diff --git a/.config/quickshell/modules/mediaControls/MediaControls.qml b/.config/quickshell/modules/mediaControls/MediaControls.qml
index 0a85bde0a..4350658f6 100644
--- a/.config/quickshell/modules/mediaControls/MediaControls.qml
+++ b/.config/quickshell/modules/mediaControls/MediaControls.qml
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ Scope {
             for (let j = i + 1; j < players.length; ++j) {
                 let p2 = players[j];
                 if (p1.trackTitle && p2.trackTitle &&
-                    (p1.trackTitle.startsWith(p2.trackTitle) || p2.trackTitle.startsWith(p1.trackTitle))) {
+                    (p1.trackTitle.includes(p2.trackTitle) || p2.trackTitle.includes(p1.trackTitle))) {
                     group.push(j);
                 }
             }
@@ -81,8 +81,7 @@ Scope {
         stdout: SplitParser {
             onRead: data => {
                 // Parse `;`-separated values into the visualizerPoints array
-                let allPoints = data.split(";").map(p => parseFloat(p.trim())).filter(p => !isNaN(p));
-                let points = allPoints.slice(Math.floor(allPoints.length / 2), allPoints.length);
+                let points = data.split(";").map(p => parseFloat(p.trim())).filter(p => !isNaN(p));
                 root.visualizerPoints = points;
             }
         }
diff --git a/.config/quickshell/modules/mediaControls/PlayerControl.qml b/.config/quickshell/modules/mediaControls/PlayerControl.qml
index 842b681fd..fb4799e17 100644
--- a/.config/quickshell/modules/mediaControls/PlayerControl.qml
+++ b/.config/quickshell/modules/mediaControls/PlayerControl.qml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ Item { // Player instance
     property bool downloaded: false
     property list<real> visualizerPoints: []
     property real maxVisualizerValue: 1000 // Max value in the data points
+    property int visualizerSmoothing: 2 // Number of points to average for smoothing
 
     implicitWidth: widgetWidth
     implicitHeight: widgetHeight
@@ -168,7 +169,7 @@ Item { // Player instance
 
                 // Smoothing: simple moving average (optional)
                 var smoothPoints = [];
-                var smoothWindow = 3; // adjust for more/less smoothing
+                var smoothWindow = playerController.visualizerSmoothing; // adjust for more/less smoothing
                 for (var i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
                     var sum = 0, count = 0;
                     for (var j = -smoothWindow; j <= smoothWindow; ++j) {
@@ -178,6 +179,7 @@ Item { // Player instance
                     }
                     smoothPoints.push(sum / count);
                 }
+                if (!playerController.player?.isPlaying) smoothedPoints.fill(0); // If not playing, show no points
 
                 ctx.beginPath();
                 ctx.moveTo(0, h);
@@ -193,7 +195,7 @@ Item { // Player instance
                     blendedColors.colPrimary.r,
                     blendedColors.colPrimary.g,
                     blendedColors.colPrimary.b,
-                    0.25
+                    0.15
                 );
                 ctx.fill();
             }
@@ -205,15 +207,14 @@ Item { // Player instance
             }
 
             layer.enabled: true
-            layer.effect: MultiEffect { // Blur a tiny bit to obscure away the points
+            layer.effect: MultiEffect { // Blur a bit to obscure away the points
                 source: visualizerCanvas
                 saturation: 0.2
                 blurEnabled: true
-                blurMax: 6
+                blurMax: 7
                 blur: 1
             }
         }
-        
 
         RowLayout {
             anchors.fill: parent
diff --git a/.config/quickshell/scripts/cava/raw_output_config.txt b/.config/quickshell/scripts/cava/raw_output_config.txt
index a223a31cb..7760e4ea2 100644
--- a/.config/quickshell/scripts/cava/raw_output_config.txt
+++ b/.config/quickshell/scripts/cava/raw_output_config.txt
@@ -2,13 +2,16 @@
 mode = waves
 framerate = 60
 autosens = 1
-bars = 60
+bars = 50
 
 [output]
 method = raw
 raw_target = /dev/stdout
 data_format = ascii
+channels = mono
+mono_option = average
 
 [smoothing]
 noise_reduction = 20
 
+