Boom: Bass Booster & Equalizer Reviews

by Plucky Albatross

I’ve been using this app on my desktop for years and love it, but there are so many problems with the iOS iteration. First of all the interface is incredibly clunky not easy to navigate at all. I’ll hear a song and want to see the artist or album and I have to press like 12 extra buttons and scroll to do so. The shuffle is not a true shuffle because the 2nd song is always the very first alphabetical song in my library. And then it plays things in order even when it’s on shuffle. Almost all of my songs are songs are Apple purchases (meaning this app effects can’t be applied) but they only recognize a random few as such. It freezes constantly and the main play screen with the circular artwork is so ugly. Just show me the entire square artwork. When it works, the sound adjustment is amazing but the interface is so so so clunky and there are 3 many bugs with Boom. Can somebody please recommend a comparable replacement that actually works?

by NobodyUnoe

I got Boom last night to try to find a stop-gap fix for a problem with the highs on my AirPods Pro being too shrill. I knew it wouldn’t be an across the board fix, but expected it to work right. First off, I discovered that it forces you to use it as your music app from now on, and the GUI is ugly and rustic. I hit into errors with locally stored iTunes purchases with it thinking they were Apple Music streaming selectively, and refusing to equalize it all- some will, some it won’t touch and give a DRM error. It also scrambled all the artists, albums, and songs, alphabetizing everything individually, making nothing easy to find. In short, it’s useless. It’s particularly upsetting because when I tried to do the free trial, I got hit with a scammy popup telling me that if I bought a lifetime subscription this very moment, it would be on super sale. So I never even got the free trial to see if it was good or not, in fear of overpaying for something that I could be stuck using for a long time. Apple should make those one chance only sale buy before you try offers against Boom Store rules! I’ve written in asking for a refund this evening, but considering that I’m still waiting for a reply from yesterday’s support request, it’s most likely going to take a while before I get assistance.

by MGdakid

Boom allows me to stream FLAC music from the cloud ,(which I was pleasantly surprised by) however the stream stutters and fails to play the track without multiple pauses. The only to fix this issue for me is to download the song. I have another app that don’t require me do so in order to play my music smoothly from my Drive, I.e. VOX Music Player. Unlike VOX, this app allows for sophisticated 3D audio with all headsets as well as having a lower subscription price. If the devs could fix this streaming issue they would easily be just as good if not better than VOX. I’m a lifetime subscriber btw.

Update: I logged back into Boom and got a message claiming that I was trying to play an “unsupported” file type. I’ve never had this issue when streaming the songs directly through my Drive, VLC Media Player, or VOX music player. If it weren’t for the EQ I’d probably regret becoming a subscriber.

by VoltPlayer

I just purchased the this app for my iPhone and so far I love it with one huge exception. I obviously use Boom in place on the default iPhone music player, so that I can take advantage of the EQ functionality. So, I get into my car, fire up this app and start listening to music and everything is fine.. I can control the music (next/previous, volume up/down using the controls on my steering wheel) just like I can using the standard iPhone music app. However, occasionally this app will reach a song in my playlist that it claims cannot be EQ'd due to DRM (which is fine), so it plays the song anyway (just without any EQ functionality) - the problem is, whenever that happens, I lose all control to Boom , meaning I have no way to control it anymore from my steering wheel buttons. This requires me to kill Boom , and restart it, and everything is fine again. So, this is a really annoying bug, and I hope you can fix it soon!

by Me415567544

Boom is pretty amazing with the 3D sound quality. No, I’m not an expert or anything but I think Boom does a really good job at letting all the sounds and depths of the music come to the forefront of the sound just as equally as they do the vocals. Sometimes I’m listening to a song and it sounds like I’m IN the booth with the finish product playing throughout my ears. The amplification of sound compared to your usual music app is night and day and this app sound reigns superior every time. I gave Boom 4 stars because I do have one issue with it in my experience, not saying this is an issue for everyone but for me…Boom sometimes doesn’t cooperate properly if I don’t completely close out Boom after every use. Making it extremely annoying later, when I want to scroll through my song lists after a bit of not using Boom .

WORTH the yearly subscription

by K0rraa

Boom makes all my songs sound so much better and most importantly it increases bass without sacrificing any of the other frequencies. That being said, as mainly an Apple Music user Boom is UNUSABLE because Apple protects all their music with DRM, so the developers are unable to Apply this app effects to the songs.

