I can absolutely vouch for Equalizer APO being a great EQ software. I know a lot of people are annoyed by the fact that you can’t bypass the windows audio stack but the actual EQ features are top notch. It’s also very intuitive to use if you install the PEACE GUI.
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@Torq Soundsource was a great suggestion, just to try out the AU support I loaded Voxengo SPAN https://www.voxengo.com/product/span/ which is a spectrum analyzer to see how it works.
On this system, I have loaded UA Apollo driver and Softtube console plug-ins they all show up as well. Now I want to try with my Apollo plugged-in running track via a UA Roland Space Echo. ( a Spring Reverb and Tape Delay. ) plug-in for fun.
Thank you for pointing this out.
Span looking at Hans Zimmer 2049
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I’ve run all manner of interesting effects processors (individually, and in chains) with my headphone systems over the years. Mostly just for fun, but there are some combinations that I’ve just for special purposes and/or very protracted, non-critical, listening sessions.
A couple of interesting ones, which are discussed in the EQ/DSP plug-in thread, are SPL Twin Tube, which is a tube-simulation plug-in, and Waves NX, which is a spatialization and virtual room simulation (extremely effective with the SR1a, which can actual depth-wise spatialization, and a head-tracker).
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@Torq Yes SPL Twin Tube is a good plug-in, I am so used to using these plug-in when I am recording I never thought about using them for playback enjoyment : ) Thank you again
I now need to hook up the Softubes Console 1 with the British Class A Console plugin
Did you see the new extension to Audeze Plug-in, which creates a custom HRTF based on the image of your ears? They are working with a company called Embody. (https://embody.co) to use deep learning to reconstruct the HRTF model to correct your headphone to you.
It started me on the journey to look for others looking at solutions in this domain with Deep Learning and simulation to improve the headsets we all enjoy.
Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the comunity is seeing on this topic, and you think of the current solution.
Here are a few other papers on the topic.
Personalization of head-related transfer functions (HRTF) based on automatic photo-anthropometry and inference from a database
Researchers use head related transfer functions to personalize audio in mixed and virtual reality. https://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.4987470
Analyzing the Sound Pressure Level of Headphones on Ears
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There is https://www.genelec.com/aural-id which has the user take a more compicated set of pictures including measurements with a measuring tape and then send it to genelec engineers.
I havent tried it cause its about 500 euros
Audeze gave me access to Reveal+ full edition, but unfortunately the section of the VST with the Embody features seems to have some bugs integrating into EqualizerAPO. Once that’s fixed I hope to have some thoughts on how well this works.
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Extending the utility of Soundsource, I am trying out mvmeter2. VU meters.
https://www.tb-software.com/TBProAudio/mvmeter2.html
You have 5 different looks for the meters bellow are 3 of the styles.
5 Meters types: PEAK, RMS, EBU R128, VU and PPM
RMS
RMS
Peak
Lots of configurability
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I have the E1DA PowerDAC v2. It is an all-in-one DAC/Amp with a 2.5" balanced output. So your headphones need to be cabled for that. It is a device that is small, and looks like it should be portable. But it has no battery and it is power-thirsty. It connects to your computer via an old-style USB B cable, the kind you used to connect scanners and printers with back in the day.
The cool thing is the filters and parametric equalizer hidden within it. To access these features you download an app from Google Play or iOS app store called HPToy. The E1DA has short-range bluetooth and you connect to it with your smartphone directly from the HPToy app instead of using the usual bluetooth connection manager of your smartphone.
The EQ presets in the app are magical. You’re in luck if you have Audeze, Sennheiser, or HiFiMan headphones. I was about to sell my HiFiMan HE-400i until I connected it to the E1DA and set the “EQ HE400i to Harman” preset. OMG did that improve those cans! It is indescribable! You have to hear it to believe it.
More information on this $90 wonder box can be found in this Head-Fi discussion thread.
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I decided to try out another plug-in in Soundsource and few MeldaProduction plug-ins
MAnalyzer is a spectral analyzer, sonogram, peak meter, EBU R128, and ITU-R BS 1770-3 compliant loudness meter.
As many of you know @torq introduced us Trentemøller Chameleon. Here it is under the scope combining spectral plot and sonogram
MConvolutionEz Convolution Reverb plug-in that uses impulse responses for rooms, halls, plates, guitar cabinets, effects.
Loudness Analyzer
MMultiAnalyzer is multi-track spectrum, loudness and stereo analyzer and sonogram tool
SpectrumAnalyzer a little cartoony in its visual ( peak are soft), but it has some other nice attributes. I need to spend more time with the plug-in to see what option are for visualization
Loudness and & Wave scope
Stereo Scope
Osciliscope
You can change the color of the graph to your personal liking
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Nifty little machine that one 
Or with, APO+Peace yield near-studio quality EQ when done properly. Make use of those shelves… 
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Only goes to show, I spent the night tweaking APO+Peace and had managed to convince myself I had nailed it damn near True-Fi but a few mins ago i reloaded True-Fi and dang them, it was about 3 times better than what I could achieve. It’s the transients, I don’t know how they manage to keep them so even. It’s not just technology, there’s know-how and talent involved. A lot of people say that the Elear “responds well” to eq well, it does but therein lies the danger of clipping it to damage if one doesn’t pay extreme attention to all the controls over the full spectrum. Even at 58 Q’s I still had 58 different gain values assigned to each add to that tiny variations in crossfeed not to to mention the other myriad effects that come with this software which is kinda free. “Kinda” because the main apps are donation-funded (I felt a level of freeloader guilt that I estimated at $20 which is what I gave) but many plugins aren’t free at all. I wonder if the people who sell the fancier plugins share some of the revenue with the authors of the core applications, I hope so.
