Are there any good equalizer software / apps for windows that’ll run real time and can be used other than that clunky APO?

[westsounds]

I have found a simple plug-in for my firefox browser which gives me some control over EQ, but I would like a more advanced one with perhaps parametric eq. The one that runs in firefix doesn’t affect the system at all and it literarily like it's not there when in use apart from the adjustment, obviously. What I mean, it doesn’t really impact the system performance.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/audio-equalizer-wext/

What I’d really like is something with more control though, and perhaps like this. But from what I can gather this is only a plug-in for an audio suite, so you can edit music but not really adjust it on the fly as you listen to music.

Or is there a way to use something like this real time without the editing software?

https://www.musicmatter.co.uk/fabfi...dV02RibJpX0f22-NQClCq7aO2Pu8mWghoCGF0QAvD_BwE

Anyone know of any good ones, please?

 

[Roseval]

Try https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ows-linux-macos-ios-ipados-and-android.18450/

 

[westsounds]

Thank

Try https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ows-linux-macos-ios-ipados-and-android.18450/

Thanks, I am already in that thread, and I'm still none the wiser

Thought someone could perhaps give me a direct answer. I'm sure I'll eventually find one, one day.

 

[bfreedma]

Wasn't sure if you're only looking for Firefox based solutions rather than stand alone, so this may not apply.

Roon is a whole ecosystem and may be more than you're looking for, both in cost and features but it has a very good set of EQ capabilities built in that are easy to use. Roon also just released OPRA, with prebuilt EQ for hundreds of headphones that can also be adjusted if needed. The separate built in parametric EQ is easy to work with and if you want to go really deep, HQPlayer is supported.

 

[westsounds]

Wasn't sure if you're only looking for Firefox based solutions rather than stand alone, so this may not apply.

Roon is a whole ecosystem and may be more than you're looking for, both in cost and features but it has a very good set of EQ capabilities built in that are easy to use. Roon also just released OPRA, with prebuilt EQ for hundreds of headphones that can also be adjusted if needed. The separate built in parametric EQ is easy to work with and if you want to go really deep, HQPlayer is supported.

That sounds fascinating. I actually use youtube and youtube music mostly, or I have my albums rips as files on my pc. I really wanted one of those advanced parametric eqs to just work with my windows based pc. Plus didnt really want the added monthly subsriptions. Dont mind paying for a decent eq if its a good one.

 

[bfreedma]

That sounds fascinating. I actually use youtube and youtube music mostly, or I have my albums rips as files on my pc. I really wanted one of those advanced parametric eqs to just work with my windows based pc. Plus didnt really want the added monthly subsriptions. Dont mind paying for a decent eq if its a good one.

Roon connects to your home rips/library and to subscriptions to Qobuz, Tidal, and/or KKBox and presents them coherently. Not YouTube unfortunately. It can manage multiple endpoints and has a clean UI for Windows and apps for iOS and Android. If you set up Roon Arc, your library is available from anywhere with an internet connection.

It’s not an inexpensive solution but it works very well. There’s a free trial if you want to get a feel for it and see if the subscription is worth it to you. Everything other than the HQPlayer integration should be available.

https://roon.app/en/pricing

 

[tjl5709]

I've been using this for years. I use it as a plugin for winamp, musicmonkey, and musicbee. I can set up profiles for each HP or setup.

https://www.thimeo.com/stereo-tool/

 

[castleofargh]

Or is there a way to use something like this real time without the editing software?

Yes and no. There are solutions, but they tend to make EQ APO look quite good and simple.

A long time ago I would use the well named VAC(Virtual Audio Cable) with the also simply named VSTHost(you guessed it, it hosts VSTs such as an EQ). After a lot of shots in the dark at settings I never fully understood to make things works while avoiding massive delays, or dropouts/artifacts noises when buffers were too small or sample rates wrong, I did get to use the EQ I wanted, and more, all system-wide.
Of course, by default, those would not load on startup or necessarily remember all the settings I last used(depends on the VST used as EQ). Everything made EQ APO look simple, stable, and a no-brainer choice, but for some reason I could never get it to work on the PC I had back then.

