EQBase vs Radioform

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.

Radioform is a free, open-source system-wide equalizer for macOS. It routes audio from Mac applications through a virtual output device and EQ engine to selected speakers or headphones. The equalizer provides ten bands from 32 Hz to 16 kHz, with adjustable gain and Q. Built-in presets cover Electronic, Acoustic, Classical, Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B, Rock, and Flat, and users can save named curves for particular headphones. A limiter and preamp are included to catch clipping when EQ is pushed hard. Radioform switches output devices without restarting and keeps equalization active after the change. It requires macOS 13.0 Ventura or later and runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. The maker reports under 1% CPU usage on Apple Silicon and no audible delay. Releases are Apple-signed and notarized, with updates delivered through Sparkle. The maker says no data is collected. Radioform is licensed under GPLv3; its audio engine uses C++, while the native Swift and SwiftUI menu bar app uses macOS CoreAudio.