arduino-pulseaudio-controller

Very simple, very "boring" approach -- not fancy at all, but can be implemented very easily.

Only needs componets from the Arduino Starter Kit, and a bit of Python.

The approach is far from optimal, with the poller struggling to keep up with the serial input, no config options, and so on :)

If you'd like a robust, battle-tested approach, you should look at the excellent deej project: https://github.com/omriharel/deej

Parts

All included in the official Arduino UNO Starter Kit

• 1x Arduino UNO
• 3x Potentiometers
• 3x capacitors (100 μF) - may not be needed depending on the input's stability.
• Assorted cables

Code

• Arduino code (print_potentiometer_values/print_potentiometer_values.ino)
  • Very straightforward I think, if you have more potentiometers just increment the array sizes
• Python code (poller.py)
  • Customize the app mapping by altering the constants above. I used three pots:
    • One: things that play audio in the background -- Spotify, Firefox (for Twitch, Plex)
    • Two: things that play audio in the foreground -- Games
    • Three: meetings -- Discord, Chromium (for Teams in the browser, also Slack/Electron)
  • To target apps, easiest thing is sink.proplist["application.name"] as name is mostly useless. You could also get fancy and target by PID.
• Misc
  • List current inputs by filter (dev_poll_inputs.py)
    • List pulsesecure sinks with their properties.

Drawings

Capacitors not pictured -- may not be necessary depending on how stable the input is.

Schematics

Capacitors not pictured -- may not be necessary depending on how stable the input is.

Finished work

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Marco Lussetti.

Licensed under the terms of the Apache License 2.0.