Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Adjust Bass Level?

S

sv2

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 8, 2008
20
0
Hello

How do i adjust the level of bass on my headphones? I am wondering because when I hook them into a pc with XP, I can do it from the volume control menu. However in Mac OS X there appears to be no option in the sound options (system preferences > hardware > sound)

Please don't tell me it's up to each individual program, or that the headphones need a bass volume wheel. :confused:

Thanks

anyone?
 
It can't be done with OS X's own sound system - for good reason.

You could always try an external headphone amp which may have bass/treble controls?
 
Quicktime Pro offers an equalizer as well.

As far as a global EQ, I don't know of any such program. I went to VersionTracker and they had nothing.

What exactly are you needing the extra bass for?
 
Killyp said:
It can't be done with OS X's own sound system - for good reason.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, why do you think it's "for good reason?" Say you happen to have a sub in your setup, you live in an apartment, but even at the minimal setting, the sub annoys the neighbors. Should you just suck it up and say, "Boy. I sure with I was an Apple fanboy and believed that everything Apple did was for the best. At least then I'd feel alright with throwing away this perfectly good sub because I can't adjust the bass levels."
 
  • Like
Reactions: DomainEarth and shurcooL
I missing this function too, has anyone found some kind of global equalizer for OS X?

I have no way to equalize sound when listening to music from an applications that's not iTunes, internet radio for example.
 
I too would like to know a solution. I want to cut some of the bass that comes out of ALL of OS X.

The reason - since so many OS X users are so judgmental - is because I have a sound system that REEKS of too much bass. I DO have speaker control of it and even then it's WAY too overpowering and colors what I hear. I've gotten used to it, but I don't want to get used to it - I need to make better mixes here and this isn't helping when I go to compare it to popular tracks in a genre.

So I'm wondering the same thing. How can I cut the bass BEYOND what my hardware allows for ALL applications (spotify, DVD player, etc...)

thanks!
 
*** Boom - may be not bad App, but their EQ is not (in my opinion good)

*** Hear (by JoeSoft) - may be better than Boom since it has mush more option some of which doesn't work properly (such as EQ, when its resolution is set to more than 32 octaves it start to distort sound)

*** Apples AU lab - I think is the best option. Install Soundflower than download AU Lab, unzip, open DMG and copy to Applications "AU Lab", than open "Correction.trak" by it. You may need Xcode to download (but I am not sure). One good thing about AU Lab is that you can use not just 1 EQ, but also compressors and others VST plugins and audio units.
 
SABOND21 said:
*** Apples AU lab - I think is the best option. Install Soundflower than download AU Lab, unzip, open DMG and copy to Applications "AU Lab", than open "Correction.trak" by it. You may need Xcode to download (but I am not sure). One good thing about AU Lab is that you can use not just 1 EQ, but also compressors and others VST plugins and audio units.
Click to expand...

I followed these steps and it worked so thank you SABOND21. Can you tell me if there are some presets such as low or medium bass? <I don't feel like setting the equalizer frequencies myself in a real hazardous way>
 
Last edited:
I have the same exact problem. I need to lower my bass so my neighbor stops complaining despite reasonable volume levels. I think it is ridiculous that Apple has not added this ability over the past several OS version upgrades.
 
Last edited:
I read their website but I didn't see anything about adjusting bass up and down, just boosting it, I'll check again in the app store.
 
adjusting sound on itunes through equalizer

hi guys,

i was having the same problem with my (recently-owned!) mac, cause of my speakers/subwoofer + living in an apartment.

i know this is kind of an old thread, but i believe you can actually change the bass levels through the equalizer in itunes (itunes > window > equalizer). there, you'll find different settings, as well as one labelled 'bass reducer'. or you can manually adjust the levels and bring them down a notch.

hope this helps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: krys807
Correction about Soundflower use

The new version of soundflower is available - search the google. The second thing: before creating new project in AU Lab select as audio output source Soundflower in your system settings and only than create project in AU Lab (New->Audio Input Device: Soundflower->Audio Output Device: Your Output Device). I recommend to use as correction tool for speakers FabFilter Pro-Q Equalizer.
 
Here I am in 2018 (January), and there still seems to be few methods to adjust tones on my Mac Mini's music sound quality (or are there more recent posts under different headings?). As for reasons for adjusting sound (!), any speakers I'm choosing to use (usually my desktop speakers, OR my headphones), and the music or artists I am listening to, may sound best if I make adjustments like those available on iTunes. Is there a way for me to listen to "radio" offerings like my Google play, but through the iTunes site? As avanrotciv said in 2008, I too, listen to internet radio.
Heck, even my simple Toyota dash's radio has THREE tonal aspects that I can adjust easily enough to adjust it for every CD.
One other note, with no judgment of you good posters here, is it cell phone links that result in so many misspellings or use of wrong words - like "on" instead of "in"; "with" instead of "wish". This often happens too, nowadays, in the newspaper. Do spelling, and word choices matter any more? I recently heard that punctuation is becoming obsolete. Thank you all for this big variety of Qs & As!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back