Hydra reads only the browser's default microphone input, not desktop audio; DAW output requires virtual audio routing

Hydra’s audio-reactivity system accesses the browser’s microphone permission, which in Chrome maps to the system’s default microphone device. It does not have a direct way to receive the output from a DAW or media player running on the same machine. To use DAW audio as a Hydra input, there are three practical options: (1) virtual audio routing software (e.g. BlackHole on macOS, VB-Audio on Windows) that creates a loopback device; (2) physical routing — patch an interface output back into an input and set that as the default mic; (3) use a DAW’s envelope follower to generate MIDI CC and send it to Hydra via the hydra-midi extension, bypassing audio altogether.

Examples

In Ableton Live: route a track’s output to a virtual loopback device. Set that device as the default microphone in Chrome. Load Hydra and verify a.show() picks up the DAW’s signal.

Assessment

List the three routing methods for connecting DAW audio to Hydra’s audio analyser. For each, state one advantage and one limitation.