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Most EQBase problems have a one-minute fix on this page: no sound after installing is almost always the audio permission, and volume keys that stopped working on an HDMI, DisplayPort or optical output come back with one switch in Settings. For anything else, including bugs, refunds, license issues and ideas, email [email protected]: a person reads every message, usually within 2 business days.

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.

Three ways to get the keys back, none of which installs anything:

• Switch on Use the volume keys for EQBase under Settings › General › Playback. macOS asks for Accessibility permission at that click, and from then on the keys move EQBase's volume on any output where they would otherwise do nothing.
• With an HDMI or DisplayPort monitor as your output, turn on Control this monitor's volume under Volume & balance in the Devices pane. The level then goes to the monitor itself over DDC/CI, from the slider and from the keys if the first switch is on.
• Bind a volume shortcut under Settings › Shortcuts.

Audiophile mode (Settings › General › Audio capture) also brings the keys back, by making EQBase the system output again, and installs the audio driver to do it. Why the keys stop working, and every fix.

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.

Can I use system-wide EQ and per-app volume control with AirPlay audio on my Mac?

Yes. EQBase's equalizer, the App Mixer's per-app levels and its volume control all work on an AirPlay speaker, because EQBase processes the sound before macOS sends it over the network. We tested it on October 2, 2026, sending to another Mac's AirPlay Receiver: EQ changes, per-app volume and mute, the volume slider and the volume keys all reached the speaker, and video stayed in sync while it played.

• Pick the speaker in macOS first. EQBase can't find AirPlay speakers on its own. Choose yours in Control Center › Sound, or System Settings › Sound › Output, and it then appears in EQBase's Devices pane as AirPlay.
• Pause and play react a few seconds late. AirPlay buffers a few seconds of audio before the speaker plays it, so the sound runs on briefly after you pause a video, and after you press play the picture can lead the sound for a moment before they line up. That is AirPlay's own buffering: it happened with EQBase switched off too.
• Grouping several AirPlay speakers at once is SoundSource's strength; we have tested EQBase with one AirPlay speaker.

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". For refunds, see the refund policy: 14 days, no questions asked. Pro keeps working offline, for 14 days on a subscription and indefinitely on a lifetime license.

Activating on a new Mac, freeing a slot, renewals, cancelling and failed payments: license and billing help.

How do I renew an EQBase subscription?

You don't have to: Pro Monthly and Pro Annual renew automatically at the end of each period until you cancel, and EQBase picks up each renewal in the background. To see the date, open EQBase's Settings › License and click Manage…: the License window shows when your plan renews.

Cancelling, resuming, a failed payment or an expired plan: renewing a subscription.

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. Moving to a new Mac? Your sound travels as a preset file: here is how to export a custom headphone EQ for reuse on another Mac.