Hear for Mac1.3.1

I can't live without it, though I've spent a lot of time creating my own presets (I rarely use the ones supplied). There are users who complain they don't like Hear (why??) and can't turn it off even after quitting the app. Well, that's the point of Hear - you switch it on, then you quit it and it continues to enhance your audio. If you really want to turn it off, there's an ON button in Hear which you click off THEN quit the app. Oh, and here's a tip: if you use audio capture software, SWITCH HEAR OFF FIRST. If you don't, you will record with audio enhanced, then when you playback, you get audio enhancement again. Double enhancement = distortion.

Don't waste your money. This thing totally screwed up my audio, and would not work if I didn't have an internet connection (during long flights on a plane, for instance, it would render my mac soundless if I forgot to change settings before take off) Emailed tech support and they just answered that they no longer supported this thing. Nice scam, guys, thanks for nothing...

Hi. There a lot of good reviews here...just wanted to add my 2 cents. I'm in the process of still testing it out. I thought this might replace my current similar app...SoundSource by Rogue Amoeba. The jury is still out but I may be sticking with SoundSource. One aggravating issue with Hear is how you cut/stop the sound from one app to the other. You actually have to move a volume slider for each app...not very intuitive. Another downside is SS lets you do settings that for EACH app where as Hear does not with some settings. I should be able to kill sound by clicking on the icon. And you can preset loaded apps anytime whereas Hear only adjusts on current open apps. Another downside to Hear is it's being discontinued...no more updates. About the only downside with SoundSource, is it's a bit expensive at $29. But check it out on trial see how it works for you. Thanks.

I no longer works?!!!

I was unlucky enough, to purchase this. Then it stopped working, and they abandoned it.

This used to be a fantastic app. With the right settings it was possible to get much better sound out of mediocre speakers (like the built-in ones of a MacBook Pro) or headphones. It could squeeze that little bit of extra out of good loudspeakers as wel.
Unfortunately due to the increasing use of sandboxing in OS X, Hear no longer works with many current apps, most importantly iTunes. Hear indeed does NOT work with its main target app!

In a Blogspot article of mine you can find a very cumbersome workaround to make it work again by routing audio through Soundflower and Audacity, but no normal person will want to do this. (Moreover, this hack adds about a second of delay.)

The Prosoft website states that Hear is no longer supported so it will probably be only a matter of time before it breaks completely. I really wish some company would step up and make an equivalent that works (I'm looking at you, Rogue Amoeba).

If it wasn't already obvious, it is now. The message on the Hear homepage says:

<< Hear is no longer under development and there is only limited support available. >>

Too bad. I used it for years and have not found another app with the same feature set.

Now it no longer works for Firefox, Safari, iTunes, Quicktime (basically anything on the mac. This software has fallen down for the last time I am afraid) .
Any alternatives that work as well? I really only want the compression to level out poorly created podcasts. the EQ I can handle. So until they fix this issue I cannot recommend it anymore.

Nice app. But it does not support iTunes on Mac (Version 12.6.1 and above). Unfortunately, at this time support team have not heard any news from our developers about an update for Hear.

My initial experience with Hear wasn't good. All I could get was muted or clipped audio. I uninstalled and gave Boom 2 a try and it worked without problems. After my Boom trial ended, I decided I should give Hear a try again and put more effort in to "figuring it out". Well, my 7 day trial had already ended so now I can't do anything without buying it. Too bad. If the other reviews stating Hear needs to be connected to the internet each time you start are still accurate, I'm glad I didn't spend more time with it.

Stopped working in OS 10.12.1 (Sierra). Was the only way to amplify Mac Speakers before it broke.

The new Hear version 1.3.1 solved the "hang-up-problem" under OS X 10.9.5 but now the program wants to validate its serial number at _every_ launch via an internet connection. So Hear becomes unusable in an off-line situation. (Even after a successful online-activation the program yells during startup:" Failed to validate serial number. Please verify you are connected to the internet" (at prosofteng.com port 443). I'll go back to version 1.2.4 - and btw.: Go to hell - Prosoft - stooooopid. There still exist some other/similar solutions also for later systems.

After 1.3 update Hear hangs on startup (OS X 10.9.5). Any solutions?

I use HEAR since years – e.g. on my Mac Mini as a media center audio supporting software and I'm still excited what one can adjust with it. I use it for example to enhance streaming audio – the results are awesome. The developer keeps on updating it and so I even would pay for it twice.

Recently I contacted the developer to ask why Hear doesn't work with audio from Safari. The reply I received was crapola.

"Mac OS X 10.9 implemented a new security feature called Sandbox. This term describes applications that are secluded from other programs for security purposes. Safari and included plugins happen to be one of these applications.
Hear and other softwares cannot take control of Sandboxed applications."

If that were true then no "softwares" could capture or control Safari's output, but there are plenty of apps that can. I use Audio Hijack daily to record audio from Safari, mostly from one of the plugins. So if AH can capture audio from a sandboxed app, why can't Hear?

Coreaudio is also sandboxed, yet AH is able to capture any system audio, so the dev's answer is incorrect.

Besides, their direct competitor (Boom) works with Safari, so obviously their assertion that no software can control Safari audio is fallacious.

