Equalizer app for iOS

I discovered an iOS app recently, Equalizer, which allows you to modify the frequency, Q and precut on up to seven parametric bands for the music stored on your iOS device. The app itself has been available for some time, but some recent revisions have significantly altered the functionality. These recent changes—namely, the ability to equalise music on the fly—have brought the app to my attention.

In my view, iOS (and any iPod running the default firmware) has always been lacking a critical feature: a graphic equaliser. Sure, there have always been a bunch of preset EQ curves, but these are, at best, so-so. In fact, until iOS 4.0 arrived, these preset EQ curves introduced audible distortion on bass-heavy tracks, because there were no precut adjustments being made to compensate for the low frequency gain. This was the primary reason I held off buying an iPhone until the iPhone 4 arrived. It was the longest two years of my life!


I found myself still tied to my old iAUDIO X5 MP3 player with Rockbox firmware installed, through some inexpensive bass-heavy ear canal headphones, even after I bought the iPhone 4. I tried to retrain my ears to enjoy a flat EQ curve with some new and expensive ear canal headphones connected to the iPhone, hoping that they would pump out some powerful low frequencies without the need for an aggressive EQ curve. That was an ill-informed decision. Those earphones are expensive because they produce a flat frequency response—but that's not what my ears want!

So, back to the app… Equalizer, in its current form, is the app I have been waiting years for. It is a complete music player; an alternative to the iPod app, with a 7-band fully parametric equaliser. The equaliser itself works in a similar way to my beloved Rockbox. The amplitude, centre frequency, and bandwidth can be controlled individually on each band, as opposed to drawing a single curve on a more simplistic software equaliser, such as EQu – also in the App Store. This is perfect for my bass hungry ears, as I can give multiple 12 dB gains at 20 Hz with a sharp drop down to 0 dB at around 60 Hz, creating deep sub-bass without the muddy lower-middle frequencies interfering.

Music selection is handled in a similar fashion to the iPod app, which is a breath of fresh air after using the similar app, EQu, where album selection appeared to be left as an afterthought.

My recommendation is quite simple: if you are currently satisfied with the sound coming from your current iOS device, and feel there is no room for improvement, then carry on using the iPod app. If you find yourself wanting a little more…  Scrap that; buy this $3.99 app, and a pair of ear canal headphones. You don't know what you're missing out on!