Equalizer APO & Peace make no effect on microphone EQ
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Hello.
My microphone (Philips SBC MD110)'s a total piece of crap, so I thought of actively EQing it with software, so it wouldn't sound as horrible, and a YouTube tutorial led me to getting a combo of Equalizer APO and Peace.
Initially, it worked pretty alright (which, looking back, I don't know how much of that can be attributed to placebo or something), but about a week or 2 ago, the EQ just quit working. I tried everything I possibly could to get it to work again, but I can't, and it's driving me up the wall, and I have no idea if it's a Peace problem, an Equalizer APO problem, or even something else, because of my lack of understanding of how all this works.
What can I do to get it to work again? I use Windows 10, version 1909, build 18363.1016, version 1.2.1 of Equalizer APO, and version 1.5.4.3 of Peace.
I've attached some screenshots of the Equalizer APO and Peace configurators, and I hope this will help.
DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE SCREENSHOTS (if this may help):
EQUALIZER APO SCREENSHOTS: The first one is the Configuration Editor, with the sum of both Peace equalizations. The second one is the Configurator. In both of these screenshots, you can see that the microphone is tagged as "High Definition Audio Device", which I think is a placeholder name for some Realtek thing.
PEACE SCREENSHOTS: The two configurations I have set as "always active". On the 2nd configuration, you might wonder what the purpose for the dips between 2k-6k is, and it's because for some reason, my microphone has an annoying high-pitched tone in the background (especially around 5.1k-5.5k).
Also, sorry if this post is hard to read, English is not my native language. If you need any more information, just leave a comment below this post.
First of all, nice usage of Equalizer APO and Peace! Exactly how it needs to be done, especially the selection of your Philips SBC MD110 and using the automation window. Btw. for any Peace related questions can be asked on the Peace forum.
Did you get a notification after starting Peace saying Windows has been updated? Equalizer APO might stop working caused by an update. Either the audio driver of your mic has been reinstalled or the audio system has been changed by Microsoft. In the first case, other devices may keep on working. Does your equalizations for your speakers/headphones still work? When no audio can be changed for any audio device, Equalizer APO has to be reinstalled again because the Windows audio system has been updated.
When you have done what's explained above and your mic still can't be equalized then try some troubleshooting options in the Configurator for your mic.
Btw. Your English is fine. Your post is very clear.
Actually, I did get that notification, and I think that's when I perceived the EQ stopped working.
I don't have any EQs for headphones/speakers, just for the microphone.
So at least you need to reinstall Equalizer APO.
Well, I did reinstall Equalizer APO, but it still doesn't work.
Did I do something wrong reinstalling it? What can I do?
You didn't do anything wrong. If you did, I'm not aware of it.
First we need to know if Equalizer APO is working at all. So enable it on your speakers/headphones output by using the Configurator. Perhaps Equalizer APO is already installed on this output. Anyway, then try to change the audio with Peace, for instance pre amplifying it down/up.
I did what you asked me, but I didn't hear any difference pre-amplifying it up or down.
So if Equalizer APO is installed on the speakers/headphones output and it can't be changed then Equalizer APO stopped working after the Windows 10 update. That's unfortunate. I'm on the same Windows 10 1909 build but on 900 instead of 1016 like you. I'll update my Windows 10 and see what happens. I'll report back to you.
I've installed the 1016 update so my Windows 10 is now the same as yours. On my Realtek audio chip Equalizer APO is still working despite the update. This is a good thing for me but unfortunately this means that I can't debug your issue.
Looking at your screenshot of the Configurator capture tab I see that there are 2 microphones. Any idea what this second one is? A built-in mic?
It's a built-in microphone from my webcam.
Okay. The generic term "High Definition Audio Device" by Realtek is a kind of frustrating. As Realtek is so much used as audio device I can't understand why they don't name their device properly. It's very easy to do. So we're left with this crappy manufacturer. In your case Equalizer APO isn't easy to get going because Realtek is so bad at making stuff. I wonder what device driver is installed (see image). Mine is 10.0.18362.1 from Microsoft which is Windows 10 built 18362.
Anyway, first of all we need to get Equalizer APO going on your speakers/headphones output. Perhaps you could use this troubleshooting section of the Equalizer APO wiki. Begin with setting the "Install as" dropdown box to "Install as SFX/EFX".
Mine is 10.0.18362.356.
I did that, as SFX/GFX.
Anything more?
Okay, and after resetting your computer nothing happens?
Your driver is newer than mine somehow. Yesterday I tried to update my driver but Windows didn't find a newer one so I can't help with that.
Another troubleshooting option Equalizer APO has, is enabling the trace log. I'm not an expert in interpreting a log but perhaps we discover something.
Btw. I've noticed that the created trace log file could be located in another folder than the suggested C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Temp
It could be that it's in your user folder somewhere in appdata or so.