A STUDIO PROJECT / Hardware & software

MixIt

A physical volume mixer for your computer, paired with a customizable desktop app.

In development

MixIt physical volume mixer beside a monitor displaying its desktop audio controls — MixIt hardware and desktop software.

01 / THE IDEA

Audio control.
A little more tangible.

MixIt began with a small frustration: adjusting local application volume while working through remote desktop. Physical sliders offered a way to manage application and system audio without interrupting the work. What started as a side project grew into an exploration of circuit design, embedded firmware, CAD, and desktop software.

KiCadAutodesk InventorESP32C++PlatformIOC#.NETAvalonia UINext.jsTypeScriptMySQL

02 / A CLOSER LOOK

From the desk
and the workbench.

Hardware, software, and the revisions that brought them together. Photos from the project’s development.

Front view of the current MixIt physical volume mixer — The current hardware prototype

MixIt desktop app showing Game, Chat, Media, and System volume channels — The customizable desktop interface

MixIt mixer alongside a keyboard and other desktop equipment — The mixer in everyday use

A MixIt Pro XL prototype — A Pro XL development prototype

Another view of a MixIt Pro XL prototype — Exploring the Pro XL form factor

03 / THE DEVELOPMENT STORY

One project.
A lot of learning.

Building across disciplines meant learning new tools, working through constraints, and returning to the details.

From loose wires to a custom PCB

Early experiments used hand-soldered components. Unstable readings and an unusable first circuit board made the importance of research and planning clear. Learning electrical schematics, component footprints, and KiCad led to a series of increasingly reliable PCB revisions.

An enclosure shaped by iteration

The enclosure was designed in Autodesk Inventor and developed through repeated 3D prints. Designing functional parts introduced constraints very different from visual modelling. The housing evolved from a larger, modular design into a smaller, more refined form.

Firmware that meets the hardware

The ESP32 firmware is written in C++ using PlatformIO. An early five-display design exposed memory and UI-library limitations. Shared framebuffers and revised display handling helped resolve those challenges. A version without displays became the focus for testing the core system before adding more complex visual features.

A desktop app built around the system

The desktop application uses C#, .NET, and Avalonia UI. USB device detection, application audio control, and deeper operating-system integration shaped that choice. The interface lets users choose which applications they control and how those controls are presented.

Making updates easier

Sending a prototype to a friend revealed how cumbersome manual firmware and desktop updates were. A companion Next.js web app and backend API are being developed for version checks, release management, and update distribution. This remains an area of ongoing development.

The result, and what comes next

The portfolio documents a working device used daily, with development continuing around distribution and updates. MixIt brings hardware, firmware, and software together, and reflects a way of working built on learning, testing, and improving one revision at a time.

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