Guide

How to use an equalizer with Apple Music on a Mac

Last updated: October 18, 2026 · By Taha Bozdemir, who builds EQBase

The Music app has an equalizer of its own: choose Window › Equalizer, select On, and pick a preset or drag the ten sliders. It shapes only what the Music app plays, so Apple Music in a browser, Spotify, YouTube and every other app are untouched. To put one curve over Apple Music and everything else, use a system-wide equalizer instead. EQBase's free tier is one, and in Pro it can also give the Music app a curve of its own.

The Music app's own equalizer

It is built into the Music app, so there is nothing to install:

1. Open the Music app.
2. Choose Window › Equalizer.
3. Select On.
4. Choose a preset from the pop-up menu, or drag the sliders until it sounds right. To keep your own curve, choose Make Preset from the same menu and name it; Edit List renames or deletes one.

The sliders run from 32 Hz on the left to 16 kHz on the right, with a separate Preamp slider beside them. If a boost makes loud passages crackle, pull the preamp down a few dB rather than lowering every band. Apple's own instructions cover the rest.

Two limits, both from how it is built. It affects only the Music app, so a video in Safari, a call, a game, or Apple Music played in a browser is untouched. And it is a fixed 10-band graphic EQ: you can't move a band to a frequency of your own, change how wide it is, or use a shelf.

Sound Enhancer, under Music › Settings › Playback, is a separate effect that widens the stereo image by changing bass and treble. It stacks with the equalizer, so if a curve sounds different from what the sliders suggest, check whether it is on.

A different preset for one song

This is something the Music app's equalizer does that a system-wide one doesn't. Select a song, choose Song › Get Info, click Options, pick a preset from the equalizer pop-up menu and click OK. That preset then applies to the song whenever you play it, and every other song keeps the main setting. EQBase has no per-song EQ, so if an album or two needs its own curve, this is the tool.

How can I apply EQ to Apple Music and every other app on my Mac?

Use a system-wide equalizer, which sits on the Mac's audio output and shapes every app the same way, the Music app included. macOS has no system-wide equalizer of its own, so this takes an app; here are the steps in EQBase's free tier.

1. Install EQBase (macOS 14.4 or later) and allow the one audio permission it asks for.
2. Choose Equalizer in the sidebar and switch to Advanced for ten bands.
3. Pick a curve from the Starter curve pop-up on the Bands card (Bass Boost, Vocal Boost, Treble Boost and five more), or open Headphones, search for your model and apply its measured correction.
4. Turn on Auto headroom, so a boost trims the overall level instead of clipping on loud tracks.
5. In the Music app, switch its own equalizer off. Two equalizers in a row stack, so a bass boost in each one doubles.

Already have a curve you like in the Music app? EQBase's ten bands sit on the same octave centers, from 31 Hz to 16 kHz, so you can copy it over band for band as a starting point, then turn the Music app's equalizer off.

What to expect: the same tone on Apple Music, Safari, YouTube, calls and games, with every band still editable after you pick a curve.

A different EQ for Apple Music only

Sometimes the point is the opposite: a curve on the music, and nothing on a call. EQBase Pro's App Mixer gives every app its own 10-band equalizer on top of the system-wide one. Open App Mixer, click the arrow on the Music app's row, and set its bands or pick a preset from that row's EQ presets menu. The Music app keeps its curve while a meeting in another app stays flat. Per-app EQ is Pro; the system-wide equalizer above is free. More on what each app can be given in per-app volume control on a Mac.

What an equalizer means for lossless

Lossless describes the file Apple Music sends: Lossless goes up to 24-bit/48 kHz and Hi-Res Lossless up to 24-bit/192 kHz, switched on under Music › Settings › Playback. An equalizer, the Music app's or any other, changes those samples on purpose, so while a curve is active the sound is no longer bit-for-bit what was streamed. That is the trade every equalizer makes, and it is why EQBase states when it is out of the way: with every control flat its processing chain is bit-perfect, and in the opt-in Audiophile mode it is bit-perfect end to end. In the default mode macOS hands EQBase a converted copy of the mix, so we don't claim it there.

Two things matter more than the equalizer. The Music app plays every song at the sample rate your output is set to, so a 44.1 kHz album on a 48 kHz output is resampled before any equalizer sees it. And Apple says Bluetooth connections aren't lossless, AirPods included. The details, and how to match the rate, are in bit-perfect Apple Music on a Mac.

Which one to use

If everything you listen to is in the Music app, its equalizer is enough and costs nothing, and it is the only one of the two that can give a single song its own preset. Once a second app matters (a browser, Spotify, a game), a system-wide equalizer is the only way to keep one sound across all of them. Why macOS leaves that gap is in does macOS have a built-in equalizer?

Common questions

Does Apple Music have an equalizer on Mac?

Yes. In the Music app, choose Equalizer from the Window menu, select On, then pick a preset or drag the ten sliders, which run from 32 Hz to 16 kHz with a preamp beside them. It shapes only what the Music app plays, and a single song can carry a preset of its own from the Options tab of its Get Info window.

Can Apple Music's equalizer change audio from other apps on my Mac?

No. The Music app's equalizer affects the Music app only, so Safari, Spotify, YouTube, games and calls are untouched, and so is Apple Music played in a browser. macOS has no system-wide equalizer of its own, so EQ across every app takes one such as EQBase's free 10-band EQ. Switch the Music app's equalizer off when you use one, so the two don't stack.

Does an equalizer stop Apple Music lossless from being bit-perfect?

Yes, while a curve is active, because an equalizer changes the samples by design. That is true of the Music app's equalizer and of every other one. With every control flat, EQBase's processing chain is bit-perfect, and its opt-in Audiophile mode is bit-perfect end to end. Separately, the Music app plays every song at the sample rate the output is set to, so matching that rate matters as much as the EQ.

Related

Bit-perfect Apple Music on a Mac · Spotify equalizer on a Mac · Does macOS have a built-in equalizer? · Headphone EQ settings for Mac

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