Poweramp Equalizer: System-Wide Android Equalizer Measurements

[reallystate]

A detailed report on the equalizer measurements in this app is available here.

It includes not only frequency response measurements, but also verification of the correct operation of multichannel equalization, distortion measurements, phase measurements, and measurements of equalizer artifacts such as pre-ringing and post-ringing.

You can find out my other equalizer measurements here.
Articles on how to interpret measurements of audio electronics (DACs, amplifiers, and equalizers) are published here.

 

[Darkatomz]

I use a Fiio JM21 DAP for music on long plane flights and have been pairing it with Poweramp for PEQ. Isn't Poweramp one of the most often recommended music players for Android users? What other options are there that would be more accurate and as configurable since the app is clearly flawed?

 

[ShadowBoxer]

I don't know about "more accurate..."

Symphonium would be one. USB-audio-player (UAPP) would be another.

 

[JSmith]

You can find out my other equalizer measurements here.

Nice.

Just a thought, you might need a reviewer tag? @RickS

Rules for Audio Dealers, Manufacturers, Members with Commercial Interest. This includes any Guest Contributors/Reviewer with Commercial endorsement

Audio Science Review Rules for Dealers, Manufacturers, Reviewers and Members of Industry. We encourage participation from members of industry in the forum. So please feel welcome here. We expect you to post with highest levels of professionalism. You are representing an industry and it is...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[RickS]

Nice.

Just a thought, you might need a reviewer tag? @RickS

Rules for Audio Dealers, Manufacturers, Members with Commercial Interest. This includes any Guest Contributors/Reviewer with Commercial endorsement

Audio Science Review Rules for Dealers, Manufacturers, Reviewers and Members of Industry. We encourage participation from members of industry in the forum. So please feel welcome here. We expect you to post with highest levels of professionalism. You are representing an industry and it is...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

Thanks, if the app is not monetized in any way, is up to member to apply for commercial badging or not.

 

[Tell]

I do use Poweramp Equalizer and have done so for many years now so I really do appreciate seeing these measurements. Sure it seems to not be perfect and adding distortion, but not using an equalizer at all would still definitely sound worse.

But I would be interested in alternatives? Someone mentioned Symphonium which I do use for my local playback, how does that fare? And I'm also curious about Wavelet, another system wide equalizer that I've been thinking about switching to because it apparently has variable loudness.

 

[reallystate]

I use a Fiio JM21 DAP for music on long plane flights and have been pairing it with Poweramp for PEQ. Isn't Poweramp one of the most often recommended music players for Android users? What other options are there that would be more accurate and as configurable since the app is clearly flawed?

There are two different apps: Poweramp Equalizer, whose measurements are published here. This is a system-wide equalizer for Android. The second app is Poweramp Music Player, which includes a separate built-in equalizer. I haven’t tested it yet, but I’ve heard that its accuracy is quite high, unlike the system-wide Poweramp Equalizer. If, however, you really meant that you were using the Poweramp Equalizer, then there are two things you should understand. First, there are indeed other system-wide equalizers on Android that offer significantly higher accuracy. I’ll soon publish a review with measurements of one such equalizer on this site. Second, there’s evidence that on at least some digital audio players—such as my HiBy R4 and your FiiO JM21—third-party system-wide equalizers don’t work correctly; specifically, they exhibit a frequency shift to the left. You can also read more about this at the end of a review of another equalizer app that I’ll be publishing today.

 

[reallystate]

After reading this measurement report, if you’re wondering whether there are any higher-quality system-wide equalizers for Android, this is exactly the app you’ve been looking for. I’m currently continuing to test various apps of this kind and will gradually publish measurement reports on my blog. For now, I can say that there are several apps that provide accurate results.
@Darkatomz, @ShadowBoxer, @Tell