Comparisons

EQBase vs Boom 3D

Boom 3D v2.3.2 and the EQBase side checked October 1, 2026 · Page updated October 3, 2026

Pick Boom 3D to make audio sound bigger and louder; pick EQBase to make it accurate. The two look similar in a feature list and are trying to do opposite things, and that, rather than any spec, is what should decide it for you.

Boom 3D is an audio enhancer. Its headline features are 3D surround, volume boosting beyond your Mac's normal maximum, a 31-band equalizer with ready-made presets, a built-in player and 20,000+ internet radio stations. It is designed to make audio sound bigger and more exciting than the recording, and it's good at that.

EQBase is a precision tool. It's built to change exactly what you ask it to and nothing else: zero added latency, bit-perfect when set flat, and measured correction rather than a flattering curve. If you want your music transformed, that's not what this is for.

Choose Boom 3D if…

• You want a fuller, louder, more spacious sound and you don't mind that it's an effect rather than accuracy. This is the main reason to buy it, and it's a perfectly good one.
• Your Mac can't run macOS 14.4. Boom 3D supports macOS 11 and later, with legacy builds available further back. EQBase requires macOS 14.4 and simply won't run for you otherwise.
• You'd rather buy from the Mac App Store. Boom 3D is on the App Store as a free download that unlocks through in-app purchases, with the trust that carries; EQBase is a direct download from us. EQBase is notarized by Apple, asks for one audio permission and installs no driver, but a direct download is still a direct download.
• You want internet radio and a built-in music player in the same app.
• You want one licence covering Windows as well as macOS: a licence from Global Delight's own store activates on up to four Macs or PCs.
• It's cheaper; see the pricing note below.

Choose EQBase if…

• You want correction, not colouring. EQBase's headphone profiles come from AutoEQ's measurements and aim at a target response; the goal is accuracy, not excitement.
• Transparency matters to you and you want it proven. With everything flat, EQBase is bit-perfect (samples leave exactly as they arrived) and the app verifies this continuously against the live signal. Boom 3D makes no transparency claim, because transparency isn't its purpose.
• Latency matters, for monitoring, video calls, or playing along with something. EQBase adds zero samples to the direct signal.
• You want a real parametric equalizer. Boom 3D's 31-band is a graphic EQ: fixed frequencies, one slider each. EQBase's Expert mode gives you 24 bands where you choose frequency, gain, Q and filter type, with dynamic and linear-phase options.
• You want your room measured rather than guessed at. EQBase plays a sweep, captures it with a microphone, averages several listening positions and fits the correction filters for you. That correction then lives in its own layer underneath your own EQ, each with its own switch, so a profile never wipes the curve you built. Boom 3D ships presets, which is a different thing.
• You listen quietly and still want the tone. Equal-loudness compensation follows the ISO 226 contours against a reference level you calibrate once per device, so bass and top end survive low volumes and the signal goes back to bit-exact at and above that level. It is in the free tier.
• You want the stereo image fixed at the source. bs2b crossfeed for long headphone sessions, and its mirror image for speakers: crosstalk cancellation with the delay derived from where your speakers actually are.
• You want to see what is happening, not just hear it. Spectrogram, goniometer with correlation, VU needles, and a floating always-on-top meter window that stays visible over whatever you are working in.
• You want to keep what you are hearing. One-click recording of the processed output to MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, WAV or AIFF, from the menu bar.
• You want control over where the audio goes, not just how it sounds. Both apps set per-app volume, but EQBase's Routing patchbay also sends chosen apps to chosen output devices, and publishes any mix you build as a virtual microphone Zoom or OBS can record. Boom 3D processes everything to one output.
• You'd rather not install a driver. Boom 3D installs an audio driver and asks for an administrator password to do it. EQBase reads the mix your Mac is already playing instead, so a normal setup installs nothing and asks for one permission.
• You want to try before paying with no clock running. EQBase's free tier has no time limit; Boom 3D is a trial that expires.

Feature comparison

A "–" means we could not find the feature in Boom 3D's published documentation, and "not stated" means the product makes no claim either way. Neither is a claim that something doesn't work. If we've got a detail wrong, tell us and we'll correct this page.

What should I consider when using a system-wide Mac equalizer while watching video or playing games?

Latency first, then headroom, then effects. A system-wide equalizer sits between every app and your speakers, so any delay it adds shows up as lip-sync drift in video and as lag in games; EQBase adds zero samples to the direct signal by default. After that, watch for clipping when you boost bass, and think twice about surround or room effects on top of a game's own positional mix.

The settings for each, Bluetooth included: Mac equalizer latency, for video and games.

How can I add virtual surround sound to headphones on a Mac?

For true virtual surround, use Apple's Spatial Audio if you have recent AirPods, or Boom 3D's 3D Surround on any headphones. EQBase doesn't do virtual surround: its Spatial pane (Pro) adds headphone crossfeed and a simulated room, which make stereo sound more like speakers in front of you without pretending to be a surround system.

Which one fits your headphones, and the steps for each: virtual surround sound on a Mac.

A note on Boom 3D's price

It's genuinely hard to quote. Global Delight's own store lists Boom 3D at $49.99 but discounts it most of the time, and on October 1, 2026 it came to about $17 there, the figure used in the table above. The Mac App Store listing is now a free download that unlocks through in-app purchases, and regional pricing differs again. Whatever the sticker says on the day, Boom 3D costs less than EQBase Pro, and that's the honest summary. Check their site for what you'd actually pay.

Can you use both?

Not usefully at the same time. Boom 3D works by making itself your Mac's output device, and EQBase processes the same system mix, so running them together stacks two system-wide processors on one signal. At best you lose track of what's processing what. Pick one.

How to decide

Play something you know well. If your reaction to an enhancer is "this sounds bigger, I like it", Boom 3D is the better purchase and cheaper besides. If your reaction is "what did it do to the recording?", you want correction, and that's what EQBase is for.

EQBase's free tier includes the 10-band equalizer, all 8,600+ headphone corrections, equal-loudness compensation, one-click recording, volume boost and balance, working volume keys on fixed-volume outputs, Auto Switch, global hotkeys and loudness-matched compare, with no time limit, enough to answer that question without paying anything. Pro carries a 14-day refund; the tiers are broken down on the pricing page.

Download EQBase free

Compiled August 4, 2026 and re-checked on both sides October 1, 2026 from globaldelight.com and the Mac App Store listing (Boom 3D 2.3.2, released September 16, 2026). Boom 3D and Global Delight are not affiliated with EQBase or Bold Biscuit. Prices and features change; check their site before buying. See also EQBase vs eqMac and EQBase vs SoundSource.