I tried Boom but didn't like the sound. I prefer Hear although its many options can be overwhelming and seem to need frequent tweaking, such as when changing genres in iTunes.
I dislike all of the the presets and have created my own for headphones, podcasts, tv etc.

There's absolutely no reason for Hear to not work in Safari and it's a major shortcoming, thus only 2.5 stars because of this and the bogus excuse.

Utter junk. Purchased as part of a promo and received an invalid key. Emailed the MacUpdated and have never heard an answer.

I really would like to see this as a menubar app with the ability to direct certain applications to specific audio output devices. Also having AudioMate's functionality integrated would be really nice.

"Safari is not supported".... Why ???

A powerful app! A word of caution though, I was playing with it and forgot to turn it off before I deleted it. A few days later I was wondering why my sound was all distorted.. ! I just had to download it again to restore my audio.

I *love* Hear! It's a great product that does exactly what it portends to do: get great sound out of crappy speakers.. The only (big) problem is that it doesn't work with Safari, so, i have to admit that i checked out the competition: i installed Boom 2, which does work with Safari.. *However* Boom 2 introduces a nearly 0.5-second delay in audio, which is fine, unless you're watching video, in which case, it's unbearable.. So, long story short, i (happily) re-installed Hear! i'll deal with the no-Safari thing, as i have before, but, at least, i'm now again enjoying videos with great sound and no audio delay issues! Hope this helps! PS: i know that you can adjust audio sync in VLC, but you can't watch everything in VLC..

Does anyone know if Hear will affect Airplay audio, too? I almost never play any music through speakers connected directly to my computer.

Downloaded and paid for this, all went well until I realised that it doesn't play with elements of my Line 6 software that I use as my interface with Logic X, completely stopping them from opening. I wrote to Prosoft, they wrote back to me to explain that, quote: "Hear is not meant for professional set-ups such as mine". Well, as far as I am concerned, my ideals are a little above giving disk-room to such an unprofessional piece of software from a developer that frankly couldn't care less, having taken my money! Instead I tried 'Boom', and have found absolutely no problems whatsoever.

good sound for my audio technica ath_m50

Does (now 1.2.2 download from their website) not work with Radium or myTune. OSX 10.10.2. Seems like a good piece of software, but its (now) of no use for me.

Audio Hijack, Wiretap Studio, and BOOM are not *at all* software similar to Hear!

This is perfect for those of us audiophiles who aren't trained in the magic of equalization. I use Hear with iTunes, Amarra Symphony, and Pure Music. When/if you decide that you can handle equalization without the training wheels of Hear's presets, then you can use it to design your own presets and save them, without losing any of Hear's presets, should you subsequently decide that DIY equalization is not your bag.

Amazing app. I've got an old Altec 2.1 speaker rig I swapped the little speakers out with some little Pioneer bookshelf speakers. It's a great idea but sounds very muddy. Hear solves a problem that I've had with lack of System wide EQ for years and does much more. Worth every cent.

This is actually very useful software for Boot Camp, since on older iMacs the audio drivers are a joke.

Seems to be broken in Mac OS 10.10. I tried it in 10.9 and was really impressed with the improvements in sound quality that could be achieved. The difference between the default sound quality and what this app creates is really astounding. I was close to buying it, but when I upgraded to 10.10, it doesn't work at all. I've tried it on 2 different computers, even on a clean install, downloading a new version and it just doesn't work. I'm disappointed because there are very few options for sound enhancer apps for OS X, and this seems to be the best. Hopefully they work out support for OS X 10.10 soon.

It used to be really impressive even for audiophiles and/or for professionally creating/correcting sound environments with specific goals: based on the "source" (music by genre, videos, movies, etc.) as well on the "target" (audience, acoustic characteristics of the room, ampli-speakers systems. Unfortunately IT IS QUITE CLEAR THAT PROSOFT HAS DROPPED HEAR OFF IN ITS DEVELOPMENT/UPDATE: from months, years, Hear has not been supporting any source that come from any browser (Chrome, Safari, YouTube, Flash, HTML5, etc.). Simply, it does not recognise them anymore! They should only decide to close the project and admit that HEAR HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED, without continuing to ask money for A SOFTWARE THAT DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE.

I've bought a Dell Soundbar to replace my 20-year old PC speakers and reclaim some desk space back, but I found it sounds quite small and left me wanting for better speakers. I installed Hear instead and it was an enormous improvement. I only wish it could integrate better with OS X, perhaps following its visual style and being a pref pane instead of a stand-lone app.

Hear lets me tune my output to the computer speakers I'm using (via USB.) They're pretty decent speakers (AudioEngine A2s) but the difference I can make with Hear is worth every dime of the price, if not more. I'd be hard-pressed to have to give it up. I'm delighted.

The best quality of all Digital Sound Processing plugin I have tested for Mac OS X, and the ONLY one that solves my Macbook bad speakers resonance!!!

I've been comparing Hear with the DPS plug-in for some time. I'm using a Mac Book Pro with OS 10.9.2, coupled with a BOSE Soundlink Bluetooth speaker. Without enhancement the speaker is pretty crap, offering only a fairly muffled sound. In the main I've used the DPS plug-in but there are a couple of annoying bugs that persist. One being that the plug-in quits when my Mac goes to sleep so that on wake up I have to manually start the plug-in. The other bug is that playing audio from a website sometimes creates an annoying clicking sound that only goes away but restarting the plug-in. OK, so now to Hear. None of the above-mentioned bugs are present, which is good. However, with my configuration, and despite a plethora of presets, I can't get the quality of sound that the DPS plug-in offers. No matter how much fiddling I do Hear always sounds mechanical, cold. In comparison, the DPS plug-in produces a fully, rounder, more complete and warm sound. It took me a while to find the audio profile to get the sound I want but the sound quality of the DPS plug-in is superior to Hear.

