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Faders vs device EQ tools (FxSound, Sonar)
FxSound and SteelSeries Sonar change the sound on your own computer. Faders changes the mix inside a Twitch stream. They fix different problems, and you can use both.
What device EQ tools do
FxSound is a free, open-source Windows app that boosts and equalizes everything your PC plays. SteelSeries Sonar, part of SteelSeries GG, splits your PC's sound into channels such as game, chat and media, each with its own volume and EQ. Both work on the audio after it reaches your computer.
Why they can't fix a stream's mix
A Twitch stream reaches you as one audio track, with the streamer's voice, the game and the music already mixed together. To an EQ tool, the whole Twitch tab is one source. It can make that track louder, bassier or clearer, but it can't turn the music down without turning the streamer down too. Cutting the bass to tame a loud song also thins out the streamer's voice.
So when chat says "music too loud" or "can't hear you over the game", an EQ on your end doesn't help. The balance was set before the stream left the streamer's PC.
What Faders does differently
The streamer's free OBS plugin sends voice, game and music as separate audio layers. The Faders extension plays them in sync with the video, so each viewer drags their own faders: keep the streamer's voice up, the game where you like it, and the music down. The stream on Twitch stays exactly as it was.
| Feature | FxSound / Sonar | Faders |
|---|---|---|
| Works on | Anything your PC plays | Faders-enabled Twitch channels |
| Separate voice, game and music in a stream | No | Yes |
| Needs the streamer to set it up | No | Yes, with the free OBS plugin |
| Where it runs | A Windows app | Chrome or Edge extension on desktop (Firefox in review) |
| Changes your other audio | Yes, system-wide | No, only the stream |
Use both
Keep an EQ tool for tuning your headphones and everything else on your PC. Use Faders to set the mix of a stream. If you stream, the plugin is free for up to 25 listeners at once.
Faders for streamers · Faders for viewers · Why Twitch's single volume knob fails your chat