The 3 dB test · 2 min · no signup
Same recording. One is louder.
Turn your volume up to your normal listening level first. Press play, switch between A and B, then pick the one that sounds better. Most people pick the louder one, and then find out there was nothing else to hear.
The test
The clip is generated in your browser, so no music file is downloaded and no account is needed. Headphones or decent speakers make the second test clearer.
Clean
1.0 Which one sounds better?
Play, switch between A and B as often as you like, then answer honestly.
2.0 Now match the loudness
With A and B at the same level, the improvement you heard goes away. That is the whole trick, and plenty of audio apps use it.
3.0 Now try a bass boost
Push the low end up and watch the meter. With the limiter off, the boost runs out of headroom and the clip light comes on: that is distortion, not bass. With the limiter on, the peaks are held down instead.
Or use your own music
Choose a track from your Mac. It is decoded in this browser tab and played straight back. It is never uploaded, and nothing is stored.
This demo runs on your browser's own audio filters, not Earwave's engine. The lesson is the same one Earwave is built around: with the EQ flat and Loudness off, Earwave's output matches bypass sample for sample, so what you hear is your curve and never a volume trick.
What you just heard
Your hearing is not flat, and it changes with level. Bass and treble sound quieter at low volume, which is why the same recording seems to gain low end and air as you turn it up. Engineers have measured this for decades. The current international reference is ISO 226, Normal equal-loudness-level contours, published in its 2023 edition. It covers pure tones only, so treat it as the illustration here, not as a claim about music.
The practical consequence is simpler than the science: when two versions of the same thing differ in level, the louder one is usually judged better. That is why any honest A/B comparison matches loudness first. An equalizer that quietly adds a little gain will win the comparison without doing any work.
Why this is Earwave's whole argument
Earwave is built so the honest comparison holds up. With the EQ flat and Loudness off it is bit-identical to bypass, so switching it on cannot flatter itself with extra level. Every preset is level-matched to Flat, within half a dB, so switching between them keeps the same loudness instead of rewarding the loudest one, and the A/B button flips a preset against Flat so you can check. The peak limiter holds the ceiling down when you boost, instead of letting the boost distort.
Loudness is the one place Earwave changes the tone with level, and it says so. Its Match my volume switch applies the ISO 226 contour at the level you are listening at, so quiet listening gets bass and treble back and the lift fades as you turn up. To keep that lift from clipping, Earwave also lowers the overall level by the lift’s peak, and the panel tells you by how much.
None of that is exciting. It is the point: the only thing Earwave should change is what you asked it to change.
Sources
Keep reading
Try it on your Mac
Get a license keyPaid software · macOS 15+ · one permission, one switch