WhiteCap as a Standalone Application

The WhiteCap application uses your sound-in port as input. It's useful if you want to visualize sound that's not in an mp3 format, such as an audio CD, line input from an A/V source, or a microphone.

For MacOS

1. Exit any programs using audio input.
2. Open your "Monitors & Sound" control panel and click on the sound settings button.
3. Change the "Sound Monitoring Source" popup menu to whatever sound source you want to monitor (Built-in Mic, Sound In, and CD are the most commonly used).
4. Run the application named "WhiteCap" (you can search your Mac by selecting "Find" in the Finder's File menu).

For Windows

1. Exit any programs using audio input.
2. Open your recording options for your sound device and switch the recording source to the source you want to visualize (the specifics of this depends on your operating system and sound driver). For example, for a SoundBlaster in Windows 98, go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Audio HQ -> Mixer -> Record Control and proceed to enable/disable what sources are passed to your SoundBlaster's input channel. Note: a useful source often called "What You Hear" is whatever you're already hearing over your speakers. What You Hear can be convenient because you don't have to go into your sound controls every time your sound source changes (ex, from audio CD to an mp3 audio player), but it has the disadvantage that it's loudness/amplitude is proportional to your system's volume setting (ideally, you don't want the output of WhiteCap to be dependent on your volume level).
3. Run the program named "WhiteCap.exe" (you can search your PC by right-clicking on 'My Computer' and selecting "Find").