EQ 5.1 on macOS?

[Jas0_0]

Hi all,

I watch films/TV and listen to music using a Mac mini, RME Fireface 400, and Genelecs.

Films/TV are streamed via Safari, or watched on VLC.

I apply room EQ FIR filters created in REW via Audio Hijack. Currently 2.0 only.

The Fireface has lots of outputs. Is there a way to run a similar setup for 5.1, applying room EQ and hi/lo pass filters to each channel?

I’ve read Audio Hijack only handles stereo or mono, so if it won’t EQ 5.1, will something else?

Thanks,

James

 

[_thelaughingman]

Have you checked out this app? Boom 3D. this might be something that should work.

 

[Pe8er]

You could use Blackhole (free, open source) to create virtual devices for each channel and then any DAW (Hosting AU is the simplest one and free, although it supports only 4 channels) to apply EQ with VST or AU plugins.

Here's a bunch more links to explore, including lots of good EQ plugins:

EQ Software for Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS/iPadOS and Android.

Any suggestions are welcome. Post suggestions here. I will gather the details and add them. Thanks. :D This will be organized as results come in. @sweetchaos made a guide for PEQ filter data input and operation. For crossover software go here. Windows: AutoEQ four easy steps to make your...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[voodooless]

Published versions

 

[Pe8er]

Published versions

I didn't know it was available on Mac! Going to try it out right away.

 

[pierre]

Hi all,

I watch films/TV and listen to music using a Mac mini, RME Fireface 400, and Genelecs.

Films/TV are streamed via Safari, or watched on VLC.

I apply room EQ FIR filters created in REW via Audio Hijack. Currently 2.0 only.

The Fireface has lots of outputs. Is there a way to run a similar setup for 5.1, applying room EQ and hi/lo pass filters to each channel?

I’ve read Audio Hijack only handles stereo or mono, so if it won’t EQ 5.1, will something else?

Thanks,

James

Use https://github.com/HEnquist/camilladsp, it works well with multichannels.
@voodooless beat me to it.

 

[Jas0_0]

Thanks these are all really helpful suggestions. CamillaDSP often seems to be the answer. I’m slightly daunted by it, but it sounds like it’s worth some quiet hours of getting my head around it.

 

[sam_adams]

You could use Blackhole (free, open source) to create virtual devices for each channel and then any DAW (Hosting AU is the simplest one and free, although it supports only 4 channels) to apply EQ with VST or AU plugins.

Here's a bunch more links to explore, including lots of good EQ plugins:

EQ Software for Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS/iPadOS and Android.

Any suggestions are welcome. Post suggestions here. I will gather the details and add them. Thanks. :D This will be organized as results come in. @sweetchaos made a guide for PEQ filter data input and operation. For crossover software go here. Windows: AutoEQ four easy steps to make your...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The latest versions of Blackhole on github are sourcecode only downloads. That means you need XCode to compile them. If you've never used XCode, good luck with that.

The download installer link for a three-year-old installer on the github page takes you to the author's website where he prompts for donations. Can't or won't donate? Give him your e-mail address so he can send you the download link and then he sells your email address to a spammer. No thanks.

Hosting AU hasn't been updated in seven years so those with newer Macs and macOS versions should be prepared to troubleshoot possible issues. If it works for you with your setup, that's great. Not everyone will have the same good fortune.

 

[mdsimon2]

The latest versions of Blackhole on github are sourcecode only downloads. That means you need XCode to compile them. If you've never used XCode, good luck with that.

The download installer link for a three-year-old installer on the github page takes you to the author's website where he prompts for donations. Can't or won't donate? Give him your e-mail address so he can send you the download link and then he sells your email address to a spammer. No thanks.

Hosting AU hasn't been updated in seven years so those with newer Macs and macOS versions should be prepared to troubleshoot possible issues. If it works for you with your setup, that's great. Not everyone will have the same good fortune.

In my experience blackhole is easy to install using homebrew -> https://brew.sh/.

Once you have homebrew installed just run brew install blackhole-2ch or brew install blackhole-16ch from the terminal.

Michael

 

[mdsimon2]

Thanks these are all really helpful suggestions. CamillaDSP often seems to be the answer. I’m slightly daunted by it, but it sounds like it’s worth some quiet hours of getting my head around it.

It is a good way to go IMO. I've run a similar setup with a Fireface 800 and a Mac mini. I love that the 2012 and 2014 Mac mini support firewire as there are a lot of decent firewire interfaces available at very good prices.

I wrote a very condensed installation guide for CamillaDSP and Mac which may be useful -> https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...m-correction-etc.349818/page-177#post-7131218.

Michael

 

[voodooless]

It is a good way to go IMO. I've run a similar setup with a Fireface 800 and a Mac mini. I love that the 2012 and 2014 Mac mini support firewire as there are a lot of decent firewire interfaces available at very good prices.

You can get an TB to FW cable for little money, so even on modern hardware you could still use the old interfaces.

 

[mdsimon2]

You can get an TB to FW cable for little money, so even on modern hardware you could still use the old interfaces.

Definitely. I have a 2015 MacBook Pro and I use a TB2 to FW adapter with it, works great.

Michael

 

[Pe8er]

The latest versions of Blackhole on github are sourcecode only downloads. That means you need XCode to compile them. If you've never used XCode, good luck with that.

The download installer link for a three-year-old installer on the github page takes you to the author's website where he prompts for donations. Can't or won't donate? Give him your e-mail address so he can send you the download link and then he sells your email address to a spammer. No thanks.

Hosting AU hasn't been updated in seven years so those with newer Macs and macOS versions should be prepared to troubleshoot possible issues. If it works for you with your setup, that's great. Not everyone will have the same good fortune.

I appreciate the warnings but I think you're being a little too negative. As @mdsimon2 rightly pointed out, newest Blackhole version can be installed through Brew. Admittedly it's not as straightforward as downloading the app from a website, but the instructions are provided on GitHub page.

And Hosting AU works on my MacBook Air M2, so despite this being just anecdotal evidence, I take MacOs ecosystem's stability and predictability into account, which makes me pretty confident it should work without problems on most modern Macs.

@OP good luck with CamillaDSP! Here's a huge tutorial for it: https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/rpi4-camilladsp-tutorial.29656/ It was written for Raspberry Pi, but once you sink your teeth into it, it should at least provide useful guidance.