Plugin Equalizer for iTunes?

Ok, maybe someone has the answer for this, I have searched and searched, but to no avail......so .....

Given that I use a single driver full range speaker, with a notch filter, I have found that I am getting better results now with the notch filter removed and doing the frequency correction within iTunes with the equalizer. However that said, the equalizer is rather limiting with only ten bands to adjust. It would be really great if there was an alternative plugin that has a greater range of adjustment, say 30 band equalizer would be nice. This would be a great help and a development tool for those of us interested in speaker DIY... not to mention that it could also be used to some degree for room correction.

My question therefore is - is there a more comprehensive plugin equalizer for iTunes on a Mac?

Or .... any suggestion for an outboard equalizer that I assume would go between the MB and the DAC, and indeed is this a better or worse way to do this?

The "audiophiles" may "poo-poo" the idea of even contemplating the use of the iTunes equalizer, but I have to say that I would consider myself a fully paid up member of the audiophile nutter community, but the fact that I can actually now remove the components that make the notch filter, the associated wiring, joints, connectors and so on - which is of course in the analogue domain which is the worst place it could be.... have made the sound quality and dynamics better, no matter what you may think about the use of equalizer, the notch filter (or any filters in the spkr) are themselves frequency manipulation, but in the part of the audio chain where they are not best positioned. Since the equalization is being performed inthe digital domain, I must assume that that is a far better place to do correction than to do it at the speaker.

Anyway, just my current thinking on this and hopefully someone may have something to say about this!!!

DerrO

Hey DerrO - No worries about using an equalizer. If it sounds good to you then it sounds good :-)

Check out apEQ from apulSoft

Features

Audio plugin for Mac OS X (VST/AU) & Windows (VST)

64bit internal precision

2x and 4x oversampling

Unique filter stack feature to improve filter results

Output hard- and softclipping built in

Variable number of filterbands (up to 64)

Up to 40 dB gain per filter

Independent stereo filtering

High resolution FFT analyzer

Large analyzer display with zooming

Graphical editing of filters on top of the analyzer display

Thanks Chris,

The plug-in looks very nice (in fact, I just downloaded the demo) but I noticed it is for VST apps. iTunes can't handle VST plug-ins can it? Is there a solution that will apply to iTunes or better yet, all the audio output from the computer in real-time?

I can't believe there is not an existing solution to do this!

Mike Smith

www.stealthsubwoofer.com

I have been looking for a way to use my Bias Mastering plugins with in iTunes as they have some great EQ's in the suite, but like this app, they do not plugin directly to iTunes......AU or VST only. It amazes me that iTunes does not use AU for it's plugin architecture.....

HiJack Pro (paid) or JackOSX (open source) will let you route the iTunes output via thrd party apps and (I think) AU or VST plugins.

Eloise

Yes but does this affect sound quality??

No more than any other form of audio processig does. Sorry you really need to try it and judge for yourself if it's acceptible and better / worse than your other options.

Your other alternative is to use something like WaveEditor for playback: though you'll loose convinience of audio file management that iTunes offers. It's a case of finding what of the many solutions available offer the compromises you're willing to accept.

Eloise

PS. I think sbooth.org 's "play" application also supports AU plugins.

I use Audio Hijack Pro with a dithering plugin for Itunes. Supports AU and VST plugins. Does it effect the sound quality? Definitely. It makes the sound better. I have always been one to be "afraid" of EQ's and DSP messing things up from the purist perspective as far as playback is concerned; but this program is alot of fun and gives you a sea of options for DSP. You can use Audio Hijack with other playback software such as SongBird and Play too. Download the demo and give it a try. $30 to buy the full version.