The HEAR app from Prosoft engineering adds a graphic equalizer plus various audio effects to the audio speaker output of your Mac. Depending of which Mac you have, this can have various effects. With a Mac Mini or a MacBook Pro, the tiny speakers are technically so bad, that very little can be done to improve their reproduction. However, any current iMac already has quite a good sound in itself, and HEAR can improve it further quite dramatically: by widening the stereo image of music, by adding more sparkling highs and by boosting presence and adding punch on vocals. It also has a "virtual subwoofer" function for adding bass, but here the mere laws of physics quickly block your path: it is simply not possible for the smallish speakers in (any) Mac to reproduce really powerful lows, there simply is not enough moving mass inside. When you connect your Mac audio output into an external Hi-Fi system (as any real music lover would), you start to explore even more depths in HEAR. Equipped with external big loudspeakers, HEAR can in fact improve the audible quality of any pair of decent speakers. You can use it for flattening out the acoustic response (for, say, critical classical listening) or, you can adjust any frequency band to your personal liking (like creating the ideal party background music). Furthermore, you can store your own user memories (in addition to factory presets) and switch between them at will. All this comes at a price you would pay for a few cans of beer. Thoroughly recommended! -- Jukka Finland

Hi! ESTOY TOTALMENTE SORPRENDIDO DE ESTE SOFT POR EL REALCE O PROCESAMIENTO DE AUDIO QUE LOGRA CON LOS AURICULARES Y MEJOR CON LAPTO COMPUTER CONECTADO POR HDMI + / RECEIVERS ONKYO ,PERSONALIZAS CON EL SOFT HERO LOS PREAJUSTE COMO UNO QUIERA EFECTO MUY BRILLANTE Y SUAVES DANDOLE UN BUEN AUDIO A LOS MP3 ,YUTUBE ,PELICULAS ES LO MEJOR QUE PROBE EN SOFT DE BAJO COSTO RECOMIENDO QUE LO PRUEBEN LE DOY 5 ESTRELLA Marcelo

I wanted to try this software, i have a license bought from here at MacUpdate.com but when i run Gear, i see just the dock icon and nothing else, from the menu i can't open any window... already tried t o delete prefs, unistall and reinstall. I'm running 10.9.2. I need a software to lower only USB volume cause them are too loud even at minimum volume.

I just recently purchased a G-Project G-Grip sound bar for my Mac. I already have an audio system where I'm running a DAC to the system, so I just wanted something small and decent to use "for PC stuff only." In reviews, the G-Grip supposedly sounds as good as the Jambox at a much lower cost. Well, to tell the truth. I don't really care for it. It just doesn't sound good on its own. I was thinking of returning it and trying the FoxL V2, which apparently has much better sound quality. Well, I decided to at least try an equalizer first. I tried Boom, but then I discovered and downloaded Hear, and it is MUCH better for this kind of thing than a simple equalizer. The sound quality is so much improved on the G-Grip with Hear that I'm completely happy with it as my PC-only speaker. I can't believe the difference. That said, this difference was made with very conservative settings. I am barely altering the signal using the equalizer. I am also using the Fidelity effect (which provides the best improvement of the features), set to 85 Frequency, 0 coloring and 75 Intensity. Then I'm using the Speaker feature to reduce resonance and accent the mid range. (The 2 Resonance settings are at 15 and the mid-range accent is at 50.) That's it. And the difference is night and day. Not only does the speaker bar sound much better, but it has reduced the distortion a little so that I can turn the volume up a little higher. Why on earth didn't they just make the speaker sound this good to start with? I guess then it would have to cost $200 like the FoxL V2. Ha. But for $20 more, Hear turned an unhappy return into something more worth it. Now, if only Hear was available on the iPad.

200% better than Boom. Boom equalizes and can boost audio signal, runs at login and has a system tray icon. Hear has a far more impressive equalizer and a dozen more features than can customize your audio experience tenfold. Overall 4.5 because I want a system tray icon. There is no way of knowing if it's running or not (besides listening). Features 5 Best audio customization app period. Most features. High quality. (10band EQ or you can use 96 bands HAHA) Ease 4 because of this insane transparency. I lose control of it and would rather it be a login process and remain in system tray Value 4 cause it's $20! STability 5 haven't had any problems with Mavericks 10.9.1 Comment: There is no system tray, nor user login item. There is a "Hear" process but only when the window pane is open. When you close it, it disappears as a process but still runs indefinitely (even through a restart). There is a no daemon from Hear either. I am baffled where the transparent background process is! The user manual states "The Hear Audio Server handles all the audio processing in background transparently"...

Sadly Hear no longer applies to Flash in Safari 7.0 and 6.1 (i just use Chrome to watch the Daily Show) Still, it's a great addition to any Mac! Apple should buy them and add this to the Mac OS!!

