Looking for a Good System-Wide EQ for macOS (Apple Silicon)

[DWPress]

Not dragging you into anything, just offering free advice for free plugins. I purchase plugins too but many in my list are gifts from devs for beta testing.

TDR Nova has many of the Fabfilter features. MEqualizer gives you 6 bands of PEQ and allows L, R or LR implementation. QRange allows for 12 bands of PEQ.

 

[ChaoscripT]

Thanks all for comments, I will go with SoundSource.
For all who using SoundSource, do you use the "boost" option?

CamillaDSP?

You ask me ? I don't know.

I use Audio Hijack. Have heard Sound Control is a viable option as well.

Audio Hijack is for record music no? it's no the purpose that I need.
It's from the same company of SoundSource.

Besides eqMac2 (started open source, now is also free/paid) there's this new one which looks very promising https://github.com/Torteous44/radioform but I cannot vouch for it since I've never used it.

I heard about eqMac2.
Prefer something that already works instead of start to check it (I meant about radioform)

If you want the absolute best, you’re going to need to use VST/AU plugins that you’d use in music production.

The best Mac product for easily using plugins for app or system audio processing is Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack. Been using it for decades and it’s fantastic. It’s incredibly versatile & powerful. Absolutely worth $70. They also have great tech support.

Next, EQ plugins. Certainly not the only 2 to consider, but absolutely amongst the best:

FabFilter Pro-Q

FabFilter Pro-Q 4 - Equalizer Plug-In

FabFilter Pro-Q 4 is a high quality equalizer plug-in with unrivalled sound and interface. Available in VST, VST3, AU, CLAP, AAX and AudioSuite formats for Windows and macOS

www.fabfilter.com

Sonnox Oxford EQ

Oxford EQ

A powerful EQ is essential to any mix. If you mix music, film sound or live shows, you need an EQ plugin that's up to the task. Enter our flagship Oxford EQ. This versatile parametric EQ plugin traces its heritage back to the revered, million-dollar Sony OXF-R3 digital console.

sonnox.com

Be fore warned: these are manly plugins made for manly men who want to do manly things like master audio. Not for tourists or the faint of heart.

I don't make any music production, just listen to music.

I have a Mac for work computer and Windows for personal. Started using Soundsource reluctantly after trying Blackhole and not getting it to work at all. I'm not aware that there is another free solution that actually works.

I didn't feel like I wanted to pay after getting the very nice EQAPO on Windows for $0 but I think Soundsource is the way to go on Mac.

I agree, in windows the SoundFX or other EQ are free,
But if it's one time payment it's ok.

There are many plugins that are free, no need to spend more $$. I think there's a list on the other thread linked above.

I don't make any music, so I don't know if I need plugins.

 

[RadioWaveRider42]

Since most suggestions here are for SoundSource (which is great but costs $49), I wanted to throw in a couple of free options that have not been fully explored in this thread:

eqMac — someone mentioned it briefly, but it is worth a closer look. The free tier gives you a basic 10-band graphic EQ that works system-wide on Apple Silicon natively. If you want parametric EQ, that is behind the paid tier, but the free version is a good way to test whether system-wide EQ is even something you will stick with before committing to SoundSource.

CamillaDSP + BlackHole — this was also mentioned briefly. Yes, it requires some initial setup (BlackHole creates a virtual audio device, CamillaDSP does the processing), but once configured it is rock solid and completely free. It gives you full parametric EQ with unlimited bands, and the processing quality is excellent — no artifacts, very low latency. There is a nice GUI called CamillaDSP GUI that makes configuration much easier than editing YAML files by hand. If you are comfortable with a bit of terminal work during setup, this is probably the most powerful free option on macOS.

For your use case (music listening through an external DAC with Edifier M60s), honestly either of these would work well. But if you just want something that works out of the box with zero hassle, the consensus here is right — SoundSource is hard to beat for the convenience factor.

 

[goryu]

Audio Hijack is for record music no? it's no the purpose that I need.
It's from the same company of SoundSource.

Yes, Audio Hijack can be used for recording but due to its ability to route audio and host plugins it can be used for much more- I use to to route audio from my audio computer's (mac mini) various inputs: smart tv digital input, system input which includes audio from any app like youtube, and streaming audio from amazon music. There are blocks that allow you to create input switches from these different audio streams. From there, I use a room shaper block to do some room correction, then split the stream with crossover blocks into two frequency bands, I can then add individual speaker correction with convolution blocks, PEQ with equalizer blocks, delay, reverb, crosstalk, etc. with individual blocks/plug ins. Finally, i use plug in meters at the end of each audio chain. If you want EQ, you will need to have a way to route your audio stream(s) and a plug in container to access PEQ/EQ plug ins. By the way, I do not use Audio Hijack for recording. It is more flexible and powerful than Soundsource and it has worked on my mac mini without any issues. It is intuitive to use - I had it up and running in about an hour. There are thousands of filter, eq, etc. plug ins available for free.

