eqMac vs Radioform

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.

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.