Comparisons

Alternatives to eqMac, SoundSource, Boom 3D and EQBase

Every app re-checked October 1, 2026 · Page published October 6, 2026 · By Taha Bozdemir, who builds EQBase

The right alternative depends on which app you are leaving and why. Leaving eqMac for a deeper equalizer or one without an audio driver: EQBase, or Equaliser on macOS 15 and Apple silicon. Leaving SoundSource over its price or because it needs macOS 15: Sound Control at $30 is the closest match, and FineTune is free on macOS 15. Leaving Boom 3D for accuracy rather than effect: EQBase or eqMac. Leaving EQBase because your Mac can't run macOS 14.4, or because you want per-app volume for free: eqMac, Background Music or FineTune.

Disclosure first: we make EQBase, so it appears in three of the four lists below and is the subject of the fourth. Every figure for the other apps comes from the developer's own site, repository or App Store listing, and every option is listed with what it won't do, ours included. If we've got a detail wrong, tell us and we'll correct it.

The short answer

Alternatives to eqMac

eqMac is the free default, and for a lot of people it is the right one: our EQBase vs eqMac comparison starts with where it beats us. People look past it for four reasons:

• It ships its own audio driver. Some people would rather not add a system audio component to their Mac at all.
• The free equalizer is ten fixed bands. The parametric EQ, the spectrum analyzer and per-app volume are in eqMac Pro.
• It can't send an app to a different output. Its mixer sets each app's level; it does not move an app's audio to another device.
• Correction stops at its headphone list. No convolution, no room measurement, and no documented way to import an AutoEQ or Equalizer APO file.

The options, with who each one fits and what it won't do:

• EQBase (ours) · free tier, Pro $4.99/mo, $39.99/yr or $79.99 once · macOS 14.4+. It reads the mix your Mac is already playing, so the equalizer installs no driver. Corrections for 6,033 headphone models against eqMac's 4,600+, import of AutoEQ, Equalizer APO and REW files, and in Pro a 24-band parametric EQ, room measurement and per-app routing. Won't do: run below macOS 14.4, or match eqMac's price at any tier.
• Equaliser · free, GPL-3.0 · macOS 15+, Apple silicon only. Up to 64 parametric bands for nothing. Won't do: run on Intel Macs, or offer a headphone library; it is also a young project and not notarized by Apple.
• Sound Control · $30 once · macOS 14.6+. A different equalizer for each app, and per-app output routing. Won't do: offer a free tier, and on macOS 14 it needs a one-time trip to Recovery mode to allow its system extension.
• Newer free projects such as OnlyEQ and MacEQ capture through Apple's process taps on macOS 14.4 or later and import parametric filter files. Won't do: come with a track record; each appeared in 2026 with a small following, and neither is notarized by Apple.

What carries over: eqMac's headphone list comes from AutoEQ, as EQBase's does, so a correction is a search for the same model rather than something to export. A curve you built by hand is worth writing down band by band before you uninstall.

Alternatives to SoundSource

SoundSource is very good, and our SoundSource alternatives page weighs seven options in depth. The short version: people leave because it is $49 with no free tier (the trial overlays noise on your audio after 20 minutes), because SoundSource 6 needs macOS 15, because they only wanted per-app volume, or because its 10-band graphic EQ is shallower than they hoped.

• Sound Control · $30 once · macOS 14.6+. The closest like-for-like: per-app volume, per-app EQ, per-app routing and Audio Unit plugins. Won't do: offer a free tier, and it comes from a smaller developer.
• FineTune · free, GPLv3 · macOS 15+. Per-app volume, a 10-band EQ per app, and sending an app to other outputs. Won't do: help on a Mac that can't take macOS 15, the same floor as SoundSource.
• EQBase (ours) · free tier, Pro from $4.99/mo · macOS 14.4+. A deeper equalizer and per-app routing, on Sonoma. Won't do: give you per-app volume or routing for free; both are Pro.
• eqMac · free, Pro $40 once · macOS 10.13+. EQ, and per-app volume in Pro. Won't do: per-app routing.
• Background Music · free · macOS 10.13+. Per-app volume and auto-pause, nothing else. Won't do: EQ or routing, and it still describes itself as alpha.

What carries over: nothing automatically. Each app's volume and output is set again in the new app.

Alternatives to Boom 3D

Boom 3D is an enhancer: 3D surround, volume boosting beyond the normal maximum, a 31-band graphic EQ with presets, internet radio and a player. People look elsewhere when they want the opposite of that:

• Accuracy rather than effect. Its 5,000+ headphone profiles don't say where they come from; measured corrections do.
• A parametric equalizer. 31 fixed bands can't be moved to the frequency that needs fixing.
• No driver. Boom 3D installs an audio driver and asks for an administrator password to do it.
• A free way in. Its trial ends after 15 days.

• EQBase (ours) · free tier · macOS 14.4+. AutoEQ corrections for 6,033 models, each credited to whoever measured it, and volume boost, both free; a 24-band parametric EQ in Pro. Won't do: virtual surround, and it costs more than Boom 3D.
• eqMac · free · macOS 10.13+. A free 10-band EQ and 4,600+ AutoEQ headphone presets. Won't do: parametric EQ without Pro, and it ships its own audio driver too.

If surround was the point, neither replaces it. Apple's Spatial Audio does it on recent AirPods; virtual surround sound on a Mac covers the options for other headphones.