 

[masterhw]

I got SoundSource 5 last september and they gave me a free upgrade to 6 which came out not long ago. Coming from Windows it felt strange to pay 50 bucks for what was traditionally free (EqualizerAPO) but at least it does everything I want it to, I can share the same eq files between windows and mac, and I generally never have to think about it again. I guess that’s worth $50 to me.

 

[AA63]

Thanks all for comments, I will go with SoundSource.
For all who using SoundSource, do you use the "boost" option?


I don't make any music, so I don't know if I need plugins.

The main power of SoundSource is its ability to use plug-ins. If you want an exceptional eq that you can use for free, https://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-nova/

 

[goryu]

I got SoundSource 5 last september and they gave me a free upgrade to 6 which came out not long ago. Coming from Windows it felt strange to pay 50 bucks for what was traditionally free (EqualizerAPO) but at least it does everything I want it to, I can share the same eq files between windows and mac, and I generally never have to think about it again. I guess that’s worth $50 to me.

There have been issues with mac and soundsource reported in the last year or so. Hopefully their latest version has solved those.

If you want eq, plug ins are the way to go.

 

[HalSF]

There have been issues with mac and soundsource reported in the last year or so. Hopefully their latest version has solved those.

If you want eq, plug ins are the way to go.

I’ve owned SoundSource for a number of years and one of the things they do right is promptly repair bugs and roll out updates any time a new MacOS version introduces conflicts or problems. I’m not aware of any issues that haven’t almost immediately been fixed.

 

[ChaoscripT]

Since most suggestions here are for SoundSource (which is great but costs $49), I wanted to throw in a couple of free options that have not been fully explored in this thread:

eqMac — someone mentioned it briefly, but it is worth a closer look. The free tier gives you a basic 10-band graphic EQ that works system-wide on Apple Silicon natively. If you want parametric EQ, that is behind the paid tier, but the free version is a good way to test whether system-wide EQ is even something you will stick with before committing to SoundSource.

CamillaDSP + BlackHole — this was also mentioned briefly. Yes, it requires some initial setup (BlackHole creates a virtual audio device, CamillaDSP does the processing), but once configured it is rock solid and completely free. It gives you full parametric EQ with unlimited bands, and the processing quality is excellent — no artifacts, very low latency. There is a nice GUI called CamillaDSP GUI that makes configuration much easier than editing YAML files by hand. If you are comfortable with a bit of terminal work during setup, this is probably the most powerful free option on macOS.

For your use case (music listening through an external DAC with Edifier M60s), honestly either of these would work well. But if you just want something that works out of the box with zero hassle, the consensus here is right — SoundSource is hard to beat for the convenience factor.

Thanks for the comment, I already bought an license for SoundSource but thanks for the inputs.
I wrong at my post, I don't connect to external DAC, just connect direct to speakers.

 

[yelloguy]

You ask me ? I don't know.

CamillaDSP is great. I came from Equalizer APO on Windows to CDSP on a Mac and then on a Rasp Pi. CamillaDSP is a great solution for EQ. If you are worried about configuration, ask Gemini for help.

 

[ChaoscripT]

CamillaDSP is great. I came from Equalizer APO on Windows to CDSP on a Mac and then on a Rasp Pi. CamillaDSP is a great solution for EQ. If you are worried about configuration, ask Gemini for help.

Thanks, already bought SoundSouce.

 

[pierre]

I have a free app that does what you want and i am looking for beta testers. The app comes with 15 plugins but cannot yet load AU plugins.

 

[antcollinet]

Maybe you know, currently they on version 6, if they will upgrade to version 7, I assume I will need to buy another license?

They've only recently upgraded to V6 (December 2025), and I was happy to pay the small upgrade fee (Only $25), since it was more than five years since I last gave them any money for V5 - and there has been frequent updates in all that time.

Further - you only need to pay if you want the additional feature. The older version will still work - at least until some MacOS update obsoletes it.

I don't actually use it for EQ - in fact I mainly purchased it to get keyboard volume control - but also use it for directing to other speakers around the house and to host plugins I want to play with.

 

[olds1959special]

I have had problems with SoundSource with multi-output devices. You can't apply an EQ to an individual device in a multi-output setup.

