Music Spectrum Analyzer
A 28-band acrylic spectrum analyzer for a home sound system, in progress: FFT-based DSP on an STM32 driving WS2812B LED strips over DMA, on a custom Altium-designed PCB.
I wanted to actually see music, physically, on the wall, so I’m building a 28-band spectrum analyzer: an acrylic panel of LED columns that turns live audio into a real-time frequency display, designed to integrate with my sound system. It’s a work in progress, and it’s as much a hardware project as a DSP one.
Signal path
The core is an FFT running on an STM32 microcontroller. Audio comes in, gets transformed, and the spectrum is binned into 28 bands that map to the acrylic columns. The display itself is WS2812B addressable LED strips, driven over DMA so the microcontroller can push frames continuously without the CPU babysitting every bit.
The hardware is the project
The electronics live on a custom PCB designed in Altium Designer, and the enclosure and mounting hardware are modeled in SolidWorks. Doing the full loop, schematic, layout, firmware, and mechanical design, is the point: it’s the same discipline as the FSAE work, scaled to something that hangs in my room.
Status
WIP. The DSP pipeline and LED driving are the current focus; the enclosure design is modeled and waiting on the electronics to settle. Real photos and captures will land here as the build progresses.