So, instead of simply going over the software and hardware, I think it would be more interesting to explain the theory of operation, and then dive into the project’s implementation! I might change this format in future projects. But, for now I think it’s a really awesome format since I find it’s really awesome and/or advantageous to know how something we might see or use everyday often has a strong theoretical background. I hope others find this format as exciting as I do, and I appreciate any kind of feedback if there’s any!

By the way, I want to apologize if the equations are difficult to read due to the background color. I'm still figuring out how to best present certain information!

The Idea: Real-Time Visual Equalizer

All a visual equalizer fundamentally does is display the frequency content of a signal at each instance of time, where frequency content of a signal is simply the same signal whose magnitude changes with respect to frequency. Not sure if there’s an official definition of a visual ( or sometimes graphic ) equalizer, but I think my definition concisely describes what a visual equalizer effectively does.

The Theory: Fun with the Fast Fourier Transform!

But, how does one obtain a frequency spectrum of a signal at an instance of time? Well, one way would be to implement a series of bandpass filters whose center frequencies correspond to the frequencies that I want the visual equalizer to display. If I was going to do an analog implementation of this project, I’m certain my best option would be this approach. Luckily, since I know my target development board consists...