cava
cross-platform audio spectrum visualizer for the terminal
TLDR
SYNOPSIS
cava [options]
DESCRIPTION
cava (Console Audio Visualizer for ALSA) is a bar spectrum audio visualizer that displays real-time frequency analysis as animated bars in the terminal or on the desktop. It captures audio from the system and renders it as a colorful equalizer-style display.The visualizer supports multiple audio backends including ALSA, PulseAudio, PipeWire, JACK, sndio, and PortAudio. Output can be rendered through ncurses for terminal display, SDL for a desktop window, or raw data for piping to other programs. All visual and audio settings are controlled through a configuration file.
PARAMETERS
-p path
Path to configuration file-v
Print version
CONFIGURATION
~/.config/cava/config
Controls bar width, spacing, colors, gradients, audio source, sensitivity, smoothing, and output mode.
CONTROLS
q / Ctrl+C
Quitr
Reload configuration
AUDIO SOURCES
- PulseAudio- PipeWire- ALSA- JACK- sndio- PortAudio- FIFO buffer
SIGNALS
SIGUSR1
Force config reload
INSTALL
CAVEATS
Requires audio capture permissions. Different audio backends need corresponding dev libraries. Works best with music playback.
SEE ALSO
alsamixer(1), pavucontrol(1)
