Support

We read everything.

Typical reply time: within 2 business days

Email [email protected] for bugs, questions, refunds, license issues, or ideas. Most problems are one of the few below, so it's worth a look first.

No sound after installing

This is the most common one, and it's almost always the audio permission.

To process what your Mac is playing, EQBase has to read the system mix, and macOS gates that behind a permission. Without it, EQBase cannot start its capture at all. Nothing is broken; macOS is just declining to pass the audio through.

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording and make sure EQBase is switched on. If it isn't listed at all, quit EQBase and open it again so it can ask. EQBase never records you, never stores audio, and never sends any of it anywhere: see the privacy policy for exactly what does and doesn't leave your Mac.

Does EQBase install an audio driver?

Not to run the equalizer. EQBase reads the mix your Mac is already playing and mutes the original at the same instant, so a normal setup installs nothing, asks for no administrator password, and leaves your sound settings alone.

Two optional features do use a small, user-space Core Audio driver, with no kernel extension: Audiophile mode (Settings › Audio capture), which reads the samples untouched and keeps the volume keys working on HDMI, DisplayPort and optical outputs; and Pro routing, which publishes virtual devices other apps can select as a microphone. EQBase offers to install the driver at the moment you turn one of those on, and your hardware devices are never modified.

If that install doesn't complete, the usual cause is where the app is sitting. macOS runs an app from a read-only quarantine location when it's launched straight from a disk image, and the driver installer can't work from there. Open the DMG and drag EQBase into Applications, then launch it from there.

My volume keys stopped working

Check whether your output is HDMI, DisplayPort or optical. Those carry no hardware volume of their own, so macOS has nothing for the keys to change, and by default EQBase leaves your real device as the system output. EQBase's own volume slider still works, and the Devices pane says so when this applies to you.

Two ways to get the keys back: bind a volume shortcut under Settings › Shortcuts, which needs nothing installed, or switch on Audiophile mode under Settings › Audio capture, which makes EQBase the system output again and installs the audio driver to do it.

Per-app volume isn't picking up my apps

The App Mixer (a Pro feature) taps each app's audio separately, which macOS gates behind its own permission. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Audio Recording and enable EQBase.

Apps that were already playing when you enabled it may need to be restarted before they show up.

Routing asked for microphone access

It did, and that surprises people, so here is the reason. Every routing device EQBase publishes has an input side: that is the whole point, since it is what lets Zoom, OBS or QuickTime record the mix you built. macOS counts opening a device that has an input side as microphone access, whether the device is real or virtual, so the prompt names the microphone even though no microphone is involved.

EQBase never opens your actual microphone for this. The ask comes from your own click in the Routing pane rather than at launch, and a routing device you haven't given any sources or monitors yet stays closed, so it never asks at all. If you declined earlier, switch EQBase on under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone, then return to the Routing pane.

Audio sounds wrong, or the volume is doubled

Check the sample rate line in the Devices pane: it tells you exactly what the engine is doing, whether that's bit-exact, drift-correcting, or converting between rates. If it reports converting and you'd rather it didn't, set the output device to the rate your source material actually uses.

EQBase drives your hardware volume directly wherever the device supports it, so there is only ever one point of attenuation. If something still sounds attenuated twice over, tell us which output device you're using and we'll take a look.

Uninstalling

If you never turned on Audiophile mode or Pro routing, there is nothing to undo: drag the app to the Trash. If you did, EQBase ships with an uninstaller that removes the virtual audio driver completely, so your system returns to exactly how it was; run that first, because dragging the app to the Trash on its own leaves the driver behind. If you can't find it or something is left over, email us and we'll walk you through it.

License & billing

Lost your license key? It's in your purchase email from Lemon Squeezy: search your inbox for "EQBase". You can also reach your orders any time via the My Orders link in that email. For refunds, see the refund policy: 14 days, no questions asked.

Pro keeps working offline. A subscription keeps going for 14 days with no connection at all, and a lifetime license works offline indefinitely, so a flaky network never turns your sound off. The terms spell out exactly what a lifetime license covers.

Help us help you faster

• Your macOS version and EQBase version (EQBase menu → About EQBase).
• For audio problems: which output device, and what you were playing from.
• For anything odd: a diagnostics bundle, in the app open Settings → Diagnostics → Export. It's redacted on your Mac before export, and you can read exactly what's in it.

Quick answers

The FAQ covers the common ones: what setup asks for, bit-perfect transparency, offline use, refunds, and system requirements. Running an older build? Download the latest version; EQBase also updates itself, and every update is verified against an Ed25519 signature before it installs.