Like every second night or so I spent a fair amount of time comparing the EQ’d Elear with the both the non-EQ’d and EQ’d Clear. I don’t recall if it’s Tyl Hertsens who wrote that the Elear had the potential to be the best headphone in the world when he reviewed it or someone else but one thing’s for sure, the Elear is the most “improvable” of all cans I ever heard and I’ve heard at least 1,000 models over the last 40 years or so, from the diminutive Senn 414 all the way up to the majestic Raal SR1A (no I don’t own those sure would like to even though they are not aesthetically attractive to me), which require more high-end electronics than I could ever afford all at once.
I saw them demonstrated at a large trade show near Chicago last year and was impressed… mostly by the ultra-high-end electronics used to demo them. They had two Moon 888 monoblocks (worth $60,000 a pop) with a 850P Moon preamp (a 150 lbs monster worth $43,000) and a $12,000 DAC/network player. No need to spend a little more (say what? we still have money?) since they hooked the phones directly to the power amps’ speaker outs, one cable on each. That’s $175,000 worth of ultra-reference-class electronics right there, oddly I don’t remember the worth of the phones themselves, I was way too excited to resist rounding and sniffing around the plate-form where the most expensive audio setup I had ever seen was enthroned. Look but don’t touch was the policy. Were they afraid we’d move any of that stuff if we weren’t kept at a distance. How does one move a 254-lbs power amp? Ah yeah there was that 150lbs preamp as well. And a poor little tiny 50lbs DAC that we all wanted to take home that poor thing looked so lonely… so we could listen to it in peace.
To those who don’t know much about Moon I can tell you 2 things: they have nothing to do with Moon Audio and: they’re massive and very, very expensive. For example the 888 mono power amp pushes… 888 watts and costs $60,000 a pop. officially known as Moon by Sim, after their first name Simaudio back in the day. They are based in my city and me like a complete ignorant thought the brand was from the UK or France…until I got caught-up in traffic right in front of their HQ’s. The plant was much larger than I had imagined…just how many grizillionnaires are there in The US, Canada and the UK (if you live elsewhere you have to order through several chains of high-end audio, mostly in Europe.) that can afford this stuff and, I imagine, the palatial homes to enshrine the precious merchandise.
According to most reviews I’ve read Moon sells the most expensive non hand-made audio electronics in the world, so it’s no surprise very few people have had the honor to be in the actual presence of audio royalty My BIL sells Moon electronics (you have to apply for a license after Moon has inspected your store and observed your staff for a few days, took him 13 years to be granted one) as well as Luxman, Mac, Levinson, Focal and a series of boutique high-end stuff like Totem speakers.
All that stuff is uber-pricey, when I go there be it to purchase another pair of headphones or a trinket, I love lingering there for an hour or so, gawking at the marvels wondering where he finds customers to sell his golden wares to, but he seems to be doing quite well judging by his way of life. I never see a lot of people there (don’t go that often though) but many of the small numbers I had seen walking out of there with noticeably thinner wallets in their pocket. I like the guy but let’s say that if he weren’t married to my sis he’d only see me there for the rare occasion (about once per decade) where I pack enough cash to purchase electronics (I favour once-TOTL products that are now considered “old” after two or three years on the market) and several headphones.
But my next one is a Moon DAC/hp amp that has been on the market for only about a month now and presently hard to come by because it’s only $2,000 and that’s a heck of a bargain for Moon gear. One more reason for waiting. Overall budget next year should be 'round $20k for the DAC, a pair of (probably) RD0 phones and a hop to a meet in SoCal. I’m not that wealthy but I have this thing for planes and hotels: I like the comfort of Business Class and I like hotels rated above average… but that’s because there are never any screaming kids running down the hallways there. I remember too well chasing my daughter through the Sheraton lol, man did that kid ever had a piercing holler. But now she’s condemned to quietness as she’s into her second year in anesthesiology. I feel proud and old at once when I go visit her at the hospital and everybody but me calls her “doctor” 
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So can I, EqAPO has more working features than many commercial DSP’s and their learning curve is surprisingly easy.
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Fabfilter ProQ 3 Equalizer.
I am really liking ProQ 3 plug-in has some nice tool to help you isolate issues in a track. Very rich in capabilities as EQ.
Basic UI of the plug-in
EQ options - showing a Tilt Shelf
Example putting place very aggressive low cut brick wall filter. ( note, where I placed the filter, is just show how extreme you can filter the track)
One it’s presets EDM Complextro - Mid Side Mayhem
Band Pass Narrow filter to isolate on a small section of the track
Band Pass Narrow opened up a bit
Bell Flat top fliter
Great video on how the plug-in works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSNYBbPAvKE
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Heh I wish I could set that one up. Not exactly affordable iirc
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This is a typical plugin for DAWs when mixing. Where are you using this for playback?
I wish Google Play Music support VSTs. 
On MacOS, you can use SoundSource to apply VSTs system-wide. On Windows I think you can do this with EqualizerAPO, but I don’t do that myself.
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Woow. APO actually does.
I wish I had more VST plugins. Majority stuff I have is already VST3 (not supported). But that’s a different story. Looks like a new door has opened to me anyway.
Thanks much!
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