I also used some other apps to do the same thing, I would often use pedalboard2 as a VST host because it was oh so much easier to set up than VSTHost(it also obviously had fewer possibilities for power users). And I replaced the virtual audio cable by a solution from VB-audio pretty much anytime I could, also because of how much it simplified things(VAC has all the settings you can need, and some more to make sure you never remember what you just changed. Very powerful, very tweakable, huge learning curve for me).
As EQ, I used all the free stuff I could find for a few years, and later(I couldn't get it before it existed ^_^), I got DMG Equilibrium, a not that cheap pro EQ that's one of the few legitimate competitors of FabFilter's Pro-Q.

The one and only advantage I can think of when going the virtual cable and host route, is that it is possible to get a bit perfect pathway(not a bit perfect signal, obviously, as we're EQing the signal). Something EQ APO doesn't do, I think. Is that worth all the hassle? Absolutely not IMO, unless maybe you have some crapware filled sound card that won't leave your sound mixer alone. The other obvious reason is that you wish to use a specific app/VST that won't work with EQ APO.

I also remember fooling around with some Blue Cat products like Patchwork, and it was pretty cool to use(they also have an out of this world virtual cable app that goes from anywhere to anywhere else, console, other computer, apps, crazy stuff for whoever actually has a use for it, I did not). But at that point we're already well within the DAW universe, and it rapidly stops making sense to keep avoiding an actual DAW IMO.

 

[westsounds]

I've been using this for years. I use it as a plugin for winamp, musicmonkey, and musicbee. I can set up profiles for each HP or setup.

https://www.thimeo.com/stereo-tool/

Intersting, havn't seen that one before.

Yes and no. There are solutions, but they tend to make EQ APO look quite good and simple.

A long time ago I would use the well named VAC(Virtual Audio Cable) with the also simply named VSTHost(you guessed it, it hosts VSTs such as an EQ). After a lot of shots in the dark at settings I never fully understood to make things works while avoiding massive delays, or dropouts/artifacts noises when buffers were too small or sample rates wrong, I did get to use the EQ I wanted, and more, all system-wide.
Of course, by default, those would not load on startup or necessarily remember all the settings I last used(depends on the VST used as EQ). Everything made EQ APO look simple, stable, and a no-brainer choice, but for some reason I could never get it to work on the PC I had back then.

I also used some other apps to do the same thing, I would often use pedalboard2 as a VST host because it was oh so much easier to set up than VSTHost(it also obviously had fewer possibilities for power users). And I replaced the virtual audio cable by a solution from VB-audio pretty much anytime I could, also because of how much it simplified things(VAC has all the settings you can need, and some more to make sure you never remember what you just changed. Very powerful, very tweakable, huge learning curve for me).
As EQ, I used all the free stuff I could find for a few years, and later(I couldn't get it before it existed ^_^), I got DMG Equilibrium, a not that cheap pro EQ that's one of the few legitimate competitors of FabFilter's Pro-Q.

The one and only advantage I can think of when going the virtual cable and host route, is that it is possible to get a bit perfect pathway(not a bit perfect signal, obviously, as we're EQing the signal). Something EQ APO doesn't do, I think. Is that worth all the hassle? Absolutely not IMO, unless maybe you have some crapware filled sound card that won't leave your sound mixer alone. The other obvious reason is that you wish to use a specific app/VST that won't work with EQ APO.

I also remember fooling around with some Blue Cat products like Patchwork, and it was pretty cool to use(they also have an out of this world virtual cable app that goes from anywhere to anywhere else, console, other computer, apps, crazy stuff for whoever actually has a use for it, I did not). But at that point we're already well within the DAW universe, and it rapidly stops making sense to keep avoiding an actual DAW IMO.

Thanks for the comprehensive answer there

 

[westsounds]

I remember using this plugin, https://winampheritage.com/plugin/izotope-ozone/79374

It wasn’t too bad, actually. I was using some random Bluetooth speakers I had, they weren’t great but had potential. I used this plugin, and it actually made some of them sound rather good. Gave a bit of a tube effect to the sound and there was a bit of a tweak to the overall presentation.

I was using that with Winamp, but I’ve moved on from that now, it’s mainly streaming services or youtube for listening these days. I did actually get that Ozone working with another player I had as well AlbumPlayer, after a bit of fiddling around. It was a nice VST plugin or whatever its actual name is.

Just wish there were more like it about, but without having to be a computer programmer to make it work easily with whatever you want it to. Software is developing all the time though, I’m sure there's something out there already, but there's new stuff emerging all the time.

