VFD PlayerBeta

Display

▶

Playing

❚❚

Paused

LIST

More than one track in the queue

SHUF

Shuffle

RPT

Repeat

BUF

YouTube is loading the video

SIM

No access to the sound: spectrum and meters are simulated

TAB

Tab audio is being captured

FILE

Playing a local file

ERR

Something went wrong — see the status line

CLIP

The track itself hit 0 dB (overload), at any volume

BEAT

A beat: the bass jumped above its average

EQ

The equaliser is on (not Flat)

SLEEP

The sleep timer is running

Text

Artist - title / album (year) from the file’s tags, else the file name (long ones scroll); the name of a mode for a moment

Time

Elapsed, or remaining with a minus — click it or press T

ST · MONO · codec · kHz

Stereo or mono, and the file’s format and sample rate

TR 03/12

Track number and queue length; on the radio CH 05, or P3 for a preset

CD · Tape

Turns while playing, stands on pause, blinks while loading. The disc slows down through the track as a real CD does; the tape winds from the left reel to the right

Antenna

Radio: the arcs sweep while a station tunes in, all lit once it plays

TUNE(D) scale

Radio, in place of BAL: stations by genre, the needle on the one playing

Left area

Spectrum (bars, peaks, mirror, waves), oscilloscope, goniometer, field, gravity, cover art, or the playlist

SCOPE

The waveform itself, held still and auto-ranged like a bench scope (real signal only)

XY

L against R: a vertical line is mono, a wide cloud is wide stereo (real signal only)

FIELD

A planet turning in its magnetic field: each loop rides a band of the spectrum (inner ones the bass, outer the treble), the field leans to the louder channel, a bass hit throws it out

GRAVITY

A plain reaching to the horizon, flat in silence; hills grow out of it with the music, each with its own sound: the bass a big hill in the middle, the treble small ones towards the edges

Clock

The Clock key puts the time of day on the big digits while the music plays on; again for the track time. After a while without music the glass dims to the clock by itself

ART

The cover in lit dots (from the file, or the YouTube thumbnail) beside title, artist, album, year (a disc outline when there is none); the text row turns into a small level meter

L · R VU

Level of each channel in the track itself, whatever the volume; PEAK lamps near full scale

VOL · BAL

Volume, and which channel is louder

Controls

Space

Play / pause

N · P

Next / previous (restarts past 3 s)

◀◀ ▶▶

Back / forward 10 s (keys on the panel)

← →

Seek 10 s

↑ ↓

Volume

T

Elapsed / remaining time

D

Display mode (Disp)

L

Playlist on the glass (List)

K

Time of day on the big digits (Clock)

C

Glass colour (Tint)

M

CD or tape indicator (CD / Tape key)

E

Equaliser preset (EQ)

Z

Sleep timer: 15 · 30 · 60 · 90 min

I

Input: Files / YouTube / Radio

F

Full screen: just the glass; move the mouse for the control bar (Esc leaves)

?

Jump to this manual

Mouse

Time digits

Elapsed / remaining

Playlist row

Play that track; the wheel scrolls

Files on the page

Drop files or folders anywhere to add them

Sources

INPUT works like a receiver's selector: picking Files, YouTube or Radio stops the other two, and each comes back where you left it: the same track and second, paused (the radio tunes in straight away). One source plays at a time.

Files

+ Files and + Folder add to the queue (a folder with its subfolders, in folder order), and so do files or folders dropped anywhere on the page; what plays keeps playing. Clear empties the queue. The display gets the real signal right away, plus format, sample rate and durations. The equaliser works on files and the radio; YouTube’s sound stays out of its reach.

Next visit

The player remembers what was on: the queue, the track and the second, a YouTube link, a station. Back on the page, press ▶ to carry on. Your own files need the browser’s leave again: in Chrome and Edge ▶ asks for access to the folder once; elsewhere, add the same files or folder and it picks up at that track and second.

YouTube

Paste a video or playlist link. The browser doesn’t let a page hear audio from someone else’s player, so the display runs simulated (SIM): it moves, but not with the music.

Radio

Pick Radio and the last station tunes in; ⏮ ⏭ go through the list, List shows it on the glass. Hold a preset key P1…P6 to store the station, tap it to come back. Every listed station gives the real signal, and some say what’s playing. The tuning scale (where BAL was) shows where you are, by genre; TUNED lights once the station plays. A stream link of your own goes in the field; if its server doesn’t allow it, it plays in SIM, like YouTube.

The stations play straight from their own servers, and most live on listener support: Radio Paradise, NTS, KEXP, The Current, Nightwave Plaza.

Real signal for YouTube

1. Press ◉ Tab audio (desktop Chrome or Edge).
2. Pick this tab: the video plays here, inside the player.
3. Turn on Also share tab audio and confirm.

SIM goes out and everything follows the real sound. You keep hearing the music as usual; Chrome shows a “sharing this tab” bar, and Stop sharing (or Tab audio again) ends it.