EqLume vs Equaliser

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.

Equaliser is a system-wide audio equalizer for macOS that processes audio from every app automatically. It offers up to 64 parametric EQ bands, each with separate controls for frequency, gain, bandwidth or Q, and filter type. Compare Mode lets users hear adjusted settings against the original sound in real time, and 11 factory presets cover music, movies, and other uses. Listed specifications include a 1 Hz–22 kHz frequency range, sample rates up to 768 kHz, and 32-bit float processing. Equaliser can import filter settings from Room EQ Wizard; the project also supports EasyEffects import and exporting presets for sharing with Linux users. Processing happens locally, and the app says it does not record, store, or transmit audio or include analytics or telemetry. It is free and open source under GPL-3.0. The app requires macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later and an Apple Silicon Mac. It is not notarized by Apple, so macOS may require selecting Open Anyway in Privacy & Security settings.