 

[ok computer]

I’ve tried just about every way possible to host and playback audio through vsts on windows. The best and most stable solition for me has been using the audient “loopback” with the hang loose convolver host.

Audient’s loopback does the same thing as Virtual Audio Cable but it is IME more stable and less finicky. The catch is you need to have an audient audio interface connected to use it.

The Hang Loose Convolver host that comes bundled with HLC had been the least problematic VST host I’ve used so far. It’s stable and has very flexible routing options.

This is not a cheap option for sure. All in it’s going to cost you $260, but it is the best way to do it on a PC from what I’ve tried.

 

[westsounds]

I’m sure it’s a solution and a stable one, but I can't understand why in 2024 we can't do that without using a hardware audio interface.

The one like I've been using as an extension in my firefox browser does it quickly and easily with no hassle, and uses no system resources. Whatever the browser is playing, it will EQ. And can be switched off and bypassed easily. The trouble is though it’s very limited. But it's still the simplest solution I’ve found so far

What it is / vs what I'd really like to have control of

 

[castleofargh]

The thing is, EQ APO is widely popular, has peace and whatever other interfaces and can host some VSTs. On paper, it is what you're looking for. edit I have no idea if proQ would work in EQ APO?

Anyway, thinking about a simple alternative, I bravely risked my life and installed FxSound that I remembered trying once. While you need to forget about ProQ or other VSTs, its internal EQ seems ok. The lack of a Q value is a deal killer for me, but most people don't use EQ in a way that requires it, already having a bunch of sliders and precise choice of the frequency tends to work fine for most people AFAIK.
As a bonus, you have a bunch of sound effects you might enjoy(or hate and rush to slide back to zero).

I installed it, picked "speaker (FxSound audio enhancer)" and we were in business. I fooled around for a while before posting, it works fine. It's just not overly happy when I run foobar in exclusive and try to start a YouTube video at the same time(that won't have any sound anyway because Foobar set to wasapi exclusive has full control over audio until I close it). When I set foobar to go through FxSound, then everything is mixed fine with the EQ or other DSP being applied in it.

This was never for me as I always wanted to use a specific set of VSTs, but as a simple system wide EQ for those allergic to EQ APO, it's free and seems to work fine.

Hope you find what you need.

 

[westsounds]

The thing is, EQ APO is widely popular, has peace and whatever other interfaces and can host some VSTs. On paper, it is what you're looking for. edit I have no idea if proQ would work in EQ APO?

Anyway, thinking about a simple alternative, I bravely risked my life and installed FxSound that I remembered trying once. While you need to forget about ProQ or other VSTs, its internal EQ seems ok. The lack of a Q value is a deal killer for me, but most people don't use EQ in a way that requires it, already having a bunch of sliders and precise choice of the frequency tends to work fine for most people AFAIK.
As a bonus, you have a bunch of sound effects you might enjoy(or hate and rush to slide back to zero).

I installed it, picked "speaker (FxSound audio enhancer)" and we were in business. I fooled around for a while before posting, it works fine. It's just not overly happy when I run foobar in exclusive and try to start a YouTube video at the same time(that won't have any sound anyway because Foobar set to wasapi exclusive has full control over audio until I close it). When I set foobar to go through FxSound, then everything is mixed fine with the EQ or other DSP being applied in it.

This was never for me as I always wanted to use a specific set of VSTs, but as a simple system wide EQ for those allergic to EQ APO, it's free and seems to work fine.

Hope you find what you need.

I did try FxSound audio enhancer for a time. It's not too bad, but it didn't become my go to, and eventually uninstalled it, and as you say about the effects, those really are something I'd never use.

 

[tjl5709]

Intersting, havn't seen that one before.

Thanks for the comprehensive answer there

What I like about stereotool is it is done in the digital relm so no resamplying. I found it years ago as an addon for early mediamonkey for EQ. They kept building on various processes that you could use to enhance digital music. It can be simple (say EQ only) to complex (declipping). With the loudness wars, the CD's I rip can be all jacked up. I use some of the enhancment tools as well as EQ. I still use music monkey for managing my files, but use musicbee for listening. MediaMonkey 5 does not support it, and I will not go without having it in my listneing stream. It also can be loaded directly into windows. I have not explored that as it works fine for my needs thru player programs like winamp or musicbee. Its worth a look.