Apparatuses for and methods of carrying out dynamic equalization processing of an audio signal, and apparatuses for and methods of controlling such equalization processing of the audio signal to dynamically adjust the time-varying spectrum of an audio signal to more closely match a user specified target time-invariant perceived audio signal spectrum while preserving the original dynamic range of the audio signal. The dynamic equalization is carried out according to a user-defined spectral profile specified by a control interface that allows a user to define, create, modify and/or apply the user-defined spectral profile.