Rhythmbox EQ
UPDATE: The Rhythmbox EQ has been updated. You can find it at google code.
Good evening everyone!
I've finally gotten to the point where my basic rhythmbox equalizer is up and running, so I figured I'd let the package sit here as an available download. I'll also link it to the rhythmbox devels, in hopes that it generates a bit more interest, and someone might come along and clean up and add to it more, in the true open source sense.
You can download the package here: Click Me!.
Installation instructions:
Uncompress this package using an archive utility (file-roller) to the ~/.gnome2 directory, or use the following command:
tar -xvzf rbeq-1.3.tar.gz -C ~/.gnome2
And that's it! Open rhythmbox, and go to "Edit -> Plugins" and select "Rhythmbox Equalizer."
Screenshot (by request):
It feels good to finally have a project of my own out there to help the community.
Ciao!

April 29th, 2009 - 07:15
Nice! Do you have a screenshot?
April 29th, 2009 - 08:46
Good call – I’ll put one up in the main body.
April 30th, 2009 - 14:05
Nice! Thanks!
An eq is, judging by the Rhytmbox mailing list, one of the recurring requested features. Great to finally have one! Good work!
I am just a novice in using eq – I usually limit myself to the presets (now, there is a feature request!
) . Also, perhaps a bit more space between the frequencies ( top text )?
April 30th, 2009 - 16:08
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Presets are next up on the list of things to come. I also want to add in a line graph (using cairo) representing the eq levels. As for the text, the window should be fully resizable; I could make it a little bigger, but it should be adjustable to however you like.
Again, thanks for using it!
May 7th, 2009 - 06:32
Hey there, great work, but i’d just like to know how do i save the equalizer settings so i dont have to set it up when i run the application again. Or Is there a config file where it could be saved? Thanks.
May 7th, 2009 - 06:55
As of right now, the functionality is not in there. There is a way to do it; GNOME has the ability to let applications save data to keys in GConf, so I can pass those when initializing the plugin and removing it. Another thing to add to V2. I’m glad you like it though.
May 7th, 2009 - 07:03
Chris: OK thanks for replying so soon
so right now for me (not knowing any C or python), there’s no way to set up the bands values in a config file somewhere (even if they were rigid and fixed – i have an ideal preset i’d like to use all the time and not change it) ? There are some default values that are taken from somewhere, right?
May 7th, 2009 - 08:00
When I wrote the plugin, my general use of RB is to throw it up in the taskbar and leave it running in the background. So currently, there is not a way to save bands between loads, because it doesn’t look for any configuration at load time. The default is a global -6dB, because GStreamer’s adjustment plugin gives a range of +12 to -24… it made more sense to me for it to be +-18. I should be able to push something out within the next week maybe, depending on the time that I get to work on it (I’m graduating this weekend… busy busy.
)
May 7th, 2009 - 08:21
Well, good luck on that ;]
May 24th, 2009 - 04:44
Very nice, thank you! I’ve searched for something like that. perfect
May 27th, 2009 - 04:09
I hear artifacts after enabling the plugin. There is a mild background noise which sounds like air is blowing ! Clearly audible in silent parts of a song when i listen using my headphones. Does anyone else have this problem ?
May 27th, 2009 - 07:55
goli – A couple of questions, because that might end up being a bigger issue than my plugin. What sound card are you currently using, and where do you have the sliders set to when you are playing the music? All that my plugin does is create a wrapper for a GStreamer effect, so it might be an issue on that end.
June 14th, 2009 - 06:06
Nice, it works fine!
tQ!
June 30th, 2009 - 05:54
This is great, thanks.
I’ve wanted to use Rhythmbox for ages, but was always lacking the equalizer. Now I’ll be using it permanently. Thanks again!
June 30th, 2009 - 08:24
Just now I noticed that once I restart Rhythmbox, the settings aren’t there anymore.
Could you please explain how to make Rhythmbox load a set of values as default when starting the program? I tried modifying the values in ~/.gnome2/rhythmbox/plugins/rbeq/rbeq_ui.xml, and the values where there when starting up Rhythmbox, but they do not take effect until you move one of the bands a little up/down. Any suggestions? Would be greatly appreciated.
June 30th, 2009 - 10:38
Jorge –
I don’t have the ability to save/load equalizer settings yet. It was something that I was going to build into the next iteration.. i’ve just not had the time to get the ability in there. I’ve seen a method done which uses GConf hooks for the plugin to define defaults, so I’ve been looking into that. I’m glad you like the plugin though, and hopefully I’ll have that available soon.
August 11th, 2009 - 15:42
You haven’t posted about your new job yet? Shame, Shame, older bro. *shakes head in mock sadness*
September 6th, 2009 - 02:29
Version 1.2 have some serious bug.
Rhythmbox will hang if the equalizer plugin is disabled while the player is playing. The one from http://cs.helsinki.fi/u/ttokalli/rb-plugins/ doesn’t have this kind of problem.
I found this out when testing the effect of the equalization.
