Equalizer for Windows

[Yeasman]

I'm looking to install an equalizer app for my pc, but I think I have a poor understanding over their abilities. Will I be able to change the frequency response of any audio signal ? Practically meaning will I be able to change the signal from audio coming from youtube or spotify, or will I have to import the audio to the equalizer and then process the sound ? Also, any free simple-to-use equalizer software recommendations ?

[Max_Settings]

What motherboard do you have? Many have a built in EQ.

[PCG4M3R101]

Equalizer APO is a good one (with the Peace skin). Here's a link to both of them - download equalizer apo first: 

https://sourceforge.net/projects/equalizerapo/

https://sourceforge.net/projects/peace-equalizer-apo-extension/

[Yeasman]

I have a difficulty installing equalizer apo. My pc restarts and the program has not been installed.

[Yeasman]

I have a super old mobo, it has the socket for the first gen i7 :P. 

 

[PCG4M3R101]

2 minutes ago, Yeasman said:

I have a difficulty installing equalizer apo. My pc restarts and the program has not been installed.

Sorry, I don't know how you'd go about fixing that... 

[Yeasman]

Thx none the less 

[Psychopath]

A piece of software I have always loved is Voicemeeter by VB-Audio, it has full hardware/software input/output routing as well as things like built in gates, compressors and a 6 band EQ for every output if you download the Banana version. It is completely free, but does ask for donations if you want to and runs in the background great from my experience.

[Spakes]

That's not an easy software thing, but you can try ASIO4ALL. It has a lot of stuff, an EQ, too.

[PraveenRamanujam]

@Yeasman If you are not satisfied with the audio coming from your audio output, you could try using a USB external soundcard. All you need to do it plug in the device, install the driver (if you need the EQ and other speaker configuration utilities) and you should have pretty decent audio. Something as cheap as a 20 EURO one from ROCCAT, i.e. the ROCCAT Juke 7.1 does a fairly decent job for me. My laptop has pretty good on-board audio but still I could notice a small, albeit perceivable difference in the audio experience from my device. The external soundcard has a 3.5mm jack for the headphone out and also a microphone input. So all standard 3.5mm audio devices should work with this. Now I know this is not a free solution..but considering that you have  an old motherboard, I'm sure the 20 EURO investment that I made would also work well for you.

The software utility that comes with this (still an outdated Windows XP/Vista based version) has some potent tweaks and the built-in equalizer effectively processes all audio signals transmitted through the card and you'd have very less trouble getting the experience you desire (unless you're an audiophile). If you don't mind stretching your budget a little further, consider similar cards from Creative/ASUS. I'd definitely recommend these cheap external soundcards for improving the experience from your on-board audio.

 

The key benefit of using an external sound card is that this card receives the audio signals as a digital input and does the analog conversion outside the motherboard. This theoretically eliminates interference from other electronic devices in close proximity to the on-board audio devices and so you should technically have no static noise in your audio. Bear in mind that the one I have suggested here does not come with any kind of audio amplification. It simply provides better stereo separation by processing the signals as though you are listening it on a 7.1 (virtual) speaker/headphone setup.