What carries over: Boom 3D works by making itself your Mac's output device, so after removing it, check that System Settings › Sound points at your real speakers or headphones. A licence bought from Global Delight's own store covers up to four Macs or PCs, so a Windows PC can keep using it.

Alternatives to EQBase

This is the list we'd least like you to need, so it is the one we have tried hardest to get right. EQBase is the wrong pick in six situations:

• Your Mac can't run macOS 14.4. EQBase captures audio through Core Audio process taps, which arrived in macOS 14.2 and weren't reliable before 14.4. eqMac and Background Music run on macOS 10.13 or later and Boom 3D on macOS 11, and a SoundSource licence includes legacy SoundSource 5 builds back to 10.13, which Rogue Amoeba doesn't fully support.
• You want per-app volume for free. EQBase's App Mixer is Pro. FineTune does it free on macOS 15, Background Music on older Macs.
• You want the lowest price. eqMac Pro is $40 once against EQBase's $79.99, and Boom 3D is about $17.
• You want plugins on one app. EQBase gives each app volume, mute and a 10-band EQ, and hosts Audio Unit plugins system-wide only. SoundSource and Sound Control can put a plugin on a single app.
• You want to read the source. EQBase is closed source. eqMac's repository holds version 1.3.2 under Apache 2.0, and Equaliser, OnlyEQ and MacEQ are open source.
• You want virtual surround. EQBase doesn't do it. Boom 3D's 3D Surround works on any headphones.

What carries over: export your curve first, from the equalizer's Import/Export menu, as ParametricEQ.txt, which OnlyEQ, MacEQ and SoundMaxx all read (which apps import what). If you never turned on Audiophile mode or Pro routing, removing EQBase is dragging it to the Trash; if you did, run its uninstaller first so the virtual audio driver goes too. A purchase in the last 14 days is covered by the refund policy, and a cancelled subscription keeps Pro to the end of the period you paid for.

All of them side by side

One-time prices shown where both a subscription and a one-time option exist; Boom 3D's is Global Delight's own store price, discounted from a $49.99 list most of the time. A "–" under free option means trial-only, and under per-app routing it means we could not find the feature in the developer's published documentation. Prices and system requirements as published on October 1, 2026.

What switching takes

1. Remove the old app before setting up the new one. Two system-wide processors on the same signal stack their EQ, and you lose track of what is doing what. Where the old app installed a driver, an audio component or a system extension (eqMac, SoundSource, Boom 3D and Sound Control all do), use its developer's uninstall steps, because deleting the app alone may leave that part behind.
2. Check your output. Apps that work through a virtual output device make themselves the Mac's output. After removing one, open System Settings › Sound and pick your real speakers or headphones.
3. Bring your sound with you. A headphone correction from an AutoEQ-based list (EQBase, eqMac, Sound Control, SoundSource) is a search for the same model in the new app. A curve you built yourself moves as a file only between apps that read AutoEQ or Equalizer APO text; otherwise copy the bands across by hand.
4. Licences don't move between developers. If you paid recently, check the old app's refund window before you go; EQBase's is 14 days.

Setting EQBase up takes one permission prompt: no administrator password, no restart, and for the equalizer nothing installed beyond the app.

Common questions

What alternatives to EQBase should I consider for system-wide Mac equalization?

eqMac is the closest: a free system-wide equalizer with 4,600+ AutoEQ headphone presets that runs on macOS 10.13 or later. Equaliser gives up to 64 parametric bands free, on macOS 15 and Apple silicon only. Sound Control ($30 once) adds a different equalizer for each app, SoundSource ($49) is the most polished all-round control panel, and Boom 3D (about $17) is an enhancer rather than a corrector.

What are my alternatives if I cannot upgrade my Mac to macOS 14.4?

eqMac (free, macOS 10.13 or later), Background Music (free, macOS 10.13, per-app volume only) and Boom 3D (macOS 11 or later) all run below macOS 14.4. A SoundSource licence also includes legacy SoundSource 5 builds back to macOS 10.13, which Rogue Amoeba doesn't fully support. EQBase itself needs macOS 14.4, because it captures audio through Core Audio process taps. Our download page shows how to check whether your Mac can take Sonoma.

What alternatives to eqMac offer parametric equalization on Mac?

EQBase Pro has 24 parametric bands with dynamic and linear-phase options, and its free tier fits parametric correction files to ten bands. Equaliser gives up to 64 parametric bands free, on macOS 15 and Apple silicon only. Sound Control offers parametric calibration through Apple's AUNBandEQ. Newer free projects such as OnlyEQ and MacEQ import parametric filter files on macOS 14.4 or later. Our guide to parametric EQ on a Mac compares them in detail.

Related

The best Mac equalizer apps · SoundSource alternatives · EQBase vs eqMac · EQBase vs SoundSource · EQBase vs Boom 3D · EQBase pricing

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Compiled October 6, 2026 from figures re-checked October 1, 2026 at eqmac.app and eqMac's GitHub releases (v1.9.2), equaliser.knage.net (v1.3.3), staticz.com (Sound Control 3.4.0), rogueamoeba.com (SoundSource 6.1.4), globaldelight.com and the Mac App Store (Boom 3D 2.3.2), and the FineTune, Background Music, OnlyEQ and MacEQ repositories. None of these developers are affiliated with EQBase or Bold Biscuit. Prices, features and system requirements change; check each developer's site before buying.