Mac Music app equalizer not working … again! This time in Big Sur

Bought 2020 Mac mini i7 6core, same eq issue as on 2012 Mac mini i7. Returned it the next day. All I do with my Mac is listen to and make music, this bug is infuriating and I’m dissatisfied that it has gone on so long with not one explanation.

I too see the same issue... actually, on my early 2020 MB Air with OS 11.2, the Equalizer has zero effect on any music in my library. Not only that, but oddly enough, the Music app crashes instantly at startup on my Late 2020 MB Air M1. I've reported this to Apple.

Exactly what I was told back when I reported it.

I never had this issue with my prior 2011 15” 2.0 quad i7 MacBook Pro. I didn’t even have the issue out of the box on my 2019 16” MacBook Pro 2.6 i7 MacBook Pro. Upgraded to Big Sur...that’s when I had the issue and not resolved in any of the Big Sur updates.

I’ve had the same issue for years now on my MacBook Pro, 2018. Unacceptable.

I hate people who threaten to take their business elsewhere, but unfortunately, this problem is so annoying to me that I am seriously tempted to buy some other computer for half the price that will at least play music without the annoyance.

I replied to this thread on March 4th. At that time my 2015 iMac was experiencing this issue. I just received a new M1 Mac mini. Surely I could now move past this problem and start listening to music without having to continually click the 'ON' checkbox on the equalizer for every song I played. But sadly, the issue is present even on new hardware. How can a company that sells a music service be unable to fix a software equalizer to simply make it stay ON?....I just don't get it.

Sadly I feel Apple just don't care about these bugs and don't have allocate enough programmers to Fix them. However I'm sure they've got a huge team of graphic designers changing the app icons every week.

Sorry I’m using Catalina so can’t confirm, I can still use Music app so I would give it a try and see if it works, this is the official release site and it looks like it has Big Sur support https://github.com/cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive

I've solved this bit anyway. Seems it was the headphones not being able to detect the difference. The EQ difference on the MacBook is much more subtle than on the iPhone and I just couldn't hear it. Better speakers and it shows up now. I haven't yet encountered the problem with EQ switching on and off. Mine seems to work OK.

Wow they say it’s isolated…since I’ve come to realize this seems more than isolated I’ve literally reported it with every OS update since discovering the issue. I know it was an issue pre Big Sur for some. It wasn’t for me until I bought my 2019 16” MBP and then upgraded to Big Sur. I’ve even fresh installed the OS and manually imported everything back to TRU to resolve this and a couple other issues I’ve had. Very frustrating. I’ve been a Mac user for 22 years and I thought Leopard 10.5 was bad. The bugs in Big Sur are incredible.

This is great, thanks man! is there a way we can follow this up with Mac? It's ridiculous how they haven't been able to solve this issue yet. Apple Music sucks sometimes and It makes me understand why Spotify still has more subscribers

I'm having the exact same issue and additionally, when the EQ is working and I pause the music, it stops working when I press play.

It’s hard to believe this issue has gone unresolved properly for years now.

I feel exactly the same way, and will proceed exactly the same way as you. As an audiophile this issue gives me headaches and I am tired of it, and Apple not fixing it. I am fed up.