🌿 Cava — Verdant Aqua

god-tier terminal audio visualizer config · deep-V EQ · unique patterns per genre · cross-platform

A hand-tuned cava configuration built for maximum visual drama. Every genre produces a visually distinct pattern — EDM erupts with towering bass walls and crackling treble spikes, jazz breathes with warm low columns and delicate wisps, classical sweeps luminous mid-range arches. No two songs look the same.

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Palette — Verdant Aqua

Stop	Hex	Role
1	#071109	Bar roots — near-black forest floor
2	#0D4025	Sub-bass — deep undergrowth
3	#1A9C6B	Bass — rich forest-to-teal
4	#2ED8A2	Midrange — vivid emerald
5	#00E1C0	High-mids — pure aquamarine
6	#00F6D8	Presence — bright cyan-aqua
7	#50FFF0	Air — electric seafoam
8	#AAFFF0	Peaks — crystalline near-white aqua

Background: #0B1A14 — dark forest floor, zero bleed.

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What makes it unique

Deep-V EQ curve — the single biggest driver of visual variety. Sub-bass bands are boosted to 2.8×, the mid-range is scooped to 0.2×, and the air band fires at 2.9×. This creates a visual canyon in the center so bass and treble columns fire completely independently. Every genre literally looks different:

Genre	Visual pattern
EDM / Trap	Massive bass towers at center, crackling treble spikes at edges
Rock	Kick punches up center, guitar presence sits mid-low
Jazz	Warm low columns, delicate treble wisps at the flanks
Classical	Sweeping mid-range architecture, gentle luminous peaks
Lo-fi	Slow rolling hills, almost no treble activity

noise_reduction = 40 — fast and reactive. Every drum hit, pluck, and stab snaps to a distinct visual event instead of blurring into the previous frame.

reverse = 1 + stereo — treble lives at the outer edges, bass in the center. Kick drums produce a W-shaped crown that collapses back down; hi-hat rolls fire bright spikes at both flanks simultaneously.

waves = 1 + monstercat = 1 — bar tops flow into soft organic curves instead of hard block steps.

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Installation

Requires Python 3.8+ — no external dependencies.

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/programmersd21/my_cava_dotfiles.git
cd my_cava_dotfiles

# Install (interactive — backs up existing config automatically)
python install.py

# Or force-overwrite silently
python install.py --force

# Preview what would happen without touching anything
python install.py --dry-run

# Restore your old config
python install.py --uninstall

What the installer does

OS	Config location
Windows	%APPDATA%\cava\config
macOS	~/.config/cava/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cava/config)
Linux	~/.config/cava/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cava/config)

• Detects your OS automatically
• Backs up any existing config with a timestamp before overwriting
• Checks whether cava is in your PATH and prints install instructions if not
• Prints OS-specific audio input guidance after installing

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Installing cava

Windows

# Via Scoop (recommended)
scoop bucket add extras
scoop install cava

Or download a pre-built binary from the GitHub releases page.

Cava on Windows captures system audio automatically via WASAPI loopback — no audio configuration needed.

macOS

brew install cava

To capture system audio (not just microphone), install BlackHole:

brew install blackhole-2ch

Then set your Mac's output to BlackHole, and set cava's input to portaudio. The installer will remind you.

Linux

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt install cava

# Arch / Manjaro
sudo pacman -S cava
# or from AUR: yay -S cava-git

# Fedora
sudo dnf install cava

# Nix
nix-env -iA nixpkgs.cava

After installing, uncomment the correct input method in the config:

[input]
method = pipewire   # modern systems
; method = pulse    # PulseAudio
; method = alsa     # bare ALSA
source = auto

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Terminal recommendations

For the best visual experience:

Setting	Recommendation
Background	#0B1A14 — match the config background exactly
Font	Iosevka, Maple Mono, or any Nerd Font — soft block glyph geometry reads closest to rounded bars
Font size	8–10pt — more rows = taller bars = more gradient visible
Terminal	Windows Terminal, kitty, WezTerm, Alacritty — all support synchronized_sync

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Config structure

my_cava_dotfiles/
├── config/
│   └── cava/
│       └── config          ← the actual cava config
├── themes/
│   └── verdant_aqua.md     ← palette reference card
├── demo/
│   └── demo.gif            ← the demo of the dotfile
├── install.py              ← cross-platform installer
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
└── .github/
    └── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
        └── bug_report.md

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Customisation

The config is heavily commented — every value explains what it does and why. Key things to tweak:

sensitivity = 150    # raise for quiet sources, lower for loud systems
noise_reduction = 40 # lower = snappier, higher = smoother/more fluid
framerate = 120      # match your monitor's refresh rate

To change the palette, edit the gradient_color_1 through gradient_color_8 values. Any hex colours work.

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License

MIT — do whatever you want with it.

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made with 🌿 for people who care about their terminal