Equaliser (🇬🇧) is a system-wide audio equalizer (🇺🇸) for macOS.
It lets you shape the sound of everything playing on your Mac — Spotify, YouTube, films, games, or any other app.
Equaliser runs quietly in your menu bar, keeping your Dock uncluttered.
Equaliser lives in the macOS menu bar, where you can quickly enable or disable system EQ, select output device, and access presets.
Equaliser provides a parametric equaliser with up to 64 adjustable bands.
Each band allows precise control over frequency, gain, and bandwidth, making it possible to subtly correct headphones or completely reshape your sound.
Level meters allow you to monitor both input and output signals in real time, with clip indicators to help you detect and avoid distortion. Compare Mode lets you instantly switch between your EQ curve and a flat response at matched volume.
All settings — including device routing, EQ state, and presets — are remembered automatically between launches.
- Up to 64 bands of parametric EQ — precise frequency, gain, and bandwidth control.
- Compare Mode — quickly A/B your EQ curve against a flat response.
- Real-time level meters with clip indicators — monitor input/output and avoid distortion.
- Presets — built-in options like Bass Boost and Vocal Presence; save your own.
- EasyEffects import/export — share presets with Linux users.
- System EQ toggle — bypass all processing instantly.
- Persistent settings — device routing, EQ state, and preferences are remembered.
Equaliser uses BlackHole, a free virtual audio driver, to capture and process system audio.
Your Mac sends audio to BlackHole, Equaliser applies the EQ, and the processed signal is then sent to your speakers or headphones.
Apps → BlackHole → Equaliser → Speakers / Headphones
Download the free 2-channel version:
https://existential.audio/blackhole/
Or install with Homebrew:
brew install blackhole-2chDownload the latest version from Releases, or build from source:
swift build -c release
./bundle.sh- Open System Settings → Sound
- Set the system output to BlackHole 2ch
- Open Equaliser from the menu bar
- Select:
- Input: BlackHole 2ch
- Output: your speakers or headphones
- Click Start
Audio from all applications will now pass through Equaliser.
To remove Equaliser from your Mac:
- Quit the app — Click the menu bar icon and choose Quit
- Restore system audio — Open System Settings → Sound and change the output from BlackHole 2ch back to your speakers or headphones
- Delete the app — Drag Equaliser from your Applications folder to the Trash
- Uninstall BlackHole (optional) — See uninstall instructions
Optional cleanup:
Equaliser stores data in your user Library:
- Presets:
~/Library/Application Support/Equaliser/ - Settings:
~/Library/Containers/net.knage.equaliser/
These files are small and harmless — remove them only if you do not plan to reinstall Equaliser.
No other system changes are made.
- macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later
- Apple Silicon Mac
- BlackHole 2ch
Equaliser requires Microphone access on macOS.
This is necessary because macOS treats virtual audio devices (such as BlackHole) as microphone inputs. Granting this permission allows Equaliser to receive system audio from BlackHole so it can apply the equaliser.
All audio processing happens locally on your Mac.
Equaliser:
- does not record audio
- does not store audio
- does not transmit audio
- does not include analytics or telemetry
Some other macOS system audio tools you might consider:
- SoundMax — Free, Open Source, Gratis
- eqMac (older version without Pro Features) — Free, Open Source, Gratis
- Vizzdom Analyzer with EQ — Proprietary, Gratis
- Hosting AU — Proprietary, Gratis
- AU Lab — Proprietary, Gratis
- eqMac (latest version) — Proprietary, Paid
- Sound Control 3 — Proprietary, Paid
- Airfoil — Proprietary, Paid
- SoundSource — Proprietary, Paid
Legend:
Free as in Freedom = FOSS; you can run, study, modify, and redistribute it
Gratis = software is free-of-charge, regardless of license
Open Source = source code is available for review and modification
Paid = software that requires purchase, regardless of license
Proprietary = source is closed; you cannot modify or redistribute it
Made with 🤖 in 🇩🇰