The best sound enhancer I've found for OS X. So many adjustments to tailor the sound to your precise taste! I've just installed it after installing Mavericks (10.9.0) and it seems to be working perfectly!

Hear 1.1.6 is not supported in Safari 6.1

Version 1.1.6 is excellent! Best app for tweak audio on your Mac. Caveat: expect to have to take some time tweaking the presets (or creating some of you very own from scratch). If you're willing to put in some time tweaking... I believe you'll love this app.

I am a classical listener and came upon HEAR while looking for something else. I downloaded the demo and was very impressed, so I bought it the same day. I've been an audiophile for over 50 years and basically believe the "the less signal processing, the better." However, in the world of MP3 and AAC (iTunes) this rule breaks down because you're starting out with a highly processed signal from the get go. I have missed the "sweetness" of tone that vinyl used to have (though I have not missed the surface noise of same). I have a lot of music in iTunes and was "living with" the stridency of string sound that sometimes was there. With HEAR and using the Classical preset, the stridency has been almost eliminated and the sweetness of the vinyl sound has returned. I am running the sound through a NAD amplifier and Paradigm tower speakers. Music simply sounds more musical again. I am more than satisfied with this addition to my iTunes server. That being said, I wish the documentation (manual) were more complete. For example, under FIDELITY it would be nice to know what the three slide switches do and how they do it. The manual, as it is, is a good start. It just needs to have more information. Finally, they need to figure out how to get this sound through AppleTV. Music off my MacMini (server) sounds GREAT (as described above), but it now sounds substantially better than my major listening area in my media room. Somehow they need to process the digital signal going out wirelessly to the AppleTV -- OR Apple needs to take some of its cash and buy ProSoft Engineering and incorporate their accomplishment directly into the AppleTV hardware (!!).

I am not a mixing or music head ... I just like to be able to tweek some stuff for my personal consumption . IE some YOUTUBE songs . I found Audio Hijack Pro gave ME better sound and was a lot easier with the Effects tab to use to get what I want .. I own Hear it was part of a bundle I think ... would have to go back and look .... Tried it a few times ... then went back to my Audio Hijack ... it's just easier to get the sound I want ...

Why are people attempting to use Hear as an aid for sound-PROduction and then getting pissed off because it doesn't work worth a damn? Hear is a sound-REproduction tool. It's meannt to be used with music-players ONLY. I use it with every music-player from iTunes and BitPerfect to high-end players like Pure Music and Amarra. If you din't like what you Hear using its presets out of the box, you can modify Hear to your heart's delight and, when they cease to delight, it's no problem to change them or to revert them. I haven't tried to use Hear in conjunction with Audio HJ Pro, but Hear plays well with Digital Power Station, AstoundSound, and iWow. Use Hear as it's supposed to be used, for sound-REproduction, and, though you may not be satisfied enough with it to decide to buy it, at least you won't be criticizing it because you've tried to pound a square peg of REproduction into the round hole of PROduction.

It is awesome at sound FX! Apple should buy it and build it into the OS.

Thanks for the reviews all. This sounds like a great idea but needs some serious work apparently. I'm going to give it a pass until I see more positive reviews for a newer version. Thanks again for saving me the headaches!

Nice idea - but the program destroys audio quality. It offers a pletory of settings, but haven’t found any working one to improve audi quality. Needs some work.

This program has caused me headaches and then some! After installing it, none of my audio programs (Logic Pro and Ableton Live to name but a few) worked anymore. I got a driver error 28773 when I tried to do anything with audio. Turns out that even after you remove it, it leaves some garbage behind. After spending several hours trying to fix it, I finally found a leftover copy in one of the audio plugins folders. After I removed that my system worked again. Pro Audio and this program do not mix! Proceed with caution.

Terrible app!!! I was unable to get my iTunes to play through my MacBook Pro internal speakers. Would not even move the tracking bar when clicking a song to start. Connecting through AirPlay would work fine but NOTHING through the built in speakers. I spent all day reinstalling everything and still nothing, even starting from safe mode. It was not until I used my CleanApp & AppDelete to trash Hear and ALL the parts it installs all over the machine that I was able to get the internal speakers working again in iTunes. Note that all OTHER sounds did work, just not iTunes. Now I use the SRS Plug in and the internal speakers are working fine and through AirPlay. What a waste of time to use this app and it did not do as much for the sound as the SRS app does.

This version fixes a problem I had with v1.1.5 (and didn't know it was caused by Hear). I was unable to hear GoToMeeting webinar audio. v1.1.6 FIXES the problem and I'm happy once again. I wouldn't be without Hear; it's improved the audio on my MBP and desktop system speakers noticeably.

Perhaps the 1.1.5 update was pulled. The link here and at the developer's site downloads 1.1.4.

After upgrade hear from 1.1.4 to 1.1.5 my macbook have problems with my audio, I could not get sound out ableton live 8 and my pro tools 10 was unable to use my hardware, and I get distortion sound out of iTunes. Fix it !!

