Comparisons

EQBase vs eqMac

eqMac v1.9.2 and the EQBase side checked October 1, 2026 · Page updated October 3, 2026

EQBase and eqMac solve the same problem: macOS has no system-wide equalizer, and both add one, catching your Mac's audio before it reaches your speakers or headphones. eqMac does it by installing a virtual output device; EQBase reads the mix your Mac is already playing, so it installs nothing to get going. Their feature lists overlap heavily.

We'd rather you pick the right one than the one we sell, so here is the short version:

• Choose eqMac if you want free, you're on a Mac older than macOS 14.4, or you want the lower price. It's a well-established project, it's actively maintained, and it costs less than EQBase at every tier.
• Choose EQBase if you care about what the processing does to the signal: zero added latency, transparency you can verify live, convolution with measured correction files, room measurement that fits the correction for you, linear-phase and dynamic EQ, crossfeed and speaker crosstalk cancellation, equal-loudness compensation, a set of analysis instruments, and corrections for 6,033 headphone models against eqMac's 4,600+. It also routes each app's audio to the device you choose and publishes the result as a virtual microphone, neither of which eqMac does. Setup is lighter too: eqMac installs an audio driver, EQBase reads the mix your Mac is already playing and installs nothing unless you ask for Audiophile mode or routing.

Where eqMac wins

Worth stating plainly, because these are real advantages and no comparison table from a vendor should bury them.

• Price. eqMac Pro is $3/month, $30/year, or $40 once. EQBase Pro is $4.99/month, $39.99/year, or $79.99 once. If cost is the deciding factor, eqMac wins outright.
• It runs on far older Macs. eqMac supports macOS 10.13 and later. EQBase requires macOS 14.4 or later, because it's built on APIs that don't exist on older systems. If your Mac can't run it, EQBase is not an option for you at all.
• Part of its code is public. eqMac's GitHub repository holds version 1.3.2 under the Apache 2.0 licence, without the Pro features, so you can read how that version works and build it yourself. Newer releases come from a private fork, the developer notes. EQBase is closed source, so if published code matters to you, eqMac offers more of it.
• It's been around longer, since 2017, with a large user base and years of releases behind it.

Where EQBase is different

These are the things EQBase was built to do that we don't find equivalents for in eqMac's published feature list.

• Zero added latency. Every stage passes the direct signal at the same frame. Even the convolution engine runs its head as a direct filter so the tail lands exactly where the head stops. Two features add latency and both are opt-in and disclosed in the app: the true-peak limiter (2 ms) and linear-phase EQ.
• Transparency you can check, not just trust. With everything flat or bypassed, EQBase is bit-perfect: samples leave exactly as they arrived. The app verifies this continuously against the live signal and shows the result, rather than asking you to take "transparent" on faith.
• Sound Correction by convolution. Load a measured impulse response and it is applied exactly, sample for sample, instead of being approximated with EQ bands.
• Room measurement, in the app. Play a sweep, capture it with a microphone, average several listening positions, and EQBase fits the correction filters for you. No round trip through separate measurement software.
• Correction and taste stack instead of fighting. Your headphone or room correction sits in its own layer underneath your own EQ, each with its own switch, so applying a profile no longer wipes the curve you built.
• Linear-phase and dynamic EQ in the Expert equalizer, alongside the usual minimum-phase filters. eqMac's parametric mode offers more bands, and our guide to parametric EQ on a Mac compares both with the rest.
• Crossfeed and crosstalk cancellation. Crossfeed using the bs2b algorithm for long headphone sessions, and its mirror image for speakers: crosstalk cancellation with the delay derived from where your speakers actually are.
• Equal-loudness compensation. Quiet listening keeps its bass and top end, following the ISO 226 contours against a reference level you calibrate once per device, and it is bit-exact at and above that level. It is in the free tier.
• Analysis instruments. Beyond the spectrum analyzer both apps have: a spectrogram, a goniometer with correlation, VU needles, and a floating always-on-top meter window that stays visible over whatever you are working in.
• It records. Capture what you are actually hearing, processed, to MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, WAV or AIFF from the menu bar, in the free tier.
• A different EQ per output. In a multi-output routing setup each output carries its own correction, so two rooms or two sets of speakers run two different curves at the same time.
• Volume keys that still work on HDMI, optical and other fixed-volume outputs, where macOS greys them out because there is nothing for them to change. Opt-in, and it arms only on outputs whose keys are already inert.
• Headphone corrections for 6,033 models from the AutoEQ project, against eqMac's advertised 4,600+ headphones. That is 8,666 corrections in all, because many models were measured by more than one source. Both apps include their library in the free tier.
• Per-app output routing. Both apps do per-app volume, but EQBase's Routing patchbay (Pro) also sends chosen apps to chosen output devices: up to four virtual devices, each feeding up to eight physical outputs, on buses up to 64 channels with a per-channel matrix. eqMac's mixer sets levels; it does not move an app's audio to a different device.
• A virtual microphone for your mix. Every routing device EQBase builds is also published as an input, so Zoom, OBS or QuickTime can record exactly the apps you selected. That's usually a separate purchase elsewhere.
• Per-device memory for volume and balance, so each output comes back the way you left it.
• Loudness-matched A/B compare and global hotkeys, so you can judge a change by tone rather than by volume.

