Lunatique
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2008
- Posts
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- 386
For many years, folks have been searching high and low for an EQ that processes the audio output of your entire operating system, and they searched in vain. It is a sought after thing because without it, any kind of processing you do (such as EQ) can only be used in the app that has an EQ section, such as media players, and if you are listening/watching something on the web, or in a media player that doesn't have an adequate EQ section, or playing a game, then you can't do anything.
Every time people asked for recommendations, they get irrelevant ones like "Windows Media Player has an EQ," or "If you use Realtek audio drivers you can download an EQ for it from Realtek," and then the trail goes cold. There are even recommendations for buying hardware EQ units and call it the day. It boggled my mind that there was nothing out there that can hijack the audio from your OS and process it.
Some people had tried to develop apps that hijack the audio from your operating system and then allow you to process it, but they were clunky and sounded terrible. I searched for years and years, and now, finally, I have found something that actually works, and works very well.
It is called "Hear," by Prosoft.
While it's got a lot of useless bells and whistles that no serious audiophile would ever use (because they only make your audio sound fake), it does have a very capable EQ section that allows you to arbitrarily set the number of bands you need--up to, get this, 256 bands.
256 bands!
That is INSANE.
It also has a limiter/compressor section too, so you never have to worry about distortion. You probably don't need to use it unless you run into situations where you need to use it. I would recommend you do not use it by default, and only activate it when you must.
You can save your own settings, and recall them easily, and I have created presets for my speakers and headphones when I'm listening/watching anything that doesn't have an EQ section such as on the web or in video games.
I can't believe it's taken this long to finally find something like this, and I can't believe how obscure it is--I've never heard of it before seeing it recommended in some obscure forum. Now I'm going to try to spread the word (like I did with the amazing ISONE) and hopefully all the people who's been looking for something like this can finally enjoy having a proper audio processing unit that sits on the OS's audio output.
EDIT: Now J River's Media Center also offers this capability. You can use its ability to host plugins and then route your audio through it using its audio driver in your OS. I can now watch web videos and movies with perfectly corrected sound using Media Center (I'm using IK Multimedia ARC 2 plugin to correct my speakers/room, and for headphones using Tonebooster's Isone for natural sounding crossfeed/HRTF that sounds like speakers in front of you, as well as headphone correction/EQ). This is the most elegant and best sounding option currently available.
Every time people asked for recommendations, they get irrelevant ones like "Windows Media Player has an EQ," or "If you use Realtek audio drivers you can download an EQ for it from Realtek," and then the trail goes cold. There are even recommendations for buying hardware EQ units and call it the day. It boggled my mind that there was nothing out there that can hijack the audio from your OS and process it.
Some people had tried to develop apps that hijack the audio from your operating system and then allow you to process it, but they were clunky and sounded terrible. I searched for years and years, and now, finally, I have found something that actually works, and works very well.
It is called "Hear," by Prosoft.
While it's got a lot of useless bells and whistles that no serious audiophile would ever use (because they only make your audio sound fake), it does have a very capable EQ section that allows you to arbitrarily set the number of bands you need--up to, get this, 256 bands.
256 bands!
That is INSANE.
It also has a limiter/compressor section too, so you never have to worry about distortion. You probably don't need to use it unless you run into situations where you need to use it. I would recommend you do not use it by default, and only activate it when you must.
You can save your own settings, and recall them easily, and I have created presets for my speakers and headphones when I'm listening/watching anything that doesn't have an EQ section such as on the web or in video games.
I can't believe it's taken this long to finally find something like this, and I can't believe how obscure it is--I've never heard of it before seeing it recommended in some obscure forum. Now I'm going to try to spread the word (like I did with the amazing ISONE) and hopefully all the people who's been looking for something like this can finally enjoy having a proper audio processing unit that sits on the OS's audio output.
EDIT: Now J River's Media Center also offers this capability. You can use its ability to host plugins and then route your audio through it using its audio driver in your OS. I can now watch web videos and movies with perfectly corrected sound using Media Center (I'm using IK Multimedia ARC 2 plugin to correct my speakers/room, and for headphones using Tonebooster's Isone for natural sounding crossfeed/HRTF that sounds like speakers in front of you, as well as headphone correction/EQ). This is the most elegant and best sounding option currently available.
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Wonder if it would possibly even work when using WASAPI with foobar2000. VST EQs do...
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