November 2nd, 2009 - 22:11
Hi,
despite all of missed things, this is great. Keep you great work, dude
November 16th, 2009 - 11:47
Awesome, finally I have found a rhythmbox equalizer.
Nice job on this project, simple yet elegant!
Cheers
November 23rd, 2009 - 17:04
Hi,
Just installed your Rhythmbox EQ.
It works great! Just good for fine-tuning the sound of my music.
Thanks.. good job.
regards, Maarten
November 25th, 2009 - 23:05
thanks a lot bro. i’m using it right now. this is great.
December 7th, 2009 - 13:32
Hi, I just want to thank you for your hard work, I’ve downloaded and test it as its posted and works great. Keep up the great work!
December 17th, 2009 - 03:14
GOOD JOB!!!
A music player without a freakin EQ is almost retarded… seriously.
Now… for features that MATTER. You Need to add these Chris….
1) Ability to hit a key or button to reset all Bands to 0 ( currently with the mouse it is hard and tedious )
2) Presets a MUST… like a drop down box that levels up BASS and one MIDS and one HIs… look at other EQ’s for examples.
Anyways, I know programming I may send up a patch or two…
January 26th, 2010 - 19:59
la banda de equalizacion de 30hz esta invertida
error de programacion tipico de un novato en el tema
corregilo en tu proxima version
January 30th, 2010 - 10:22
Thanks for the Equalizer. I installed it and success. God work Dude.
Buat Dibuang Sayang, emangnya pada ngerti bahasa Indo kah?
February 1st, 2010 - 22:47
Thank you so much for this been hoping for this for soooooo long, just found it, works AWESOME!!! thank you!!!!!!!
-BMFC
February 5th, 2010 - 19:19
Wonderful! This plugin is majestic, now RB is complete. Thanks for your job. Keep working and beeing libre.
February 16th, 2010 - 22:15
WOW!! I was waiting for so many time for a plugin like this… I was stuck to the old and trusty xmms but suddenly it was not available in debian anymore, so I had to use amarok, and that was not pleasant for a gnome user. My RB is now complete. Thanks!! Works great on my lenny 64bit.
March 26th, 2010 - 14:39
Thanks for the plugin. Works great!
March 27th, 2010 - 15:09
Thanks for the effort. This is much appreciated.
This was all the Rythmbox relly needed to be perfect.
April 13th, 2010 - 09:19
Man, THANKS A LOT. It works!:)
Please some presets, it would be awesome!
April 19th, 2010 - 18:29
Thanks Chris, very good information. I will try to install it tonight.
April 30th, 2010 - 05:09
That was very useful, thanks a lot!
May 5th, 2010 - 01:06
my long time search ended here. Thanks bro!
May 12th, 2010 - 14:32
Thank you!!!
Is a easy for setup, and works like a charm.
Thank you again.
May 12th, 2010 - 23:27
Just released a new version this evening; please see http://rbeq.googlecode.com for the update. Make sure to get rid of the old install in ~/.gnome2/rhythmbox/plugins/rbeq first.
May 18th, 2010 - 03:20
Thanks for the plug-in, Chris. I just downloaded and installed it, works fine!
May 24th, 2010 - 11:55
Chris thanks for making the so long awaited equalizer for Rhythmbox. I find it pretty useful and it works just fine.
May 25th, 2010 - 02:27
this was exactly the thing i was searching for. thanks!
ps: maybe seo this post a bit, because it’s exactly what ppl should find when googling “rythmbox equalizer”, gogo for first page
June 2nd, 2010 - 15:23
thanks for the EQ; this is off topic; but what mp3 player works best for Rhythmbox , thanks.
June 7th, 2010 - 01:14
Brilliant! Only one i’ve found elsewhere didn’t have realtime changes.
Great work.
June 12th, 2010 - 05:57
Many thanks for this, it was the one thing missing from an otherwise great music player. What I can’t understand is why Rhythmbox don’t include an equaliser as standard?
June 12th, 2010 - 07:30
Fantastic work Chris.
It’s people like you that ‘can’ and ‘do’ that make the desktop experience
feature rich. Thank you!
** Just one thing though. The plug-in should be unzipped to ~/.gconf/apps
Bye
June 12th, 2010 - 11:42
Thanks 4 d EQ.
only one problem….
it doesn’t loads the EQ on restarting……….
the all EQ valies r in zero.
plz help in that…….
plz……..
July 3rd, 2010 - 06:02
Two words : GREAT WORK !!!
Thank you very very very very very much !!
July 24th, 2010 - 20:54
I just installed the equalizer without any errors. However, when I click on the Tools->Set Equalizer menu, the equalizer does not appear. I tried disabling then enabling the plugin, restarting Rhythmbox, restarting Ubuntu, and then rebooting, but no joy.
Has anyone else experienced this problem and how can it be resolved?
Thanks!
July 25th, 2010 - 18:13
Thank you verry much. This fixies the one thing i disliked in rhythmbox.
Nice work