Comparison

Equalizer vs Parametric Equalizer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Equalizer

This music player offers a powerful and accurate parametric equalizer with advanced playlist controls. Customize your audio experience with seven adjustable control points, separate left/right ear adjustments, and a spectrum analyzer. Share and import EQ presets for a personalized sound.

Highlights
  • Parametric equalizer with 7 control points
  • Separate left/right ear EQ adjustment
  • Customizable EQ presets
  • Spectrum analyzer visualization
  • Advanced playlist controls
  • Background playback with remote control
  • AirPlay and Bluetooth support
Features
Read full description

"... the sound quality blew us away."- Gearburn.com Music player with the most powerful and acurate equalizer in the app store as well as the most advanced playlist controls. + Play music directly from your Music Library including podcasts and music video (audio only) + Adjust the powerful parametric equalizer by moving the seven control points or type in the values directly. + Adjust the EQ curve for your left and right ear separately (now extends from -30 to + 30 dB. Use the StereoEQ setting for that) + Select from over 10 presets or save your own. You can even share them via email and import presets from other people via email. + Full background support including remote control (from docks, headsets, car stereos) + Visualize the music with the spectrum analyzer. + Use AirPlay to listen on your AppleTV, or your Bluetooth headsets and even a dock. + Use the pre-amp slider to adjust the overall boost or cut. Make sure to turn the slider down if you experience distortion. Use the auto-normalizer function to prevent clipping automatically and have the best dynamic range possible with your eq curve. (on/off in settings) + Curve screen: curve redraws as controllers are dragged. Pinch to modify Q. Three stage clipping signal on preamp slider. Keyboard entry for pre-amp. Twitter/Facebook/Weibo integration to share your current EQ curve. Bypass. + Crossfade between songs. Make sure to stop the music before changing the crossfade time slider. + Now playing screen includes repeat (all, single no repeat) button and shuffles like the music app. Improved stability of on the fly modifications of the playlist. Add more songs to the playlist at any time. Sort playlist alphabetically. + Music selection is very similar to default music app. + Turn landscape to display the frequency analyzer. + Built in sleep timer to stop Equalizer after a certain period if time. + Crossfeed option to blend audio between channels + Apple Watch support for eq curve selection incl. complications KNOWN ISSUES: No known issues. please contact support if you have any problems. COPY-PROTECTED MUSIC: Equalizer will not play copy-protected (DRM). You need to convert DRM songs. Apple Music Streaming uses copy-protected songs. iCLOUD: Only the Apple Music app can manage songs in iCloud (iTunes Match). You will need to make sure the songs are downloaded to your device to listen and enhance them via Equalizer. If you want to stream and eq your music, you can try our other app: CloudEQ. It allows you to stream and eq music from SoundCloud and your Dropbox account without the need for storage on your device. From the reviews: EXCELLENT PROGRAM I connect my iphone 4 to a car audio system, with the application the music began to sound incomparably better .... A little clear interface, but to understand it and understand need no more than 5-10 minutes. -- P_S_B_ *** LOVE IT This is the EQ I have been looking for, and because of bad ratings I almost passed on it! I consider myself an aspiring audiophile and have the equipment -- Klipsch, Sunfire, Nottingham, Denon, Paradigim, etc. -- (and debt) to back it up. This EQ performs flawlessly and is very easy to use. It enhanced my music dramatically. Yes, dramatically! Just make sure you are running the recommended IOS, as the developer suggests. -- J. Paul DiMaggio *** PLEASE if you have concerns or encounter problems with the app: post on http://www.audioforge.ca and we will explain how things work, until you can use all the features of the app to the fullest. Thank you

About

Parametric Equalizer

This audio unit plugin provides a powerful yet user-friendly six-band parametric equalizer for iOS devices. It's designed for precise audio filtering within compatible host applications.

Highlights
  • Six-band parametric equalizer
  • Low cut and high cut filters
  • Adjustable Q (resonance)
  • Bell filters
  • Low and high shelf filters
  • AU3 plugin format
Features
Read full description

Blue Mangoo Parametric Equalizer is an audio unit plugin, with six bands of filter controls: - Low cut and high cut with adjustable Q (resonance) - Two bell filters with adjustable Q - Low and high shelf filters This plugin exists because we needed an equalizer that is easy to use in the small screen space of an iOS Audio Unit plugin, but still powerful enough to do relatively complex filtering. * Blue Mangoo Parametric Equalizer is an AU3 plugin. It runs within an audio unit host app such as Garage Band. It does not run as a standalone app.

Screenshots

Equalizer4 screens
Parametric Equalizer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Parametric Equalizer at 4.3 against Equalizer's 3.3. Parametric Equalizer also leads on review sentiment (70% vs 61%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 18.0). Equalizer's advantage is ratings volume (138 vs 19) and price ($3.99 vs $5.99). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Equalizer costs $3.99 and Parametric Equalizer $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Parametric Equalizer holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Equalizer has 138 ratings behind it against 19, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of Equalizer's written reviews are positive against 70% of Parametric Equalizer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Equalizer ships an update every 2 months, Parametric Equalizer every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Equalizer versus Parametric Equalizer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEqualizerParametric Equalizer
Price$3.99 — better$5.99
Rating3.3 (138 ratings)4.3 (19 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.2% of reviews70.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings138 — better19
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAudioforge Labs Inc.Blue Mangoo Consulting Company Limited

Customer experience

Equalizer

All ratings138 ratings
Positive54.3%
Neutral8.0%
Negative37.7%
Written reviews338 reviews
Positive61.2%
Neutral8.0%
Negative30.8%

Parametric Equalizer

All ratings19 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%

Bugs and requests

Equalizer

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Crashes after iOS 11 update
  • Scroll bar progress stuck
  • Buffering doesn't adjust properly
  • App crashes significantly
  • Playback may freeze at end of track
Show 5 more
  • Songs not playing from Apple Music
  • Playlists don't load
  • Crashes immediately on iPhone 6
  • Doesn't work with podcast
  • Clipping issue causing distortion

Requested features

6 requests
  • Sort albums by date added
  • Tidal integration
  • Playlist support
  • Dark mode
  • Presets for different headphones/speakers
Show 1 more
  • Ability to save EQ settings per song

Parametric Equalizer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Equalizer

No in-app purchases

None

Parametric Equalizer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Equalizer free?
Equalizer costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Parametric Equalizer free?
Parametric Equalizer costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Equalizer or Parametric Equalizer?
Parametric Equalizer is rated higher. Equalizer averages 3.3 out of 5 from 138 ratings, while Parametric Equalizer averages 4.3 from 19 ratings.
Do Equalizer or Parametric Equalizer have ads?
Neither Equalizer nor Parametric Equalizer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Equalizer or Parametric Equalizer?
Equalizer ships an update every 2 months, and Parametric Equalizer every 5 weeks. Most recently, Equalizer was updated on October 2, 2026 and Parametric Equalizer on September 30, 2026.

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