System wide Equalizer for MacOSX - opinions on eqMac2?

[ToTo Man]

50% of my listening is done via Audirvana+, for which I use the parametric AU plugins to tame a problematic bass peak to very good effect.  The remaining 50% of my listening is done through other apps, such as DVD Player, VLC, YouTube on Safari, or satellite TV which I feed into the optical input of my Mac and 'monitor' the sound using Audacity.  DVD Player and VLC have very basic built-in EQ which is not much use to me, and when I watch YouTube or satellite TV I have no EQ facility at all.

 

I am therefore looking for a system wide EQ that I can use when I'm not using Audirvana+.  I'd prefer parametric but a 31-band graphic would probably do.  It must be acceptable it terms of its sonic transparency (e.g. I find the EQ in VLC to be far more detrimental to sound quality than the EQ in iTunes).  It doesn't have to be free, but the less expensive the better (assuming it gets the job done well of course).

 

A brief Google search for free apps suggests the following two options:

1) AU Lab in conjunction with Soundflower

2) The app eqMac2

 

The first option seems a bit convoluted to me.  The second option seems more straightforward but there are a couple of user reports accusing this app of being malware?  Therefore I'm a bit hesitant to install it.

 

I'd be grateful for some advice from those of you who use (or have used) a system-wide EQ app for the Mac.  What apps have you tried and what would you recommend using?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[ToTo Man]

Anyone?

[mneveux]

Check out Amarra's sQ+ Does all you are looking for and works very well.

[RunHomeSlow]

This is what a user here told me (copy_of_a):

 

On 10/22/2017 at 12:54 PM, RunHomeSlow said:

in your opinion for just putting more bass in the low end range of my speakers, should i use the FF Pro or SonEQ

 

 

$149 for FF ProQ2 is a pretty good price considering what the plugin provides in a professional mixing/mastering surrounding. But for a simple bass boost I think $149 is pretty steep.

SonEQ is a high quality plugin. So in terms of "soundquality" it should really do fine! As does Blue Cat's Triple EQ...

If you like the sound of SonEQ stay with it...

[MacAudio]

For a long time I routed iTunes and Logic Pro with Soundflower. It should also work with AU-Lab & soundflower.
The EQs for me were the Sonnox filter and the Fabfilter Pro Q2.
Both are really great!
As a cheap relatively good EQ, you can also look for free AU plugins.
Voxengo offers a graph EQ as free.
Even a Waves Linear Phase EQ for only 29 € is quite ok ;-)
But beware, because a Linear Phase EQ is not necessarily the best choice for normal use in the "only" stereo track. (although many claim it)

[buonassi]

Check out menubus. Supports systemwide au plug-ins. 

[94941]

On 4/11/2018 at 9:17 PM, buonassi said:

Check out menubus. Supports systemwide au plug-ins. 

 

THANK YOU! I've been looking for a system-wide plugin host for a long time. Menubus appears to be an excellent solution. Here's a link to their website for anyone else who may be interested: https://www.menubus.audio

[buonassi]

yeah, it's great.  I haven't tried their new version, but I do remember some crackling happening very lightly once in a while.  Hopefully, they've cleared that up.  Would you post back after you've played with it a bit?  I just may need to reinstall it.

[94941]

Yeah, I'll let you know. No problems at all so far on a 2015 iMac and a 2016 MacBook Pro. No crashes, crackling, or higher temps. I mostly like to use a little tube saturation plugin if I'm just doing background listening. I also like to use Goodhertz's Can Opener crossfeed plugin with headphones. It's a good one: https://goodhertz.co/canopener-studio

[SWL3600]

I use a DEQ 2496. Excellent sound quality as long as you use it strictly digital. Been using it for about 7-8 years now. Wouldn't want to go without it.

 

Computer audio uses it's optical ins/outs. CD player uses the digital coax ins/outs. Very flexible unit. I use it for PEQ only but it does much, much more.

[buonassi]

On 4/17/2018 at 9:07 PM, 94941 said:

I also like to use Goodhertz's Can Opener crossfeed plugin with headphones. It's a good one: https://goodhertz.co/canopener-studio

Certainly is the best one I've tried.  I bought it over a year ago and love it.  While their delay modeling affects the FR a bit, it's nowhere near as bad as other competing products.  It's not the most convincing for frontal localization, admittedly, but nothing can compare to it's sonic preservation of the source.  It's got the best SQ of any crossfeed I've tried, and I tried quite a few.  It does pull images out of your head very well.  Damn is this plugin worth its asking price!  

[94941]

4 hours ago, buonassi said:

Certainly is the best one I've tried.  I bought it over a year ago and love it.  While their delay modeling affects the FR a bit, it's nowhere near as bad as other competing products.  It's not the most convincing for frontal localization, admittedly, but nothing can compare to it's sonic preservation of the source.  It's got the best SQ of any crossfeed I've tried, and I tried quite a few.  It does pull images out of your head very well.  Damn is this plugin worth its asking price!  

 

Yeah, I like it a lot. It's the most natural sounding of the crossfeeds I've tried. Easy to use too and the presets are great. You don't have to screw around with it a lot like some of the other crossfeeds.

 

I first discovered their iOS version. They haven't updated it though and it doesn't work at all on the latest version of iOS so I guess it's abandonware at this point.

[94941]

By the way, I was getting some crackling using Menubus and CanOpener but I just backed the output  off 3db's and it was fine. It was overloading a bit. 

[wwaldmanfan]

I've been enjoying CanOpener Studio for a couple of years.

I'm trying out the Goodhertz Tone Control AU equalizer, and it really brings a lot of subtlety to Audirvana. This is a plugin equalizer that sounds amazing, and is super easy to use.

I have a lot of different masterings of some of my favorite albums, and this makes it fun to try to bring out the best in each one.

[Donzauker]

On 4/2/2018 at 3:02 PM, ToTo Man said:

50% of my listening is done via Audirvana+, for which I use the parametric AU plugins to tame a problematic bass peak to very good effect.  The remaining 50% of my listening is done through other apps, such as DVD Player, VLC, YouTube on Safari, or satellite TV which I feed into the optical input of my Mac and 'monitor' the sound using Audacity.  DVD Player and VLC have very basic built-in EQ which is not much use to me, and when I watch YouTube or satellite TV I have no EQ facility at all.

 

I am therefore looking for a system wide EQ that I can use when I'm not using Audirvana+.  I'd prefer parametric but a 31-band graphic would probably do.  It must be acceptable it terms of its sonic transparency (e.g. I find the EQ in VLC to be far more detrimental to sound quality than the EQ in iTunes).  It doesn't have to be free, but the less expensive the better (assuming it gets the job done well of course).

 

A brief Google search for free apps suggests the following two options:

1) AU Lab in conjunction with Soundflower

2) The app eqMac2

 

The first option seems a bit convoluted to me.  The second option seems more straightforward but there are a couple of user reports accusing this app of being malware?  Therefore I'm a bit hesitant to install it.

 

I'd be grateful for some advice from those of you who use (or have used) a system-wide EQ app for the Mac.  What apps have you tried and what would you recommend using?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi.

Currently I'm using eqMac2 on my iMac. Never noticed malware problems at all.

I use it with Tidal and it works perfectly with my sennheiser headphones. You can also switch to a 31 bands equaliser to refine the tune... and you can create all the custom profiles you need.

I think it's very good.