 

[ChaoscripT]

I have had problems with SoundSource with multi-output devices. You can't apply an EQ to an individual device in a multi-output setup.

Did you check with them?

 

[shinbojan]

I'm hoping that I am not breaking some rules by sharing this https://github.com/b0janilic/soundsource-restart .

SoundSource's trial mode injects unbearable white noise every ~20 minutes, forcing you to manually restart the app. If you use parametric EQ with a negative preamp (e.g. for EQ correction), this restart causes a volume spike — the PEQ is momentarily inactive while SoundSource relaunches, and USB DACs that ignore macOS software volume control have no way to compensate.
Without media-control, this script automates exactly what you'd do manually: waits for the trial popup, restarts SoundSource. Same result, no human needed — but the volume spike still applies.
With media-control, the script restarts SoundSource before the noise ever fires, pausing your player during the restart so the transition is completely seamless. The only exception is songs longer than 20 minutes — the script can't wait for the next track, so it pauses mid-song instead.

Let me know if you try it out and there are some issues or if you have some better ideas how to improve it.

 

[olds1959special]

Did you check with them?

No. I don’t need the EQ anymore. I’m using it now to control volume with a multi-output device, and it seems to be working!

 

[LesterHiggins]

Besides eqMac2 (started open source, now is also free/paid) there's this new one which looks very promising https://github.com/Torteous44/radioform but I cannot vouch for it since I've never used it.

Yeah, that's not good. It's really bad actually. I'm not even sure why it claims to be parametric EQ, it's basically some canned graphical EQ sliders at predefined frequencies, I don't see any way to adjust Q or frequency, and every time you make any changes you have to save a new preset. EDIT: Sorry, I sound like I'm angry about it, not the case, just reporting back. One nice thing about it is that it's not difficult to uninstall?

 

[LesterHiggins]

If you want the absolute best, you’re going to need to use VST/AU plugins that you’d use in music production.

The best Mac product for easily using plugins for app or system audio processing is Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack. Been using it for decades and it’s fantastic. It’s incredibly versatile & powerful. Absolutely worth $70. They also have great tech support.

Next, EQ plugins. Certainly not the only 2 to consider, but absolutely amongst the best:

FabFilter Pro-Q

FabFilter Pro-Q 4 - Equalizer Plug-In

FabFilter Pro-Q 4 is a high quality equalizer plug-in with unrivalled sound and interface. Available in VST, VST3, AU, CLAP, AAX and AudioSuite formats for Windows and macOS

www.fabfilter.com

Sonnox Oxford EQ

Oxford EQ

A powerful EQ is essential to any mix. If you mix music, film sound or live shows, you need an EQ plugin that's up to the task. Enter our flagship Oxford EQ. This versatile parametric EQ plugin traces its heritage back to the revered, million-dollar Sony OXF-R3 digital console.

sonnox.com

Be fore warned: these are manly plugins made for manly men who want to do manly things like master audio. Not for tourists or the faint of heart.

Thanks! These are great suggestions, FabFilter Pro-Q is really good, I'm absolutely going to buy it. I really like miniDSP, but I no longer need it for crossover or delay (my room is 11x11' and I've been working on treating the space, then suddenly after I added some panels to the wall/windows behind me, my subwoofer just gets swallowed by a room mode, and I discovered I like my speakers more sans subwoofer), and I've been looking for a good, robust, reliable, PEQ app so I can sell my 2x4 HD and eliminate some cables. Setting it up in SoundSource or Audio Hijack is really straightforward, I'm very happy to have this recommendation, especially because it has undo controls, I can't tell you how many times I hosed my miniDSP PEQ by accidentally dragging the wrong band.

 

[ChaoscripT]

I'm hoping that I am not breaking some rules by sharing this https://github.com/b0janilic/soundsource-restart .

SoundSource's trial mode injects unbearable white noise every ~20 minutes, forcing you to manually restart the app. If you use parametric EQ with a negative preamp (e.g. for EQ correction), this restart causes a volume spike — the PEQ is momentarily inactive while SoundSource relaunches, and USB DACs that ignore macOS software volume control have no way to compensate.
Without media-control, this script automates exactly what you'd do manually: waits for the trial popup, restarts SoundSource. Same result, no human needed — but the volume spike still applies.
With media-control, the script restarts SoundSource before the noise ever fires, pausing your player during the restart so the transition is completely seamless. The only exception is songs longer than 20 minutes — the script can't wait for the next track, so it pauses mid-song instead.

Let me know if you try it out and there are some issues or if you have some better ideas how to improve it.

Thanks for that.
I already bought the software, but maybe it will help for others.