Feature comparison

A "–" means we could not find the feature in that product'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.

How do built-in headphone corrections compare with importing AutoEQ filters manually?

A built-in correction is quicker; an imported AutoEQ file reaches what the built-in list doesn't. In EQBase you search the Headphones pane for your model and apply a correction in one click, from 8,666 corrections for 6,033 models, each credited to whoever measured it. Importing means downloading AutoEQ's ParametricEQ.txt or GraphicEQ.txt and dropping it in, which takes a minute longer and works for any model, measurement or target that has a file.

eqMac ships its own AutoEQ-based list of 4,600+ headphones, free, and documents no file import, so a model it lacks would have to be entered by hand in its parametric EQ, a Pro feature there.

When each one is the better fit, side by side: built-in corrections compared with imported files.

What does eqMac's audio capture driver do, and when do I need to install it?

eqMac's audio capture driver is the virtual audio device it routes your Mac's sound through: macOS has no built-in way to change system audio in real time, so eqMac intercepts the sound there, applies its EQ and passes it on to your speakers. You need it whenever you use eqMac's system-wide EQ, and it installs with the app. eqMac's own guide says the install may ask for your administrator password, because the driver and a helper go into system folders, and its manual-install steps end with a restart.

EQBase takes the other route on macOS 14.4 and later: it reads the mix your Mac is already playing through a Core Audio process tap, so setup installs no driver, asks for no administrator password and needs no restart, only the one System Audio Recording permission. It offers a user-space driver only when you turn on Audiophile mode or Pro routing, and its uninstaller removes it completely.

What they have in common

Neither needs a kernel extension (eqMac installs a user-space virtual audio device, and version 1.9 adds a per-device choice of capture method on macOS 14.2 and later; EQBase installs nothing by default, and a user-space driver only for Audiophile mode or Pro routing), both work with any output device, both offer a free tier that is genuinely usable, headphone presets included, and both let you process every sound your Mac makes rather than one app at a time. Both also switch presets automatically when the output device or app changes: EQBase calls it Auto Switch, eqMac calls it Super Presets. If you only need tone controls for everything, either will do the job and eqMac will do it for less.

How to decide

Both have a free tier, so the honest answer is to try them. EQBase's free tier includes the 10-band equalizer, all 8,600+ headphone corrections, equal-loudness compensation, one-click recording, working volume keys on fixed-volume outputs, Auto Switch, global hotkeys and loudness-matched compare, with no time limit; Pro adds the deeper tools and carries a 14-day refund; the tiers are broken down on the pricing page. If you're not sure whether you need a system-wide equalizer at all, start with does macOS have a built-in equalizer?

Download EQBase free

Comparison compiled August 4, 2026 from eqmac.app and the eqMac GitHub repository (latest release v1.9.2, published September 19, 2026), and re-checked on both sides October 1, 2026. eqMac is not affiliated with EQBase or Bold Biscuit. Prices and features change; check both sites before buying. See also EQBase vs Boom 3D and EQBase vs SoundSource.