Mac equalizer: how to add an equalizer for any app

A Mac or MacBook equalizer can fix one app that is too bright without changing a call, browser video, or every other sound. macOS has a few built-in controls, but no general equalizer for every app playing audio. Here’s what you can adjust yourself, and how to control each app when you need it.

Does a MacBook have a built-in equalizer?

On a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or desktop Mac, the built-in controls belong to specific sources. Apple Music changes music inside that app. The Background Sounds equalizer in macOS Tahoe changes only rain, ocean, and other ambient sounds. System Settings → Sound controls volume, balance, and output, but not one frequency curve for every app.

So if you want to change the bass in Spotify, soften a harsh browser video, or make a podcast clearer without changing every other app, you need an equalizer that can work per app.

Open the equalizer in Apple Music

Open the Music app, choose Window → Equalizer from the menu bar, and turn it on. Pick a preset or move the frequency bands yourself. The change applies to songs in Apple Music, not Spotify, Safari, Chrome, games, or calls.

When everything should become louder or quieter together, use Apple menu → System Settings → Sound → Output, select your speakers or headphones, and adjust the output volume instead.

Know what an equalizer actually changes

Volume changes how loud a source is. An equalizer changes the balance between parts of that sound: low frequencies can make music feel fuller, while a small adjustment higher up can make speech easier to follow. It is a tone control, not a way to fix a source that is simply too quiet.

Make changes in small steps. On SOUND’s 8-band EQ, start with one band, compare it with Flat, then keep only changes that clearly help. A curve that looks dramatic is rarely the one that is most comfortable to hear for an hour.

When you need a per-app equalizer

A per-app equalizer gives each app its own frequency curve. That means you can add a little low end to music, use a vocal-focused shape for spoken-word audio, and leave everything else flat.

SOUND puts an 8-band equalizer in the menu bar for every app currently playing audio. Pick a preset or adjust the bands yourself; each app keeps its own settings.

A useful starting setup

1. Keep the System equalizer Flat to start.
2. Play audio in the app you want to adjust.
3. Open SOUND from the menu bar and choose that app.
4. Try a preset, then make one small adjustment at a time.
5. Save a custom curve once it sounds right.

The goal is not to push every band up. An equalizer is most useful when it solves a specific listening problem without disturbing the rest of your Mac.

Pair EQ with the right control

If a source is competing with everything else, adjust its volume first. If it needs to play somewhere else, use per-app output routing instead. Those are different jobs, and keeping them separate is the fastest way to get a clean result. See our guides to per-app volume and audio routing when either is the real problem.