I understand this is a problem with Apple and not the this app developers, but I strongly encourage them to find a workaround to this issue because it basically makes Boom incompatible with Apple music users.

The moment Boom works with Apple Music songs and can be used offline is the moment I buy a subscription, until then I’m sticking to the default Apple Music app

by Gregfahey

I like the sounds available with this app. No issue there. In fact I'd love to have this.

However, this BS about who "owns" the music is infuriating. I pay Apple to stream music. I don't mind paying as musicians deserve our support. Absolutely and 100%. So I'm paying to make it all legit. Yet, there's another standard applied if I want to take off a bit of the treble on certain mixes. So basically, since I have minimal space to be able to download certain tunes locally, I'll get to use this app on the few songs downloaded. Unacceptable. If I'm paying for the rights to listen to artists, I should be afforded the control over how I prefer the desired EQ. I pay the same price to stream it as I do to download it as well. Here it is, 2020 and apparently the man behind the curtain is shaking his head "No!" when it comes to having an EQ function on one of the most popular and technologically advanced pieces of hardware on Earth.

by TravisAK

This is a great app. I’ve probably tried every music player in Boom Store and this is by far the best. Beautiful clean interface. Easy to use and the effects do add new life to your headphones. There are a LOT of optional settings to play around with.
ONE STAR OFF FOR THE YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION NONSENSE!!
Just charge a one time flat fee so we can be done with it. I paid the subscription because it’s worth it and I’m gullible, but I would have happily paid a bit more for a one time fee.

Update: the bass is blowing out my headphones. (A few different ones; Beats, Grado) I’ve tried turning off the bass boost and it doesn’t do much. The only fix is to turn off effects which defeats the point. Is there a way to dial down the bass a bit more without having to build a custom eq? Overall still a great player though. (Prefer the Vibrant and Flat settings. Both have same issue)

by Stealthnoodle12

I love this app. I use it for my desktop and mobile device. Music would not be as good without it! But this app, whoever is in charge of your push notifications, tell them to put more thought in before they hit send and stop sending so many notifications in general. I’m officially annoyed and turning them off. They are useless messages. Today I was notified with “Its half way to the weekend! Get going with this app!”. What am I supposed to get out of that? I know it’s Wednesday...it’s literally displayed above your push notification on my lock screen. I’ve been getting messages like this almost every day.

tl;dr
Great job engineering team. You’ve created apps that are a must have. Marketing team (I assume), make your push notifications informative and useful for your users.

by WildeSG

Like the sound. It’s not earth shattering better than other music players with EQ capability, but it gets a tiny bit more out of it when listening via Bluetooth earbuds (using mostly AirPods pro). The only issue I have is when selecting an artist, it then shows all the songs in random order instead of first showing an album view within which one can then see the songs. This is just so basic but quite annoying when you have a lot of music in the iPhone with a lot of artists and most of them with more than just 2 albums. Please fix this, it’s very basic

by "HARDBODY"

I am deeply involved in music, in fact I DJ, so sound quality & programs etc I know well. With that said, I have used many music Apps trying to find the best one. Yes there are a couple of good ones I came across, but in my opinion “this app: Music Player” is the Alpha of them all. I purchased the Mac Desktop version about 2 years ago (also fantastic) and use their this app Remote for complete functionality. Last year I purchased Boom for the 1 year subscription which expires in a week. I use this app at least 5 days a week a few hours each day (it gets a lot of play) & I personally never had issues ie, can’t ever recall it crashing, in fact after their last update I feel it is even better. I am so positive that this is the Alpha of the music player apps I said F@%k it and just purchased the Lifetime pack. If I have to nitpick there is ONLY one thing I hope they add/fix, so I hope the developer reads this, hear me and fixes it. The system in my truck (custom) has a remote so I never have to touch the radio or phone for anything BUT with this app I can only skip to the next track.....back from track to track. Would be outstanding if I could scroll through/ Fast forward within a track… in other words if I simply want to hear a certain spot in the track. If I want to do that I need to open the phone/app a scroll that way. NBD, still a BadA$$ APP. Oh and their customer service is on the up & up! The times I emailed I ALWAYS got a response pretty fast!

