Home

Prism User Guide

Prism is a desktop audio visualizer and meter rack for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It can watch the audio playing through your computer or a connected input, arrange multiple real-time scopes in one rack, and detach individual scopes into their own windows. The same seven audio scopes are also available as DAW plugins and in the prism-tui terminal interface.

Start Here

• Getting Started — Install Prism, choose an audio source, arrange the rack, and save your first profile.
• Installing and Updating — Choose the right package and understand which packages include the plugins and terminal interface.
• Audio Sources and Capture — System-output capture, microphones and line inputs, input trim, status messages, and platform requirements.
• Troubleshooting — Symptom-based checks for capture, windows, plugins, integrations, themes, profiles, and the TUI.

Scopes and Meters

• Understanding the Scopes — What the seven audio scopes show, measurement overlays, display transforms, and performance choices.
• Spectrum and Spectrogram — Frequency balance, frequency history, FFT size, scales, ranges, clarity, heat displays, and peak readouts.
• Oscilloscope and Waveform — Immediate waveform shape, pitch lock, and scrolling amplitude history.
• Vectorscope — Stereo width, phase, XY and mid/side projections, zoom, persistence, and multiband color.
• Level and Loudness Meters — VU calibration, peak and correlation readings, and momentary, short-term, and integrated LUFS.

Desktop Workflows

• Rack Layout and Windows — Show, hide, reorder, resize, rotate, pop out, pin, position, and restore scopes; use transparent windows, the tray, and login launch.
• Profiles — Save complete rack setups, handle unsaved changes, import .prsm files, and understand what remains local.
• Themes and Transparent Overlays — Select and edit .iro themes, refresh the theme library, and build stream-friendly clear or chroma-key layouts.
• Now Playing Integrations — Show cover art and track information from Astra or the local Spotify app, choose provider priority, and use transport controls.
• Rolling Audio Capture — Keep the latest 5–60 seconds in memory and drag it out as a WAV file.

Other Prism Frontends

• DAW Plugins — Install and use the seven VST3/AU scope plugins, understand project-saved settings, and diagnose plugin scanning.
• Terminal UI — Install and operate prism-tui, edit its rack, use profiles and themes, and choose a terminal compatibility mode.

Project Links

• Downloads and release notes
• Source code and issue tracker
• Astra Discord