@rrhoover As someone who designed this onboarding and also someone who makes sure to read up on your latest understanding of product design, Thank you so much. I am going to mention this on my CV.
We have bet running at Global Delight: Would the product delight user more or the installation/on-boarding process? Looks like a tight tie at the moment! Insanely Proud of Boom 2 :)
Music Lovers: Once you have this app you'll never turn it off! Better yet, you'll forget it's there until you hear the difference between this app and the stock audio settings.
I have my own settings but the Pop setting works for 95% of everyday use(youtube, movies, presentations, and so on - custom setting suggestions below based on the POP preset) or casual music listening. There are other nice presets for different types of music but you could set it to Pop and you'll notice a huge difference from the start. You'll notice a slight boost in clarity allowing you to hear more details, smoother bass, and a punchy midrange.
Even with the standard settings, you'll notice you can use less volume from the Mac itself as the EQ and built-in volume boost work well. You'll notice the most difference in clarity/quality with good headphones and it works well with laptop speakers, though you'll want to adjust the mid and low eq settings if you are using budget desktop speakers.
Without buying an outboard preamp/EQ and setting that up, this is the next best thing. Is it for audiophiles? Yes and no. Yes as you can tweak and get "good sound" without an external preamp/EQ and it doesn't compare to some outboard gear - BUT the app is less than the cost of a cable and gets you 90% of the way there for casual listening.
Try out the app, then go to this playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/user/sp...
Play the first track with Boom on, then turn it off, then on again (repeat as needed) so you can experience the difference it makes. The clarity (using Pop) and bass should both be more noticeable - bass might be a bit "boomy" as it progresses. The second song should allow you to hear a more dynamic midrange, and audio dynamics in general. I'd roll off most of the bass before 40 hz, a 2db cut at 630 hz and a 1db increase at 20 khz (a little "sparkly" for some but it helps imho).
Had the app since Boom 1 and I've been very happy with the progress in quality and features on macOS.
The only thing that would make it better would be the ability to share custom presets.
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