Instantboard

A polished Windows soundboard that plays sound effects directly into your microphone input — perfect for Discord, Zoom, games, and streams. Built with Python, PySide6, and VB-CABLE.

What it does

InstantBoard lets you search, browse, and trigger sound clips from MyInstants with one click or a global hotkey. When a sound plays, InstantBoard automatically:

1. Switches your default recording device to VB-CABLE (CABLE Output)
2. Routes the audio through VB-CABLE so communication apps pick it up immediately
3. Switches back to your normal microphone when the clip ends

No manual device switching. No missed audio at the start of a clip.

Features

• One-click playback — search MyInstants, hit play, and the sound triggers instantly
• Auto device switching — seamlessly routes audio to your mic input during playback and restores it afterward
• Overlapping playback — trigger multiple sounds at once; they mix together naturally with volume control
• Global hotkeys — assign keyboard shortcuts to your favorite sounds and trigger them from anywhere
• Trending & search — browse trending sounds or search for anything you need
• Volume controls — independent sliders for playback, microphone, and soundboard levels
• Polished dark UI — clean, modern interface with animated cards and status indicators

Requirements

| Component | Version | |-----------|---------| | Python | 3.10 or newer | | OS | Windows 10 / 11 | | VB-CABLE | VB-Audio Virtual Cable |

Python dependencies

• PySide6 — Qt UI framework
• sounddevice + numpy — real-time audio mixing
• soundfile — MP3/WAV decoding
• pycaw + comtypes — Windows default audio device switching
• keyboard (optional) — global hotkeys
• requests + beautifulsoup4 — MyInstants browsing

Setup

1. Install VB-CABLE

Download and install VB-CABLE from vb-audio.com. This creates two virtual audio endpoints:

• CABLE Input — playback endpoint (what InstantBoard writes to)
• CABLE Output — recording endpoint (what Discord / Zoom / OBS listens to)

Restart your PC after installing.

2. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/yourname/instantboard.git
cd instantboard
python -m venv venv
.\venv\Scripts\activate   # Windows
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run

python main.py

How to use

Basic playback

1. Search for a sound in the search bar, or browse the trending grid
2. Click the play button on any card
3. The sound plays through your speakers and routes into your microphone input via VB-CABLE
4. When the clip ends, your default microphone is restored automatically

Soundboard mode (manual)

If you want continuous soundboard routing (e.g., for streaming), click the Soundboard button in the bottom panel. This keeps VB-CABLE active even between clips. Click Normal to return to your regular microphone.

Global hotkeys

1. Favorite a sound by clicking the heart icon on its card
2. Open Settings (gear icon)
3. Assign a hotkey combination to the favorited sound
4. Trigger it from anywhere — even when InstantBoard is minimized

Volume controls

Use the sliders in the bottom panel to adjust:

• Playback Volume — local speaker monitoring
• Microphone Volume — your mic level in the mixed output
• Soundboard Volume — sound effect loudness

Troubleshooting

"VB-CABLE not detected"

• Make sure VB-CABLE is installed and you've restarted Windows after installation
• In Windows Sound settings, verify that "CABLE Input" appears under Playback devices and "CABLE Output" under Recording devices

No sound in Discord / Zoom

• Make sure the app's input device is set to "CABLE Output"
• Try the Soundboard button in InstantBoard for continuous routing
• Check that your microphone isn't muted in Windows

Audio is choppy or robotic

• Close other apps that might be using the audio device
• Make sure your sample rate is consistent (InstantBoard uses 48 kHz internally)

Project structure

instantboard/
├── audio/
│   ├── decoder.py      # MP3/WAV decoding
│   ├── devices.py      # Audio device enumeration and Windows default switching
│   ├── mixer.py        # Real-time mixing engine (sounds + mic → output)
│   ├── player.py       # High-level playback API
│   └── recorder.py     # Live microphone capture
├── gui/
│   ├── main_window.py  # Application window and hotkey manager
│   ├── player_widget.py # Bottom control panel (volumes, devices, mode)
│   └── search_widget.py # Search bar and sound card grid
├── myinstants/
│   ├── api.py          # MyInstants web client
│   └── parser.py       # Sound metadata parsing
├── utils/
│   ├── cache.py        # Local audio file caching
│   ├── icons.py        # SVG icon loader
│   └── settings.py     # JSON settings persistence
├── main.py             # Entry point
└── requirements.txt    # Python dependencies

License

MIT — feel free to fork, modify, and share.

Made with care for streamers, gamers, and anyone who loves a good soundboard.