EqLume vs eqMac

EqLume is a free system-wide equalizer for Apple silicon Macs running macOS 26.0 or later. It detects the genre of the current track and applies a matching EQ preset, with 21 presets that include hip-hop, EDM, rock, jazz, classical and ambient. The menu bar app shows a live spectrum analyzer and an EQ response curve. EqLume reads now-playing details from Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music and supported browsers, and offers transport controls for Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music. It uses a Core Audio process tap to capture system audio without a virtual audio driver or kernel extension. Audio is processed in memory, not recorded to disk or uploaded. Track and artist names may be sent to MusicBrainz and Apple iTunes Search for lookups. The built-in 3.5 mm headphone output uses tuned correction; other outputs can be enabled per device, while built-in speakers are unprocessed. The Mac App Store version omits the optional on-device classifier.

eqMac is a system-wide audio equalizer and volume mixer for macOS. The free tier includes basic bass, mids and treble controls and a fixed 10-band equalizer. AutoEQ provides automatic headphone equalization from frequency responses, with support listed for 4,600 headphone presets. Pro adds unlimited customizable bands, a real-time spectrum analyzer, separate left and right channel EQ, AudioUnit hosting, spatial audio and per-application volume mixing. The maker says its driver captures system audio and passes it to the app through a secure memory tunnel for processing; it also says the driver runs in user space rather than the kernel. Downloads are listed for macOS 10.13 or later on Intel and Apple Silicon. The maker lists a free HTTP API for controlling eqMac, and remote control from iOS, iPadOS or Android devices on the same local network as a Pro feature. The free plan has no Pro features. Paid access is listed from $1/mo, while the Pro subscription page does not state a yearly price. Public GitHub code corresponds to version 1.3.2 without Pro features; newer releases are developed on a private fork.