by Author At Large

Living with music every day of your life, you quickly pick-up the nuances of of sound - the highs, lows and mid-ranges - each have several ranges within themselves and it can be irritating when something is wrong. I discovered this app just after it first came out, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was close. The developers are obviously audio freaks as there have been several modifications since the original and each step gets them closer to the wholly grail of perfection. My first bit of advice is delete everything else you use and get Boom. Second, listen wearing high-end, over the ear headsets. (I’m wearing Sennheiser’s HD 660 S as I type this.)

by Sappho1900

this app makes the music-listening experience immensely more enjoyable. I first purchased this app on my computer and was eager to get it on my phone when I realized there was a mobile app. this app's effect on music is superior when compared to the Apple music app; I can't stress this enough. In addition to the EQ features, I use the cross-fading feature as well, and can't get enough of it. I highly recommend Boom to anyone who loves music and wants to elevate their listening experience even more. My only recommendation would to make the queue more editable; like being able to add single songs into the queue at any given time, similar to Apple's queuing features.

by AlmostNotDumb

I’m familiar with virtual surround sound with gaming and I think it works great for what it is. Not sure how it would work with music so I came across Boom which is free for like 5 days. Plenty of time to test it. I didn’t really know the difference at first. I could tell there was a difference just not sure what. So I was starting to wonder if this was a gimmick after listening to a whole album of one of my favorite bands. I then started to listen to the same album without the this app effects or app. I couldn’t even finish the first song without wanting to go back to the this app app effects. It definitely sounds more full and it is easier to pick up multiple sounds and voices distinctly. I am using Boom with my Beats Solo 3 headphones. On some songs the bass got too heavy for what my headphones could handle so I had to adjust the EQ a bit on some songs but treble is awesome on my headphones so everything else was amazing. I’ll have to test it on other headphones I have. Overall definitely worth trying and definitely worth a one time purchase of $4.99. I got it on sale for $2.99 on Black Friday. Even better! You will never want to go back to 2D music after using this.

by SAtheElder

I read the description and understood what Boom does and doesn’t do. I tried it out for 5 free days (thank you this app) and was very happy to pay the meager price asked to continue listening to my purchased music with all the sounds I’d forgotten since ditching my DiscMan CD player a thousand years ago.

Boom will make your purchased music sound so awesome you’ll remember why it’s worth paying for it. Your ears will thank you, your favorite artists will thank you, and you will sleep well knowing you’re a good person who is keeping new music alive by participating actively with your heroes (because you buy their art) and your Momma always said nothing good is free.

by Floydian4Ever

I remember when this app was starting out and I took a chance on a relatively unknown music playing app. Fell in love at first listen, and like any relationship I griped a tiny bit when it wasn’t exactly free anymore but I just couldn’t let my this app go so years later through few iPhones and many iOS’s, we’re still together because there’s no other music player is as intuitive to my listening needs be it headphones to AirPods thumping my bass hard as AF till it remembers to shut itself off (Sleep Timer built in YES!) so we’ll keep Boomin forever cause ITS 100% WORTH IT. To APPLE MUSIC AND PANDORA PPL QUIT HATING COMPLAIN TO THEM! It’s not Booms fault THEY don’t want u to use any other app but theirs! Thanks for the multitude improvements and for bringing visualization back! 🥰🥰🥰

by Starfox Galaxy

I listen to a lot of coldplay and my iphone speakers get very staticky on some songs. Forces me to carry my Samsung galaxy with me when I can't use my headphones like when I'm at work. This music player allows me to lower or even turn off the things that are causing static in my speakers so I can enjoy the beautiful music while at work and thus be in a good mood for my customers since our in house radio is dreadful even to the customers. Lol. Thanks dev for giving me back my happiness without forcing me to carry my Samsung just for music. When I get better pay, I'll get the paid version for sure. Looking forward to helping the devs out. But for now, I'll lend my support through the praise they deserve.

by Roblingelbach

this app 3D with effects is indispensable to me. I use it on the laptop with movies and music: classical, jazz, blues, rock, folk (I’m a musician).

Now the other items you must have: the Oontz speakers (2 for stereo) at a reasonable price and with sound quality unbelievable. And all portable in a small backpack. I use this app 3D on two iPhones and have the original small Oontz angle for ultra portability when needed. But this app 3D with the Oontz Angle 3XL Ultra (2 for stereo) is an extraordinary sound combination. I’ve owned the best analog systems (lost in an unfortunate financial travail) including Magneplanar ribbon speakers, Bryston 1000w amp, custom turntable, Etc. and what I gain now is portability and economy, along with this app 3D’s extraordinary flexibility. Can’t wait to load my new 256 GB iPhone X with a plethora of music, organized into this app 3D playlists :).

