Choosing an Equalizer App

AutoEq doesn't perform equalization on your device, only produces settings for different equalizers. A separate equalizer app is needed.

There are mainly three different types of equalizers

1. Graphic equalizers with a number of sliders for adjusting volume of different frequencies. Graphic equalizers are the most common and can be found in many devices and music players. Even Spotify has a 5 band graphic equalizer built in. Unfortunately graphic equalizers don't offer enough flexibility and control to perfectly fix all problems of many headphones but are still better than nothing if there are no other options.
2. Parametric equalizers allow to control all filter parameters (center frequency, quality and gain). With 10 parametric filters, most headphones can be fixed perfectly. The headphones that cannot be fixed with 10 parametric filters, often cannot be fixed at all based on measurements.
3. Convolution equalizers which use finite impulse response (FIR) filters. The FIR filters can implement almost any kinds of frequency response with extreme precision but cannot be created or tuned by the user and always need to be done by some software.

AutoEq supports all of the three and additionally a couple of special equalizers where an arbitrary equalizer frequency response can be defined.

Which one should you use? The short answer is that both parametric or convolution eq apps are perfect companions for AutoEq.

List of Apps

The recommended apps by platform are:

• Windows EqualizerAPO with or without Peace GUI
• MacOS AUNBandEq with AU Lab and BlackHole or Soundflower. Alternatively paid options eqMac and SoundSource offer easier setup.
• Linux PulseEffects / EasyEffects
• Android Wavelet
• iOS iOS doesn't allow apps to hijack audio streams of other apps so system-wide equalizers are not possible. Hardware solutions Qudelix 5K and MiniDSP IL-DSP work on iOS too.

Name	Type	Platform	Free	Notes
EqualizerAPO Graphic Eq	Special	Windows	Yes	Allows an arbitrary frequency response. Uses convolution under the hood to implement the equalizer.
EqualizerAPO Parametric Eq	Parametric	Windows	Yes	EqualizerAPO supports any number of parametric filters with almost no limits to parameter value ranges.
Peace	Parametric	Windows	Yes	Peace GUI is a graphical user interface for EqualizerAPO. Some users prefer the user experince to EqualizerAPO’s own configuration editor. Peace comes with AutoEq profiles built-in but you might want to customize your experience first in autoeq.app
Wavelet	Special	Android	Yes	The best eq app on Android. Wavelet works with Spotify or any other app on the phone can do arbitrary equalizer frequency responses. Wavelet comes with AutoEq profiles built-in but you might want to customize your experience first in autoeq.app
Poweramp Equalizer	Parametric	Android	Yes	System-wide equalizer app on Android. Apparently requires some tinkering to get it to work with Spotify
Poweramp	Parametric	Android	No	Poweramp is the most popular music player on Android and has a built-in parametric equalizer that inspired also Poweramp Equalizer standalon app.
Neutron	Parametric	Android, iOS, Windows	No	Neutron is a music player on Android with a built-in parametric equalizer. Unfortunately Neutron can only play files on the phone and does not work with streaming services.
USB Audio Player PRO	Parametric	Android	No	USB Audio Player PRO is also a music player on Android with built-in parametric equalizer by Toneboosters. UAPP has improved support for USB DACs.
Viper4Android	Convolution	Android	Yes	Powerful DSP app on Android but requires rooting of the device.
JamesDSP	Convolution	Android	Yes	Another powerful DSP app on Android but also requires rooting.
RootlessJamesDSP	Convolution	Android	Yes	Version of the JamesDSP which doesn’t require rooting but unfortunately does not work with streaming service like Spotify.
SoundSource	Parametric	MacOS	No	A powerful and easy to use audio tool on Mac. Quite pricey though to be used just for AutoEq. Comes with AutoEq profiles built-in but you might want to customize your experience first in autoeq.app.
eqMac Expert	Parametric	MacOS	No	A simple standalone system-wide equalizer app on Mac. Comes with AutoEq profiles built-in but you might want to customize your experience first in autoeq.app.
eqMac Advanced	Graphic	MacOS	Yes	Free version of eqMac but only has 10-band graphic eq.
AUNBandEq	Parametric	MacOS	Yes	A parametric equalizer plugin on MacOS which ships with the devices. This requires a plugin host to actually interact with any audio streams. AU Lab with BlackHole or Soundflower is an option for that.
PulseEffect / EasyEffects	Convolution	Linux	Yes	A powerful DSP engine on Linux with both parametric and convolution equalizers built in. The recommended choice for Linux systems.
Qudelix 5K	Parametric	Hardware	No	Qudelix 5K is a USB DAC, Bluetooth receiver and headphone amp with built-in parametric equalizer. Perhaps the best option on iOS platform.
MiniDSP IL-DSP	Parametric	Hardware	No	Another DAC, Bluetooth, amp dongle. Smaller and cheaper than Qudelix 5K but less full featured.