Apply EQ at very end of audio chain
A system-wide equalizer for Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 / 11
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Hi there.
I've been using the Equalizer APO for just over a year since getting studio headphones as I prefer slightly more bass and high end for everyday general use. Setup has always been just a simple Graphic EQ followed by a Preamp to balance out the peak gain.
I'm now looking into recording my desktop audio through OBS, and I'm noticing that the equalised audio is what's being sent to the OBS input, which I obviously don't want. So I'm basically looking for a way to make sure that OBS would recieve the original unchanged audio whilst the final output to my headphones would have the EQ applied.
Between realising the issue and writing this, I had a look at selecting processing stages within the APO between Pre-mix and Post-mix, but to be honest I'm just pretty confused by it and I'm not getting the results I'm looking for. A nice shove in the right direction would be appreciated.
Many thanks!
By using Device: command you be able to direct your filtering to a certain device.
Note: When you record using method called "What-U-Hear", recording software usually takes its input from a position of audio system where all outgoing audio is mixed together and therefore EqualizerAPO effects are there (this is because of driver model EqualizerAPO works with (WASAPI shared mode)). By using WASAPI Exclusive mode or ASIO you be able to bypass that stage but you probably need to go to VAC system then to record "What-U-Hear" ... .
Thanks for the reply, not sure this works though.
I added the Device: command to the top of the chain and selected my audio interface as playback device. It's also the only thing I can select as it seems I don't have APOs installed for anything else but that's fine. There doesn't appear to be any difference though, thefrequencies of desktop audio on a recording will still be affected by the equalizer.
I guess you want your speakers equalized but you want to listen to the recording unequalized.
With Equalizer APO this is only possible by switching off the equalization for the listening to the recording and switch it back on for the other audio. But there's an app called VoiceMeeter which can do what you need. It creates virtual devices. On one virtual device you output the recordings to your speakers (or audio stream if you are a YouTuber).
No sorry, that's not what I want. I want to always hear through my headphones just the equalized audio. When I make a recording, the audio captured has the equalization. Thus, when I listen back to the recording it is equalized twice, once through the recored audio and once again when passed through to my headphones.
The crux of the issue is my desktop recordings seem to be going through the equalizer when being captured. A perfect illogical solution for me would be to apply the equalizer directly to the headphones, which is obviously not practical or doable, so the only solution I can see is to apply the equalizer at the very end of the audio chain, right before it gets sent from my PC to my audio interface. However I still don't know how to do that through the software.
Thanks for the help.
When OBS captures the audio it's the equalised audio so that's okay if I understand you correctly. So listening to it afterwards you need to switch the equalisation temporarly off (which is more easily done by using Peace btw.). Or you leave the equalisation on and use a virtual device of VoiceMeeter without an equalisation to be able to listen to the equalised recording. In the player of the recording you need to set this virtual (unequalised) device as playback device. I think switching on/off the equalisation is the more practical solution.
The obviously solution you're proposing is perhaps not possible or with some trickery like Juha is explaining.
I'm starting to think it's not possible just because nobodies really understanding the issue, but that's down to me not explaining properly.
The audio being captured by OBS should not be equalized. For instance if I make a recording and send it to someone else's PC with a headphone setup, the audio should have had no equalization applied through Equalizer APO. Every piece of media on my PC should be the exact same as on any other machine. The only difference is on my machine when the audio is sent out to my interface, it should have the Equalizer APO applied.
In order to ensure there was no equalization in a recording currently, I would have to turn off the equalizer, however I don't want to do that as I want to still hear an equalized output. Basically I just need a way to only apply the equalizer at the end of the chain, so that no audio is inherently equalized until being sent out my PC at the very end.
As OBS allows you to select audio device, you could try if VB-Audio's Voicemeeter BANANA (BTW, it integrates with EqualizerAPO ...) works for this task the way you need (I'm on Ubuntu so I can't check this ATM).
Juha is right. VoiceMeeter is the only option. This video tutorial shows you how to set up VoiceMeeter properly.
Using VoiceMeeter throws in a whole bunch of complications with my setup that I'm not prepared to deal with, so thanks for all of your help but I don't think this can do what I want it to.
I understand. I too have difficulties to get my head around VoiceMeeter.
;)
SOLUTION:
Install VB Cable
In the windows sounds menu:
Make CABLE Input your default Playback device
Enable CABLE Output under Recording
Enter CABLE Output properties
Select Listen tab
Tick Listen to this device
Playback through this device: Select your real headphones/speakers
Go to Equalizer APO Preferences
Equalizer APO Configurator
Untick any playback devices
Tick CABLE Output under capture device
OK then reboot computer
In OBS settings:
Audio > Advanced > Monitering Device: CABLE Input
So the order of audio is now
CABLE Input (What OBS listens to, unedited audio)
CABLE Output (Equalizer APO is applied to this)
Headphones (You are listening to CABLE Output, edited audio)
I was just about to make a thread but found your post and it was exactly what I needed! It works!
However, I'm having one tiny issue with this - it seems that when using the 'Listen to this device' feature, it adds a small amount of latency. It's a non-issue for most things but when used in video games, it's enough to be noticeable. It's mild, maybe like 100ms off... Is there a way to get the same results as the guide above but without the latency?
Last edit: BullHorn 2021-06-05
I think latency is the amount of samples of the audio buffer. By reducing this amount the latency is reduced (see image of VB-Audio control panel to set the latency by setting the samples amount). Are you familiar on the usage of audio buffers?
Yep, I'm messing around with this now actually. I lowered the sampling to 4096 and also made sure all my device sampling rates as well as the internal sampling rate are the same at 48000Hz. So far so good but I will keep trying lower latency until issues arise.
Yep, that's the way to do it. Good luck.