Hear 1.1.5 conflict with Guitar Pro 6.1.4 on Mac OSX 10.8.1 running on MBP Retina. Guitar Pro 6.1.4 will stop working entirely (no sound at all) when Hear 1.1.5 is on the system. I have to uninstall Hear, reboot, to get Guitar Pro working This do not happemn with Hear 1.1.4 Fix please

I need an application that allows me to control volume of applications independently. 'Hear' is the only one I can find, so I tried the demo, and was sadly disappointed. This is what I found, and I want somebody to tell me I'm wrong and that this app will do what I need it to! Notes: I downloaded the demo from the developer's website. I'm on Mac OS 10.7.4, MacBook Pro 15-inch 2012. Biggest problem: Volume doesn't go louder. The volume slider for the applications (in Hear) is already to the maximum, so I can only make things quieter. Next: It doesn't pull up volume options for Safari or Screenflow... is there a way to get those to work with it? Also: It somehow caused iTunes to mute. I didn't select any of the options in Hear, but when I opened Garageband, iTunes went mute. Had to restart. ? And: When it installed, the music coming from iTunes (through the macbook speakers) sounded horrible. I had to turn everything off. I don't really care about the other features right now, but does anyone have recommendations for Hear settings on the MacBook Pro? What I need is to be able to a) make Garageband louder, because it's super quiet, and b) make browsers quiet (e.g. for noisy ads). Bonus would being able to make Screenflow louder and Mail quieter. Can I accomplish these things with Hear? Thank you, much obliged, ~Myra (Ignolopi)

Hear works in conjunction with Amarra. Can't ask for more than that!

The only usable component of Hear is the EQ.

It seems the download link has some problems, I can't able to download it.

Kiss SRS iWow Goodbye! iWow has issues with every OS update (atm problems with presets defaulting in 10.8). Hear is really a great addition/replacement. They just need to ease up on some base settings. Wish this was possible on Apple iPod touch. I hate the presets on iPods. Looking to replace my 4 year old Meizu player, maybe with Cowon Z2.

The main thing I can say about this program is that it has definitely improved the sound quality coming out of a pair of Creature Speakers and is very adjustable as well. The main downside is that some of the presets for given genre of music introduce too much distortion for my taste, and then have to be tweaked (there are a heck of a lot of presets, too--overkill?) Overall: pretty happy with it.

Hear is an outstanding improvement to my Mac's sound. It can be used system wide, has a wide variety of presets and more adjustability than I even know how to use, the UI is pretty clear considering all that it does, and the app doesn't even have to be left running to listen to the processed sound. $20 is very reasonable price for this app.

Great app! Works system wide too. I especially like being able to use the curves instead of sliders. I had thought there was a problem with the app but it was actually simply allowing me to hear how badly some of my iTunes track were (i.e. I hadn't noticed it before because the iTunes Equalizer had muffled some of the digital noise). A caveat... don't give up on this app because it takes some trial-and-error to achieve the best possible setting for your personal taste. It's worth the time... especially since you have 30 days to demo it (unlike the $%^$#% App Store's no demo policy). I highly recommend this app.

I had a problem updating Hear to the current version so I sent an email from their web site. I got the answer from Jeremy 10 minutes later! That's amazing! And of course, his solution worked like a charm. If you haven't tried Hear, turning it on is like changing from Mono to Stereo. It is incredible! If you listen to music or watch movies on your Mac, Hear is an absolute necessity!

What a great program! I am addicted to audio, forget the television. When I bought the program originally at MacWorld, I was thrilled to check it out. But after misplacing it for years, I finally found it this week and installed it on a Mac that had all my music on it running OS 10.4.11. The problem was after installing Hear version 1.03 from the disk on to Tiger OS, it would not open. Thanks to Jeremy in tech support, he told me he would send me a link to the version of Hear that would work for OS 10.4.11. He sent me version 1.05 and it works great. Jeremy was wonderful to work with and within minutes I got the link . He even went the extra mile and sent me the directions on how to uninstall original. What a first class company. The Tech support is Free and Jeremy immediately took care of my program with no delays...way to go Prosoft. You need to make more software or even better teach others how business should be run. One last thing I learned was that if you are having problems with running other programs with Hear like Audio Hijack, go into Hear and turn the program off before opening the other program and the other program will run fine. The off bottom is on the top left in the application. Enjoy a great program!

This application has impressed me since I bought it several months ago. My only quibble with v1.1.2 is the same one as Diddimus reported, and ProSoft's rapid response was the same as they gave Diddimus and it worked fine. I was thinking of buying a better set of speakers for my Mac Pro. For the price, I decided to give Hear a try. This little piece of software saved me big bucks on a new set of speakers! To the point that sometimes I find myself just enjoying listening to my old Alien speakers because they sound terrific (they're good to begin with). At first it wasn't clear how the application was working, as no Pref Pane or other "control" mechanism is visible other than the application. Then I realized that it's [probably] just modifying the system's equalization curve, so no further controls are needed. The only thing I can think of that would make this better is to be able to set different curves on a per-application basis. While it's nice to focus on iTunes playback, I may not want my video editing and other applications to use the same curve. But, after all, that's what Apple does by default, so I can't fault ProSoft too much for this. Overall, I highly recommend this application.

