EQBase vs JamesDSP

EQBase is a system-wide macOS equalizer that processes sound from apps in real time. It includes a 10-band EQ and measured correction profiles for more than 8,600 headphone models. The free tier has no time limit and can record system audio in MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, WAV, or AIFF. Pro adds microphone-based room measurement and a fitted parametric correction curve, per-app volume, mute and tone controls, and routing audio sources to one or more outputs. Pro also supports Audio Unit plugins. EQBase uses headphone correction curves from the open-source AutoEQ project. Audio is processed locally; the privacy policy says audio content, recordings, and listening information are not collected, stored, or transmitted. Normal setup does not install a driver, while optional Audiophile mode and Pro routing use a user-space Core Audio driver. It requires macOS 14.4 or later and supports Apple silicon and Intel Macs. Pro Monthly costs $4.99 per month for three Macs; Pro Annual is $39.99 per year for three Macs, and Pro Lifetime costs $79.99 once for one Mac.

JamesDSP is a free, open-source audio effects processor for Linux clients using PipeWire or PulseAudio. Its tools include automatic bass boost, multiband dynamic range compression, reverb, equalizers, crossfeed, soundstage widening, analog modeling, and an output limiter. A partitioned convolver supports mono, stereo, and full or true stereo impulse responses. The arbitrary response equalizer uses the AutoEQ database and requires a network connection. Users can build live DSP effects with EEL2 scripting in a minimal IDE that provides syntax highlighting, basic code completion, and console output. PipeWire is the intended backend; PulseAudio remains supported in maintenance mode. Selective app exclusion and changing the target device are available only for PipeWire clients. Since version 2.5.0, D-Bus IPC and command-line controls can manage settings, presets, devices, and preset rules. Installation options include Flatpak, Arch AUR, Fedora and openSUSE packages, or a source build. The Flatpak is sandboxed and has access only to its application data directory by default. The project is GPLv3 licensed and provides no warranty.