Equalizer APO "Checks Failed" on Ryzen AI Laptop

[Ryland Thompson]

Hello everyone,

I installed Equalizer APO along with Peace on my laptop just as I have done on my desktop computer. However, when choosing my Apple Dongle as my device to EQ some headphones, all checks fail and the EQ profiles don't apply. I can do the same process on my desktop with the same Apple Dongle and it works with no issues. I have tried a multitude of different ways to get it to function properly on my laptop but nothing has fully worked so far. The only thing that worked breifly was reinstalling APO in its own folder on my C drive, but after working once it no longer worked again. Is Equalizer APO just simply not compatible with my laptop? Or is there anyway to resolve this persistant issue? For reference, my latop is the AM5 Thinkpad P14s with a Ryzen AI processor.

[Peter Verbeek]

Reading your experience did you install Equalizer APO in c:\program files\equalizerapo? It seems that's the best choice (preventing rights issues on the Equalizer APO audio manipulation engine, the actual APO). However, I'm not sure if it resolves the issue about none of the APO techniques working on the Apple Dongle but at least try it.

[Ryland Thompson]

Yes that was how I downloaded it initially, but it still would not work after multitple reinstallations. So, I downloaded in its own folder and that only worked the one time. I also tried using a different device such as the Quedelix 5K and that also did not work.

[Peter Verbeek]

Does it work on any of the main audio devices of your laptop?
If so, then probably Equalizer APO isn't working on any of the devices. This can be a few things (which aren't likely on their own but at least they can be checked):

1. The Windows update feature "Get the latest update as ..." is enabled. Or worse, the "Windows Insider Programme" is enabled. Early updates aren't any good ...
2. An anti-malware app blocking access and/or change to the Windows registry.
3. An anti-malware app is setting the DisableProtectedAudioDG key value back to 0. It should be 1 for Equalizer APO to work. This key value is located in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Audio
4. (As mentioned) Equalizer APO isn't installed in c:\program files\equalizerapo.
5. An anti-malware app is blocking EqualizerAPO.dll (the Audio Processing Object which changes the audio).
6. An anti-malware app is sandboxing Equalizer APO installation so it can't work although it looks like it.

Besides 1. I only saw the others a few times in the many years of my support on Equalizer APO. Unfortunately I don't know any other causes. People have temporarily disabled their anti-malware/firewall apps in order to get Equalizer APO going. Usually this didn't resolve the issue.

its own folder

What folder is this precisely?