EqualizerAPO | driver that allows you to boost sound in games and Windows

even on the crappiest audio card + it can activate 7.1 sound on any stereo headphones. If the topic of custom drivers has passed you by, I'd like to clarify:

there are people who modify official drivers from Nvidia, AMD, Realtek, D-Link, for example, and so on. Thus adding new functionality that is unavailable to old devices that the manufacturer stopped supporting, and increasing performance | if we talk about video cards, the performance gain can reach up to 20% in new games**

• **** I say this with all responsibility. I have a 2018 AMD graphics card, and some time ago I migrated to the "Adrenalin Pro Remixed" driver package. Life was divided into before and after: games that I was running on low-to-mid graphics settings at 720p resolution now run smoothly (at an average of 45-55 FPS) at 1080p on medium graphics settings. That's what custom drivers are all about. And if you have a Radeon graphics card (it doesn't matter if it's in a laptop, or a desktop PC), wait for a detailed article on my Zen blog.

What are custom drivers? Imagine that suddenly your device has gained a ton of extra features borrowed from other premium devices!

Now let's go back to "EqualizerAPO" (EAPO) - it can be said that it is also a custom driver from enthusiasts, but only it is not based on solutions like "The Ultimate Realtek HD" driver package (full Dolby Atmos even on average audio cards from Realtek). The main advantage of "EAPO" is that it is a standalone driver, so it will work on any manufacturer's audio card. For "EAPO" to work properly we need the "Peace" shell (GUI), download it from here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/peace-equalizer-apo-extension/

Installation is very simple. Run the "EAPO" installer (the file is called EqualizerAPO64-1.3.x.exe) and just agree with everything and click "dare", "dare", "dare" and again "dare" - **but do not change the installation address in any case!

The default installation path should remain C:\Program Files\EqualizerAPO\.

Some users complain about a bug that if they change the installation path offered by the "EAPO" developer, the "Peace" shell refuses to install. For some reason it gives an error message that it can't find the "EAPO" files, without which it can't work. So this is most likely a bug in "Peace". In any case, after installing "EAPO" we will be offered to choose a playback device to be controlled by "EqualizerAPO". It can be your audio card or headphones, if it is a separate USB device, similarly with speakers, or Bluetooth headset. This is purely down to your "configuration":

Pay attention to the "Status" block: can be installed - means that your device is compatible with EAPO. Experimental - may work, but no guarantees.

I chose headphones. Now click on the "OK" button and "EAPO" will offer to reboot Windows. We agree. Now run "PeaceSetup.exe" - click several times "* further*" and wait for the installation process to finish | it is fully automatic, because it is bound to the place where "EAPO" is installed. After installing the "Peace" shell, you won't have to restart your computer. Start the program. By default it will start together with Windows and hide in the tray. It is fully translated into Russian, so if you are not satisfied with it, you can go to its settings and disable the autorun option.

Profiles are located in the lower left corner. There is support for 7.1 virtual surround sound, sound quality enhancers for wireless headphones, an option that allows you to increase the maximum available volume for regular headphones (useful if you have quiet ears) and music speakers. If you are listening to a dictaphone audio recording with noise, where the speaker is very hard to hear - you can enable the "Vocal" mode, which by software means will underestimate all sources of noise, except for the voice of the presenter - his "Peace" on the contrary will highlight and "pull out" audio effects in every possible way. Presets "enhanced bass", "dancing" and "rock", transformation of stereo sound into mono, etc. All of these are extra perks that are included in "Peace" - you can experiment with the sound as much as you like!

Also note that for "EqualizerAPO" there are a lot of third-party add-ons besides the "Peace" module.

EqualizerAPO is the basis for pumping up the sound on your PC. There are dozens of modules for EAPO that allow you to activate various sound enhancement technologies.

Do you want to activate Dolby Atmos or EAX effects on your inexpensive stereo system that only true gamers remember? Are you a connoisseur of BlasterX technology? Or maybe you prefer the effects from Razer, which integrates them into its gamer headphones????

You can add all these pluses to "EqualizerAPO" with the help of special modules. I wrote a separate article about it. If you missed it, I'll specially post a link to the past article at the end of this article. We are already at the finish line.

| 8GadgetPack - do you miss the widget panel that first appeared in Windows Vista?

Maybe not, but a lot of users are very nostalgic for those times (I myself use Windows 10 Memphis Edition / functionally! and visually my system is brought to the state in which Windows 98 went to the masses). So, the "classic" calculator, Windows Media Player, games like Spider or Scythe can be brought back, via nostalgy packs. And today we will talk about "8GadgetPack". The program can be downloaded from this link: https://8gadgetpack.net

Run the file 8GadgetPackSetup.msi and follow the recommendations of the wizard. The "8GadgetPack" has almost no customizations. If you click on the program icon in the Start menu (look for the "8GadgetPack Tools" shortcut there), you will be offered the following options:

• add gadgets to your desktop | Add gadget...
• add "8GadgetPack" to Windows Autorun | Enable Autorun
• reduce the size of widgets (in my screenshots they are just reduced) | Make gadgets smaller
• lock all widgets in a separate sidebar (just like in Windows Vista / in Windows 7, the user is allowed to place widgets in arbitrary places on the desktop) | Enable sidebar

• activate displaying/hiding the sidebar with widgets by pressing "Windows" and "G" | Enable Win +G for gadgets.
• visit the official website of the program - you have already been there if you downloaded widgets to your PC using my links | Visit Website
• reset****** the program or uninstall it | *Reset all gadgets... & Unistall...

I would also like to mention that the community is still writing widgets for "8GadgetPack", so you can download them from the Internet and double-click on the widget to integrate it into the program base *******Sometimes you may get "crooked" widgets that will cause the "8GadgetPack" panel to run with brakes or refuse to start at all. Only then you will have to use the reset function.