DJVM is an open-source hardware volume mixer for Windows and Linux PCs, that supports the palestinian cause. It lets you use real-life sliders (like a DJ!) to seamlessly control the volumes of different apps (such as your music provider, the game you're playing and your voice chat session) without having to stop what you're doing.
DJVM is written in Go and distributed as a portable (no installer needed) executable.
- Bind apps to different sliders
- Bind multiple apps per slider (i.e. one slider for all your games)
- Bind the master channel
- Bind "system sounds" (on Windows)
- Bind specific audio devices by name (on Windows)
- Bind currently active app (on Windows)
- Bind all other unassigned apps
- Control your microphone's input level
- Lightweight desktop client, consuming around 10MB of memory
- Runs from your system tray
- Helpful notifications to let you know if something isn't working
- The sliders are connected to 5 (or as many as you like) analog pins on an Arduino Nano/Uno board. They're powered from the board's 5V output (see schematic)
- The board connects via a USB cable to the PC.
- The code running on the Arduino board is a C++ program constantly writing current slider values over its serial interface
- The PC runs a lightweight Go client in the background. This client reads the serial stream and adjusts app volumes according to the given configuration file
DJVM uses a simple YAML-formatted configuration file named config.yaml, placed alongside the DJVM executable.
The config file determines which applications (and devices) are mapped to which sliders, and which parameters to use for the connection to the Arduino board, as well as other user preferences.
This file auto-reloads when its contents are changed, so you can change application mappings on-the-fly without restarting DJVM.
It looks like this:
slider_mapping:
0: valorant.exe
1: youtube.exe
2: spotify.exe
3:
- forzahorizon5.exe
- valorant.exe
4: brave.exe
# set this to true if you want the controls inverted (i.e. top is 0%, bottom is 100%)
# In addition you can switch the gnd with the vcc.
invert_sliders: false
# settings for connecting to the arduino board
com_port: COM14
baud_rate: 9600
# adjust the amount of signal noise reduction depending on your hardware quality
# supported values are "low" (excellent hardware), "default" (regular hardware) or "high" (bad, noisy hardware)
noise_reduction: default
masteris a special option to control the master volume of the system (uses the default playback device)micis a special option to control your microphone's input level (uses the default recording device)DJVM.unmappedis a special option to control all apps that aren't bound to any slider ("everything else")- On Windows,
DJVM.currentis a special option to control whichever app is currently in focus - On Windows, you can specify a device's full name, i.e.
Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio), to bind that device's level to a slider. This doesn't conflict with the defaultmasterandmicoptions, and works for both input and output devices.- Be sure to use the full device name, as seen in the menu that comes up when left-clicking the speaker icon in the tray menu
systemis a special option on Windows to control the "System sounds" volume in the Windows mixer- All names are case-insensitive, meaning both
chrome.exeandCHROME.exewill work - You can create groups of process names (using a list) to either:
- control more than one app with a single slider
- choose whichever process in the group that's currently running (i.e. to have one slider control any game you're playing)
Building DJVM is very simple. You only need a few relatively cheap parts - it's an excellent starter project.
Build DJVM for yourself, or as an awesome gift for your gaming and streamer buddies buddies!
Coming Soon on beitak_tech.
Here is the link to the channel:
(https://www.youtube.com/@beitak_tech)
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An Arduino Nano, Pro Micro or Uno board
- I officially recommend using a Nano or a Pro Micro for their smaller form-factor, friendlier USB connectors and more analog pins. Plus they're cheaper
- You can also use any other development board that has a Serial over USB interface
-
A few slider potentiometers, up to your number of free analog pins (the cheaper ones cost around 1-2 USD each, and come with a standard 10K Ohm variable resistor. These should work just fine for this project)
- Important: make sure to get linear sliders, not logarithmic ones! Check the product description
- You can also use circular knobs if you like
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Some wires
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Any kind of box to hold everything together. You don't need a 3D printer for this project! It works fantastically with just a piece of cardboard or a shoebox.
- Connect everything according to the schematic
- Test with a multimeter to be sure your sliders are hooked up correctly
- Flash the Arduino chip with the sketch in `DJVM.ino'
- Important: If you have more or less than 5 sliders, you must edit the sketch to match what you have
- After flashing, check the serial monitor. You should see a constant stream of values separated by a pipe (
|) character, e.g.0|240|1023|0|483|0- When you move a slider, its corresponding value should move between 0 and 1023
- Congratulations, you're now ready to run the DJVM executable!
- Windows. That's it
- Install
libgtk-3-dev,libappindicator3-devandlibwebkit2gtk-4.0-devfor system tray support. Pre-built Linux binaries aren't currently released, so you'll need to build from source.
- Head over to the releases page and download the latest version's executable and configuration file (
DJVM.exeandconfig.yaml) - Place them in the same directory anywhere on your machine
- (Optional, on Windows) Create a shortcut to
DJVM.exeand copy it to%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startupto have DJVM run on boot
If you'd rather not download a compiled executable, or want to extend deej or modify it to your needs, feel free to clone the repository and build it yourself. All you need is a Go 1.14 (or above) environment on your machine.
If you need any help with this, please contact me thorugh ([email protected]) or on instagram(beitak.tech).
DJVM is released under the MIT license.