Per-App Equalizer on Mac: A Different EQ for Every App

Short answer: macOS has no equalizer per app. SoundDial adds one: open ⋯ → Equalizer & Balance… next to an app and pick one of 11 presets or set the 10 bands yourself.

You want Spotify to sound a little warmer, a podcast in Safari to be easier to understand, and your Zoom calls to stay exactly as they are. That sounds like three equalizer settings for three apps. On a Mac, it usually turns into one compromise: either you find an EQ that changes everything at once, or you dig through each app's own settings and discover that most of them don't have an equalizer at all.

The problem: one sound for every app

Music, spoken word and calls want very different treatment. A bass-heavy curve that makes an album feel full makes a podcast host sound boomy. A vocal curve that brings a narrator forward makes music thin. And anything you do to a meeting app can make voices harder to understand.

What most people actually want is simple: an equalizer that belongs to one app. Set it once for Spotify, set something different for the browser, leave the call app flat.

What macOS gives you

macOS has no per-app equalizer. System Settings > Sound lets you choose an output device and set its volume; there is no EQ section for apps.

Audio MIDI Setup (in Applications > Utilities) is the next place people look. It's useful for other things: you can see each device's format and build Aggregate or Multi-Output Devices. But it works at the device level, not the app level, and nothing in it knows which app is making which sound.

Some players have their own tone controls. Apple's Music app has a built-in equalizer (Window > Equalizer). But an in-app EQ only affects that one app, and most apps, including browsers, don't have one at all. So without an extra tool, you can't give each app its own EQ on a Mac.

Setting up a per-app equalizer with SoundDial

SoundDial is a menu-bar app that gives each app that plays sound its own volume slider, and in version 2.0 its own equalizer and left/right balance. Spotify, Safari and Zoom can all sound different at the same time.

1. Start playback in the app you want to adjust, for example Spotify. It appears as a row in the SoundDial popover (click the menu-bar icon, or press Control-Option-S).
2. Click the ⋯ button on that app's row and choose Equalizer & Balance…
3. Turn on the Equalizer switch.
4. Pick a preset or drag the bands yourself. There are 10 bands at 31, 63, 125, 250 and 500 Hz and 1k, 2k, 4k, 8k and 16k Hz, each adjustable by ±12 dB in 0.5 dB steps. Double-click a band to reset it.
5. Listen. Changes apply instantly, so you hear each move while the music keeps playing.
6. To start over, use Reset EQ & Balance.

Once an app has an active EQ, its row shows an EQ chip, so you can see at a glance which apps are being shaped. If Settings > General > When an app opens is set to Remember last, SoundDial brings back each app's EQ, balance, volume and mute the next time the app opens.

The 11 presets

You don't need to know what 250 Hz sounds like to get a good result. The presets are Flat, Bass Boost, Bass Cut, Treble Boost, Vocal, Podcast, Loudness, Late Night, Rock, Electronic and Acoustic. Pick the closest preset, then nudge one or two bands until it sounds right to you.

Boosting without harsh clipping

Raising EQ bands adds energy, which can push audio into distortion. While an app's EQ is on, SoundDial runs that app through a soft limiter, which rounds off peaks instead of clipping them hard. If the app sounds quieter than you want, raise its volume slider; it goes up to 200%.

Practical setups

App	EQ setting	Why
Spotify / Music	Bass Boost or Loudness	Fuller sound on laptop or small desk speakers
Podcast in Safari or Chrome	Vocal or Podcast	Brings voices forward
Zoom / Teams	Flat or EQ off	Keeps calls natural
YouTube late in the evening	Late Night	A gentler sound at low volume
Guitar lessons or unplugged sets	Acoustic	Suits acoustic instruments

Music plus meetings. Give Spotify the Electronic or Rock preset and leave Zoom flat. When a call starts, the setting Lower other apps during calls (on by default) plays Spotify at 30% of its volume, never lowers the call app, and brings Spotify back when the call ends. Your EQ choices stay in place throughout.

Studying with lectures. Use Vocal for the lecture video in your browser and Bass Cut for background music, so the music sits underneath the speaker instead of competing with the low end of their voice.

Left or right. The same panel has a balance slider. You could keep Spotify slightly to the right while a call stays centered. Balance works by lowering one side; it never boosts the other.

Switching between setups. If you often change between mixes, save them: Save current mix as a profile, give it a name such as Work or Gaming, and pick an icon. A profile stores every app's volume, mute, EQ and balance (not the output device), and you switch with one click.

Limits worth knowing

• Per app, not per browser tab. All Chrome tabs share Chrome's EQ, just as they share Chrome's volume slider. Helper processes of browsers and Electron apps are grouped under their app, so one EQ covers the whole app.
• Stereo only. SoundDial is not a surround or multichannel tool.
• No system-wide EQ. Each EQ belongs to one app. There is no single curve for everything your Mac plays.

Common questions

Does the equalizer work with Safari and Chrome?

Yes. Browsers get a row like any other app that plays sound, and their helper processes are grouped under the browser, so one EQ controls the whole browser (not single tabs).

Can each app keep its own EQ?

Yes. Each app has its own EQ and balance. With When an app opens set to Remember last, they come back when the app opens again, and profiles let you save and switch whole sets of settings.

Can I change the EQ from a script or launcher?

Yes. A link such as sounddial://eq?app=Spotify&preset=bassBoost sets a preset, and works from any launcher or script that can open a URL, or with open in Terminal. Whole profiles can be applied with the Apply Volume Profile action in the Shortcuts app.

Does SoundDial listen to my microphone?

No. SoundDial does not read or record microphone audio. It is sandboxed, needs no account and has no network entitlement.

SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac needs macOS 14.2 or later and costs €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription.

Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.