I had a problem installing the latest update of Hear as it asked for my serial number and then refused to accept it. I contacted Prosoft and Technical Support responded and quickly solved the problem with the following link http://www.prosofteng.com/resources/sparkle/files/Hear_1.1.3_Build_831.dmg I was very impressed by both the courtesy and speed of the service

From my 2010 review in which I gave Hear 2 stars: -After installing, I had to re-enter my registration information and restart my Mac. -Still can't resize Hear's GUI. Working the eq. with more than 10 bands is a bit annoying. Not much has improved. In 2008 I gave Hear 3 stars. So much potential yet so disappointing. The price is more appropriate these days. IIRC that's how much I paid originally thanks to crossgrade pricing. For music I find Hear unusable. I already detailed this issue in a previous review. I'll just quote another user (Xenophile): "I will echo Esperidion's observation that Hear yields over-processed sounds. For those interested in listening to music that is faithful to the original intent of the recording artist, Hear is worse than useless." For music, Digital Power Station is my choice. Unfortunately my old trick of routing audio with Jack to DSP-Quattro and processing it with my plugins is not working under Lion. I recently bought plugins from URS, Melda, ArtsAcoustic and others and would like to have this functionality again. Hear has plenty of features, is stable, easy to use, and may be a good value for some given the price reduction. Overall I'll give it 2 stars once again. As an effect it's OK, but there are plenty of alternatives with better sound quality.

Hi all, Looking at my over all rating I guess there are many out there that do not like the fact that when I write I speak the truth and will not soft peddle a product if it stinks or is a danger to your Mac. Hear is Not one of them! First, Hear is a stand alone product. It is not a Haxie so it does not put anything in the System. Also if you read the Docs., you would find that it is recommended to delete to delete any sound tweaking programs like Digital Power Station, iWOW, Audio Hijack Pro and AstoundSound because they will cause conflicts with Hear. Hear is not meant for just iTunes. It is designed for enhancements to all audio programs such as DVD Player, VLC, QT, iTunes and and any other sound programs that can make use of Hear. I read over the comments below and I too have had the problem where Hear is not functioning correctly where you change or adjust a setting and there is no different in the sound. When that happens, you just need to reinstall Hear. If you are not sure of how, call the Tech Dept. and they will walk you through it or send you an email on how to. The point is once you do that, you will find quite a difference in how Hear works and your problems should be solved. I helped beta test Hear 1.05 before they began to do it in shop. I sent in many suggestions and I was very pleased to see some of them worked into the program. My favorite correction can be found under the mixer tab where you see what apps are in use by Hear. In 1.0.5 Hear showed every app that was running. I made the suggestion for Hear to use a Little AI and not list programs not used by Hear like Office and other apps that did not deal with sound. At first they were not sure if they could do that at the current version of Hear. But, as new versions came out I first noticed that you could click on the arrow to the far left and it would shut it down to Hear. Now they had taken it to the level I initially recommend. Now Hear on list applications that are audio related. It took Pro Soft some time, but they finally got it right. As far as the nature of the "looks" of Hear, It is my opinion that those comments made below are just from people who just need something to nag about. The over all layout of Hear is clean and easy to move about from one tab to another. If you are not experienced in the science of Audio then take some time a read the manual. I know we Mac people like to just like to plunge into a program but, there are times where reading a manual can give you a wealth of information and help you to understand any program better. I have found the best way to tweak Hear is by having the sound source going as you adjust Hear at the same time. It makes it much easier because you hear the changes in real time. Hear does have a learning curve to it, but, if you just sit down and take the time to see what each tab does to your sound, then you will learn how to make your own sets and Pro Soft would love to look at them. So before you bitch about a program because you cannot resolve an issue and refuse to call Tech Support then you may as well be the rear end of a Donkey and if there are people out there who wish to grade me negatively, go ahead, what I write and write in the future will always be truth and if something sucks I will expose it for what it is. I have reviewed SW since the 128k Mac in Print and in Ezines and they came to me to write for them. Even inside MacGames asked me to write for them. So, if you think my writing is full of crap ask the readers across the U.S. and international. End of Line...

I inherited the latest version of Hear on a used iMac in excellent condition that I bought on eBay. After a year of experimentation, I've concluded that its only useful feature is the equalizer. None of the presets improved he sound coming from iTunes or any other audio apps I use, and indeed most worsened it. I have toyed with the settings in every conceivable way and twice worked with Prosoft Customer support, both to no benefit. I had the very same experience using Hear on my MacBook Pro. I've found that the overpriced Digital Power Station has far more beneficial effect when used with iTunes on both my Macs, but it's nowhere near as configurable as Hear (not that Hear's massive configurability improves it in any way).

Works like a charm with any music app that works on a Mac, whether it's as free as iTunes and BitPerfect or as expensive as Amarra and Pure Music. My only regret is having paid the full, original price, making me wonder, If it was so expensive then, how can it be offered so cheaply, now?

I've been using Hear for several years now after purchasing it as part of a bundle. Since that time, I've kept up with the regular (free) updates, and always been impressed with its overall capability and stability. Frankly, I haven't found anything comparable on the Mac. Hear will improve audio for nearly any application, not just audio/video played through iTunes as competitive products do. But, like many sophisticated pieces of software, the quality of the sound improvement depends greatly on the preset / settings you choose. Recently, I had a problem where the latest auto-update failed. Joesoft support responded quickly with detailed instructions and a direct download that solved my install issue. You can't ask for better than that!

