Planet Arduino

While some keyboards provide media keys or even knobs to adjust your overall computer sound up and down, often what you really want is the ability to tune program volumes separately. To make this extremely easy, SNR Tech Bytes has come up with a beautifully-designed controller, which runs on the MKR ZERO.

The device features five encoders to individually tune the master volume, Discord, Chrome, gaming, and Spotify, with the help of software on the PC itself. Encoder button mutes each channel as needed, using NeoPixels below to indicate each status.

The build is based on the deej volume mixer, and more specifics on this version are available on GitHub.

Overall computer volume control is important, but what if you want to get more granular, adjusting sound from various applications individually? Rather than going through a series of menus and on-screen sliders, Ruben Henares’ Maxmix lets you do this on the fly.

Based on an Arduino Nano, the simple yet stylish knob takes input from an encoder and button to select a program and rotating it turns the volume up and down.

There’s also a desktop application that needs to be installed, while a small OLED screen on the Maxmix that shows which application is running. There’s even an optional LED ring for extra lighting effects.

All the electronics are housed inside a nicely designed 3D-printed enclosure. You can find files for the case along with build instructions on Henares’ site.

If you have multiple applications open in Windows, you may want one to be louder than the other, but what if you want to adjust levels with physical sliders like an actual DJ? If that sounds interesting, check out this controller by “Aithorn.”

The device uses an Arduino Nano to read signals from each slider and pass this info over to the computer. A Python script, along with a VBScript helper, runs on the PC to control the master and program-specific volumes. 

Code for the project, which was actually written by Omri Harel, is available on GitHub. You can see the original version of it the video below, working its magic on a shoebox stand. Print files for Aithorn’s new enclosure can be found here.