighting identity automatically. The portable build does not install an identity or request UAC; it controls lighting only while CAYADEV Visualizer is focused. Use the installer build when lighting must continue in the background.
- For background control while another application is focused, place CAYADEV Visualizer near the top of Windows Dynamic Lighting > Background light control.
- Export all application settings to a single JSON file, including audio, visuals, Dynamic Lighting, performance, logo, visual objects, display selection, and video export settings.
- User-created color presets are intentionally excluded from the backup and remain unchanged when a settings file is imported.
- Imported settings are merged with current defaults so newer fields remain valid.
- Frame rate (30/60/120/unlimited), background resolution scale, pause on silence, and cursor hiding.
System audio is captured using the output device's WASAPI loopback, while microphones and other input devices are captured directly. Multiple selected sources can be mixed before FFT analysis.
This is handled by a native module called audify. Because the native module is not distributed for Electron's ABI,
capture runs in a separate Node child process (src/main/loopback-helper.js). This process captures the audio,
calculates the FFT analysis, and sends the result to the main process.
Windows release packages include a bundled Node runtime, so end users do not need to install Node.js separately.
Device selection: In the Admin Panel, select one or more output and input devices. "Default Output" uses the output currently active in Windows. If the list is out of date, press 🔄 Refresh Devices. Capture may fail if another application is holding a device in exclusive mode; select another device or close that application.
Troubleshooting: Audio diagnostics run automatically, device discovery is retried when needed, and clear error codes are shown. If a required runtime component is missing, Automatic Repair can install it after user approval.
src/
main/ # Electron main process
main.js # windows, display selection, IPC, capture lifecycle
native-audio.js # manages the loopback-helper child process and forwards frames
loopback-helper.js # runs with the bundled/system Node runtime: audify capture + FFT
preload-admin.js / preload-visualizer.js / preload-exporter.js
shared/
defaults.js # default configuration + color presets
i18n.js # English/Turkish translations and language detection
admin/ # Admin Panel (control interface)
index.html / admin.css / admin.js / settings.js
exporter/ # Offline audio-to-MP4 export window
visualizer/ # Visualization Screen
index.html / visualizer.css / audio.js / visualizer.js
modes/ # gradient.js, bars.js, centerbars.js, wave.js, circular.js
scripts/
start.js # GUI launcher (clears ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE)
gen-icons.js # SVG -> icons
prepare-runtime.js # copies Node into Windows release resources
docs/screenshots/ # README images
Settings are saved automatically to %APPDATA%/soundvisualizer/settings.json on Windows.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
ESC |
Close the Visualization Screen |
| Click the screen | Retry if audio could not be started |
This project is licensed under the MIT License — see LICENSE for details.
Copyright (c) 2026 CaYaDev — https://cayadev.com
Developed with ❤️ by cayadev.com.