About

About EQBase

EQBase is made and published by Bold Biscuit, an independent software studio. It's a small operation: no investors, no advertising business, and no data to sell. EQBase is funded entirely by the people who choose to buy Pro.

Why EQBase exists

macOS still has no system-wide equalizer. The Music app has one, but it only affects Music, and everything else your Mac plays — video, calls, games, every other app — comes out exactly as it was mixed, whether or not that suits your headphones or your room.

EQBase exists to fill that gap without the compromise people usually accept in return. Software that sits in the path of all your audio should be able to prove it isn't degrading it. So EQBase is bit-perfect when set flat, adds zero samples of latency to the direct signal, and verifies both continuously against the live audio rather than asking you to take it on trust.

How we build it

• Native, not a web app in a window. EQBase is written in Swift for macOS, and its audio engine is built directly on Core Audio for tight real-time control.
• No kernel extension. The virtual audio device is a user-space Core Audio driver. It's installed with your permission, it never modifies your hardware devices, and the uninstaller removes it completely.
• Transparency is a feature, not a claim. Every processing stage is designed to be bit-exact when it isn't doing anything, and the app reports live whether the whole chain currently qualifies.
• Built on good work by others. The headphone correction profiles come from the AutoEQ project by Jaakko Pasanen, used under the MIT licence and credited in the app.

What we believe about your data

There's no account to create and the app works fully offline. Your audio never leaves your Mac: EQBase processes it locally and sends none of it anywhere, ever. There are no ads and no profiling. The privacy policy spells out exactly what the app does send, when, and why — it's short, specific, and names every third party involved.

How EQBase is paid for

The free tier is genuinely free and has no time limit. Pro is a subscription or a one-time purchase, handled by Lemon Squeezy, and every purchase carries a 14-day refund, no questions asked. Pro keeps working offline, so a network problem never turns your sound off. The terms set out exactly what a lifetime licence does and doesn't cover — we've tried to be specific rather than generous-sounding and vague.

Honest about the alternatives

EQBase isn't the only way to equalize system audio on a Mac, and it isn't the right choice for everyone. If you're on a Mac older than macOS 14, or you want open-source software, or you want the lowest price, other tools serve you better — and we say so on our comparison page. If you're not sure you need a system-wide equalizer at all, start with does macOS have a built-in equalizer?

Get in touch

Email [email protected]. A person reads every message, usually within two business days. Bug reports, feature ideas, licensing problems and disagreements are all welcome — see support for what to include to get a useful answer fastest.