—rob, a certified happy Boomer

by Cybertechman

I love using this app! It is the best out there by far with everything it does.

I do have a suggestion for the suggestion box. I would love to see fast forward and rewind buttons (if there’s not already a way to do it that I’m missing) rather than having to guess where to move the slider. The buttons would be ones that let you move forward and backward about 10 or 15 seconds, and when you tap and hold the forward button, it would act as a speed up play button until you let up off of or to return to regular playback speed. This would let you be able to more easily jump to portions of a song which are closer together and speed through a portion if you want to just speed through it faster until you get to the part you want.

This is just a suggestion, though, as this is still the best out there either way.

by Darklon

...about "problems" with Boom. But the issues I keep seeing them complaining about CANNOT be fixed by the developers!

Listen up!!! APPLE controls access to files with DRM, not the developers.

I love Boom, and I'll admit there are problems. For example, I'd love it if I could set this app as the default player for music.

But it's Apple's ball park so I doubt that will **ever** change. Technically, I guess it's Apple's ball park, bats, **and** balls. 😉

At any rate, before you go off half-cocked and make a complaint, make certain you've got your facts straight.

For example, if the program is crashing a lot, but you don't see a lot of reports about crashing from other people, it's probably an issue with YOUR device. Additionally, devs usually fix crashing issues pretty quickly if they effect a number of people. To fix a problem like a crash, they have to be able to track down a problem. I'm running this app on three iOS devices, almost daily, and it's never crashed on any of my devices.

I personally give Boom two thumbs up, five stars (GOLD stars!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) and I highly recommend it because it makes all my non-DRM music sound so much better!

I barely ever use the Apple music player at all. I even use this app when I'm listening in my car, and it makes my music sound richer and more full, even over my stock car speakers.

by Ikabroukman

I bought the boom3d MacBook software and I’m so pleased so I obviously thought this is same as on laptop like it’s dress up on my music and sound all over laptop but unfortunately the iphone version is so unfriendly.
First of all there’s only dark theme and no clear white which is terrible and I’m really having problems reading so unfriendly. Secondly it does not dress on my iPhone library music but wants me to use it’s library. Instead of just adding the fabulous equalizer system to my already playlists on my default iPhone which is much more friendly for looking at and more simply. Thirdly the visualizer is so idiotic... what is this? I’m not a kid in the 80s in NY with stereo on my shoulder. Get serious...Hey... make your version user friendly and then I’ll buy it! For now it shadows the laptop version but in a bad way! Too bad.

by Sachiko Koshimizu

I like Boom but the one thing that I'm a little disappointed about is it doesn't count the number of plays for a song (on the built in iPhone music app, each time a song is finished, the counter adds one to the number of plays. It adds however many plays for a song to iTunes since the last time you synced your phone with your computer.) I personally like to keep track of my progress, so if it wasn't for that I would still use Boom for listening to music.

Also, the visualizer during when a song is played is kinda slow and doesn't look as smooth as I hoped for.

I'm not an expert programmer or anything but these sound pretty easy to fix. Once it is then I'll definitely give this 4 to 5 stars as well as use Boom more often.

by Whereboysfeartotread

this app makes the music-listening experience immensely more enjoyable. I first purchased this app on my computer and was eager to get it on my phone when I realized there was a mobile app. this app's effect on music is superior when compared to the Apple music app; I can't stress this enough. In addition to the EQ features, I use the cross-fading feature as well, and can't get enough of it. I highly recommend Boom to anyone who loves music and wants to elevate their listening experience even more. My only recommendation would to make the queue more editable; like being able to add single songs into the queue at any given time, similar to Apple's queuing features.

by Nickname Is Taken 24

Perfect for those with high-end headphones. I can experience the full capabilities of my iphone linked B&W headphones. this app 3 on my mac is another level. I suggest purchasing the this app product for each device. Boom even upgrades the Bose sound system configured in my Escalade.

I use Sonos for in-home audio. So, I’m not sure the effect on BT Home speakers. If you have better speakers, then probably none.

My only complaint is that you should be able to max out all app setting and volume, while using the auto equalizer, and receive with no distortion. Full bass for 3d is impossible to play for almost any song at 75% or above volume.