I obtained 'Hear' for Mac when I purchased a Mac bundle. Unfortunately since using it I have noticed that the application of effects/audio changes is inconsistent. I often have to select an effect multiple times in order to have the effect applied. Unfortunately, that's not the worst problem. I've also found that my audio drops out completely when using the application. At irregular intervals (on average 2-3 times in an hour period of continuous audio output) the audio simply stops working. In order to reenable audio functionality, I have to select/deselect the 'Mute' function on the Hear interface. I'm using Hear with my Early 2009 Mac Pro (64 bit 8-core machine with two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 series (Nehalem) processors) running Mac OS 10.7.3. The speakers are an audio-output connected Bose Companion 3 - Series II mulimedia speaker system. No - I'm not going to bother contacting their customer support. I've read the reviews/other comments and I'm not interested in troubleshooting their product for them. Updates haven't been coming at a regular interval, so I can't imagine there would be much response in the way of a fix. Thankfully, MacUpdate's 'Bundles' are affordable enough that I can afford to simply 'uninstall' this stinker, and call it a day.

Nice software for Mac! If you use Mac to listen your music, don't miss it!

I have been using Hear for about 5 years now and I love it! I was especially pleased with the tech support that I received from ProSoft. I had an issue where GarageBand was crashing,and the error message said that Hear was causing a conflict. Hear was not actually running at the time, but GarageBand would repeatedly crash unless and until I uninstalled Hear and restarted my machine. I emailed Tech support at ProSoft and received a prompt reply. After sending the details of my computer and the error report, I received an updated version of Hear to try. My issue with GarageBand was resolved and I couldn't be happier. This kind of support really impressed me.As for the Hear software itself,there are so many settings to choose from. Whether you use headphones,external speakers,or simply the built in speakers, the difference in sound is huge. I originally got this to boost the volume of the internal speakers on my MacBook,but have expanded my use considerably. Once you start using Hear,you will be lost without it. Watching videos and movies,listening to music,whatever you're doing Hear makes it better. You can control the sound level of each application that is running,and even mute some if needed. You get total control,and the sound adjustments and enhancements are endless. Sure there are lots of presets,but you can tweak away and even save your custom presets. This is a great program!

Its awesome works great on making anything better.

Once you've used this for a while, try listening to some music without it! Everything sounds shit, like through earplugs or a big cushion over your head. The presets are perfectly fine for almost any type of audio, but do play with all the options - it's fun!

This program makes my head thump and brings my techno/trance/house music to life! like I'm actually there in the club! I love it!!!

I love this program. It gives plenty of options and virtual subwoofer rocks

This app works fine (build 1.1(591) to me running Lion 10.7.2. It autostarts whenever i play anything which is cool, but at first i was wondering why i got a delay sound when listening to music through internal soundcard and not my M-Audio card. Turns out i totally forgot that i installed Hear weeks ago and was surprised it started automatically. A small adjustment in settings and tweaking to get your own sound and get rid of the delay and is all good.. I used to use VLC to playback music because iTunes soundwise as a mediaplayer totally suck without HEAR. But VLC has no decent library like iTunes so it was like a mixed affair. Now im back to iTunes and runs it with HEAR for better sonical experience and higher volume output through headphones. This software rules! Good EQ, very powerful and sensitive with plenty of FX to pile on top. Easy tabbed interface to turn off any FX on one page if you desire.

This App doesn't seem to be very stable with Lion and Skype. With this App installed I had lost the ringing on Skype through the headset but it was ok through the speakers. 3D was on by default which sounded awful when using Skype. When making a call with this app installed Skype would completely crash. Only good thing was that the uninstall worked!

After originally having a good experience with "Hear", it has now decided not to work - while the program loads, the window never opens and, as far as I can tell, it does not alter the sound quality in any way. To make matters worse, there doesn't appear to be a way of soliciting help from the developer via the support site email message system, as Hear is not listed as one of the developer's products. Can anybody help, please? Not happy! anj

Nice Application, full of features and configurations, i love to use and play, but don´t work with my interface (Apogee Duet 2). This application HAVE PROBLEMS WITH EXTERNAL INTERFACES. I use Soundflower for test, but have stability problems in Lion. Only works for 5 min. or two songs. Waiting for a fix or update. Or better alternative.

I cannot figure out why so many here have rated Hear so highly. In several months with the last v. and a week with 1.1.1, I determined that its only useful component was the equalizer, and despite my 23 years in the industry, I could not get a single pleasant effect out of it. This was especially true on my Early-2011 MacBook Pro and Late-2008 Aluminum MacBook, though it more or less sucked on my new, maxed-out 27-inch iMac as well. In the past 4 days I compared Hear with both the Bongiovi Digital Power Station 3.0 (which is nowhere near as configurable), my 3-year-old SRSiWow Premium (same), and the Audio Hijack Pro/LoudMax VST plugin solution (winner!). Not sure why Hear’s hyper-configurability couldn’t be somehow employed in my systems, but neither I nor my ex-brother-in-law (and former Outlaws guitarist) could stand anything it output. Oh well, maybe just a problem with my systems.

