EQBaseEQBase vs Boom 3D
Last checked: August 4, 2026 · Boom 3D v2.3.0
These two apps look similar in a feature list and are trying to do opposite things. 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. Boom 3D supports macOS 11 and later, with legacy builds available further back. EQBase requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) and simply won't run for you otherwise.
- You'd rather buy from the Mac App Store. Boom 3D is on the App Store; EQBase is a direct download and installs its own audio driver, which means a password prompt and a permission grant during setup. That's real friction Boom avoids for App Store buyers.
- You want internet radio and a built-in music player in the same app.
- You want one licence covering Windows as well as macOS.
- 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 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
| EQBase | Boom 3D | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier (no time limit) | ✓ | – |
| Free trial | n/a — free tier | ✓ |
| One-time purchase | $79.99 | $24.99 |
| Subscription option | $4.99/mo | – |
| Minimum macOS | 14.0 | 11.0 |
| On the Mac App Store | – | ✓ |
| Also on Windows | – | ✓ |
| Graphic EQ | 10-band | 31-band |
| Parametric EQ | 24 bands | – |
| Linear-phase & dynamic EQ | ✓ | – |
| Headphone profiles | 8,600+ | 5,000+ |
| Per-app volume | ✓ | ✓ |
| Volume boost | ✓ | ✓ |
| 3D surround / spatial effect | ✓ | ✓ |
| 5.1 multichannel | – | ✓ |
| Internet radio & media player | – | ✓ |
| Crossfeed | ✓ | – |
| Convolution / impulse responses | ✓ | – |
| Audio Unit plugin hosting | ✓ | – |
| Separate left / right EQ | ✓ | – |
| Spectrum analyzer | ✓ | – |
| Zero added latency | ✓ | not stated |
| Bit-perfect when flat | ✓ | not stated |
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.
A note on Boom 3D's price
It's genuinely hard to quote. The Mac App Store price is $24.99, which is the most stable figure and the one used in the table above. Global Delight's own store lists a considerably higher price but appears to run a heavy discount more or less permanently — we've seen the direct price at $14.99 against a $49.99 list, 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. Both work by making themselves your Mac's output device and processing everything that passes through, so running them together means chaining two virtual devices — at best you lose track of what's processing what, and at worst audio stops flowing. 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, 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.
Compiled August 4, 2026 from globaldelight.com (Boom 3D v2.3.0, released June 18, 2026) and the Mac App Store listing. 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.