Reducing bass for pipewire-pulse?

Desktop Environments XFCE
1

How would I go about reducing bass output on pipewire-pulse? Does an equalizer exist?

2

easyeffects is the way to go. You can either install the flatpak version which will include all the dependencies and will be easier, or, if you are not a flatpak person, you can install it via:

sudo pacman -S easyeffects

But then, you also need to install additional packages to be able to use the EQ (and other effects that you desire) inside easyeffects which can be installed with the following commands:

sudo pacman -S --needed \
  lsp-plugins-lv2 \
  calf \
  libebur128 \
  zam-plugins-lv2 \
  zita-convolver \
  mda.lv2 \
  speexdsp \
  soundtouch \
  rnnoise

Once installed, you can set it to “run on boot” from its settings. It will basically “take over” all the audio events in the system and will apply the effects that you set up to all of them. Pretty cool software that i personally use also.

1 Like
3

Awesome, thanks! Which effect(s) would you recommend for bass reduction?

4

Well i use easyeffect for balance setting to compensate for my hearing loss on one ear. But you can use the “equalizer” plug in to reduce the bass.

image
image1366Ă—728 37 KB

The sliders from left to right are the audio spectrum from bass to treble. So the sliders on the left are the ones you need to “lower”. I would start with the first one and then go the second if that wasn’t enough for you.

PS: You can increase the number of bands and “fine tune” (confine the reduction to more specific freq intervals) if you want to.

5

This is definitely the way to go. I ended up using the Flatpak version, but I’m unable to toggle the “Launch Service at System Startup” and “Shutdown on Window Closing” options, under Preferences.

It’s worth noting I’m also not used to Flatpak, so I’m unsure if this is a permission issue rooted there.

6

Yes it is probably a permission issue. Flatpak apps run in their own sandboxed environments and they need special permissions to access the system level. You can install “flatseal” and give those permissions easily.

flatpak install flatseal

“Shutdown on window closing” is not a good idea if you want your modifications to keep being applied after you close easyeffects window.