I got this app in the MacUpdate bundle. I'm not rating it because I haven't used it. In fact, I can't use it. I use a Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP audio interface, and THIS APPLICATION DOESN'T WORK WITH AUDIO INTERFACES. System audio controls typically don't work with external interfaces, so an app like Hear would be valuable if it saved having to open the big fat mixer app that controls the Saffire Pro...just a quick way to tweak EQ and volume would be very handy. But Hear won't do that. As of v1.1.1, Hear is useless if you're using an external interface. Yes, that's stated in the system requirements for the application, but if you didn't know to go looking for it, you could easily miss it. As of this writing, Prosoft hasn't gone out of its way to make that aspect of the software obvious. It does look like Hear would be a useful application. But save yourself the trouble if you’re using an audio interface. It won’t work. Caveat emptor.

great program! the only major problem i've run into is a conflict with Adobe After Effects CS5. Once Hear is installed, i can no longer RAM preview a video file in AE that contains audio. instead i get an error that reads, "After effects warning: unable to start audio playback. please confirm your audio device is properly configured or change the driver selection in preferences:audio hardware." This error goes away after i uninstall Hear. I've tried excluding after effects in Hear's Mixer panel, but no dice. i hope you can fix this, because i love having a system wide program for my audio. Do that, i would rate the program a 5 out of 5.

Two things annoy me about Hear. 1) It doesn't automatically open when I launch iTunes so I often wind up not getting any benefit from it. 2) the application quits when you close its window which is NOT typical of Mac software. If I were using Windows I'd expect this behavior, but not when I'm using my Mac.

So...how does registration work? Does this come with a ridiculous activation limit the way SRS iWow did? Has JoeSoft charged for incremental releases (again, like with SRS iWow)? The MUPromo bundle has gotten me really interested in Hear but after having been burned with SRS iWow, I'm a little apprehensive.

Works pretty well. Some presets produce way too much distortion for my set up. What I'd like is a global hotkey to toggle Hear on or off.

I love hear that i've buy with mu winter bundle, but there is an incompatibility with fifa 12 for mac that can't start if hear is installed, in fact after i tried to uninstall it everything with fifa is back to work...before the uninstall i tried to disable hear before fifa launch, but it had not effect. I hope that the developer resolve this trouble because i want again hear installed on my mac.

This looks really interesting; lots of nice features. One thing I can't see (read the manual) is a balance control. I'm a muso (or at least try to be) and often it helps to isolate instrument parts by having a balance control, the way you might have on a Stereo Hi-Fi amp etc. I've been looking for something for ages that features this and there appear to be no apps out there that do. Ideally it'd be able to be int he menu bar, but just in the app would be fine. Just downloaded the demo so going to give it a spin; I have some Bose Companions, which have some kind of surround processing juju already on board, so hopefully that won't conflict with what Hear is doing. Price seems perfectly reasonable for what it does too.

I paid full price for v1.0.0 and I haven't looked back. I'm now using v1.1,1 - all upgrades have been free of charge, needless to say - and my only complaint is that I may have to RTFM to discover what the criteria for distinguishing between H and S are. In general, I prefer H to S, to the extent that I no longer bother to compare. But, maybe I should go back to doing it. I may be missing something by mindlessly going with H, regardless of what genre of music it is that I'm listening to. IMO. it's worth a hell of a lot more than a mere sawbuck. But, I;m not crazy. If I could have gotten v1.0.0 for only twenty bucks, I would have done it.

LOL, I love the $741 price tag now... And 94% off... can't beat that. :\ LOL I guess I can see how the MacUpdate discount algorithms work now... ;) --> http://j.mp/u2H5Ax But it's a really nice app. I own it and enjoy it. Wish it would have a negative option that would not filter all apps, but the ones you select by default. I also wish it would handle some audio better without sounding like it's overdriving on some frequencies.

Doesn't seems to work with Flash 11.1.102.55 (playing safari videos) on Safari 5.1.2. Also doesn't work with Safari embeded videos. Any fix or solution for that? Thanks.

This app makes that my MacBook has fat sounds, feel more crunchy & sweet. Precise controls, it's a little overwhelming for a novice (like me). I'm amazed with music sound that can deliver to my headphones. Worth every cent. Test for yourself it in deep, don't be disappointed. The only bad i have found is the presets (so many) and some GUI elements don't being my taste. (apologize my awful english)

Great app, works well with my 2008 Macbook Pro.

Great App, great price. I'm a professional studio and live musician, I know sound engineering and production quite well and I'm knocked out by how well designed this app is. The EQ alone is worth the money: note that the frequencies are set out exactly at their respective sweet spots and check out those very pure and detailed bass sliders. All the other functions are prima, very musical. Main thing, it sounds good and brings yet more life to digitality. Yo! For Overall Rating, I meant to click a full 5.

More that an equalizer. Loaded with features, you notice a difference in speaker quality the minute this program is installed on your computer. Highly customizable allowing for all kinds of sound configurations. Recommended,

i tried nearly all preset and they all suck on metal music the only good one that i found is jazz and its still the shit all my music is in flac and is sound rubish it probly me but i found that too many option it like not enought option it get too complicated for nothing and nothing let us no what it modifi when we want to play with it , and my metal is this better with my normal thingy ..... sorry but metal aint pop and other thing like that ...... better chance next time

I downloaded the demo and tried it for a few hours and I just had to buy the app :D Its solid and there are a lot of presets that it comes with. But I ended up making my own preset after trying out the others. I use Grooveshark a lot for my music listening and this app takes all those lower bitrate songs and amps them up to sound ridiculously good. Not to mention it makes the laptop speakers finally bearable. Turns headphones/real speakers into cozy immersive environments for audiophiles. :)