These iPhone Settings are RUINING Your AirPods' Sound

I have been a loyal Apple user for years, owning everything from the MacBook Pro and Apple Watch to the iPad Pro and iPhone Pro Max. I will skip the usual rants about glitchy software, but I am honestly losing my patience with Apple’s current direction. The focus on a seamless experience feels gone. I find myself performing endless workarounds just to get things to function. For example, the tension of trying to make the iPad a laptop replacement with floating windows was so frustrating that I had to revert to the single window view just to stay sane.
Now, I have just upgraded from the original AirPods Pro to the version 3, and day two is not going well. The new tips and the set angle of the buds are causing serious ear fatigue. I spent a couple of hours cycling through tips before landing on the smalls, yet I am still constantly aware of them. They feel hard and create a lot of pressure in my inner ear. Do these actually soften up over time?
The sound profile is the other big letdown. I am not a formal audiophile, but I have a deep appreciation for music shaped by years of vinyl, CDs, and MiniDiscs, ipods & sonys. I loved my first generation Pros, but these just sound off and I cannot quite put my finger on why. I have tried every trick and setting to the point of overstimulation, but nothing clicks.
I am actually starting to consider an exit strategy from Apple altogether. I am dreaming of a digital and analog mix that focuses on actual quality rather than just ecosystem brand loyalty. It is a sad state of affairs when I feel like a random fifty pound pair of wireless headphones would probably be more comfortable and sound more natural than these. Has anyone else felt this shift? I'll rewatch this video to see if I can try a final tweak but I'm stuck with them as regretfully bought from a none apple shop department store so my return opportunity is nil. 😢

I just got me a pair of pro 3 and I’m returning it’s weak

Dang I have never quite understood someone perfectly well and also not at all at the same time like this video lol… GREAT VIDEO though!… I think 🤔 haha

On Apple Music’s EQ with AirPods Pro 2 I find that R&B sounds the best of all settings with Acoustic coming in as a close second sounding about the same but louder and with less bass. Btw these are with Sound Check turned on.

Apples EQ is unfortunately bad (if you can Call it EQ) but the overall sound quality from the AirPods 3 is fantastic imho.

You know what would help? Stop being a snob

There`s no late night preset on my EQ list of presets; nor on yours in the video. Does anyone know what the story is about that?

Apple does not give a damn about you. All they care is your money

All you need to do is ask apple to use "AI" to eq then it'll make it onto the to-do list - "Acoustic Individuality" anyone??

Update 8B30 got rid of the piercing highs.
Still really high at 15khz, so it still has some sizzling, but my hyperacusis/misophonia doesnt trigger anymore

You’re overthinking this

What about the Spotify EQ? Does it at least fix the Problem within Spotify suffuciently?

So what do I do now? With my AirPods Pro? I mean what’s settings coz sound quality isn’t that tough

I think I have the rain rq on but it’s turned all the way down on my Powerbeats pro 2 so I don’t hear it

So the “potential fix” is only for the Apple Music. That’s unfortunate. Will -20;-20 6/8k noticeably reduce treble or is it only meant to lower the volume with barely any change in those frequencies?
Thank you

You know what , so i bought these because i wanted to have the best anc and the best call quality. I already have the Soundcore Liberty 4nc which sound miles better than these airpods because of what you say; these eq settings are bad! I miss that beautiful sound my Soundcore have. I am afraid i need to return them because i can’t change anything about the sounds of these airpods. Whatever eq i choose - they sound thin and cheap. They are not worth the price at all imo: gonna return them!

What about audiogram setting?

Just got these and didn't know what was going on. So glad I found your video. Much appreciated.

I think, for many users of ipods, giving them control over EQ would be analogous to the old experiment where rats were given a dose of drugs by hitting a lever. Some people don't know when to stop.

Can I just use the eq settings in Spotify? I feel like that shouldn’t compress stuff, right?

Wow thank you just had it on and didn’t like it but forgot why it sounded that way was considering returning AirPod pro3

11:19 This one actually worked for my airpods pro 3s, they sound a lot better now when I turned them on!

what settings do you have set personally for Apple Music (dolby atmos on/off/automatic) and headphone accommodations

so you indicated you returned your Airpods3 Pro - which TWS would you recommend instead?

The sound quality keeps getting worse and no settings on my iPhone make it better. I’m also regularly stuck with the volume at full and everything is still to quiet.

It's also dumb because they DO have parametric EQ, it's just only on Mac, not on iPhone or iPad, which...I've always been confused about. I also just tested it on the Mac and if you have Dolby Atmos turned on in Apple Music, the EQ doesn't seem to do anything, so you have to have the music playing in someway other than Dolby Atmos, or use a different streaming service all together.

Thanks for making this video dude! Lots of good geek info. I love it.

Doesn’t affect me. I use Spotify…WHICH HAS an EQ! 🤷‍♂️👍

sam ovens?

Keep amplifying this. Apple has to add an EQ for its listenership. It’s crazy that they refuse to give us that capability. It really makes no sense.

Please enable YouTube's automatic audio translation feature for Spanish on your videos. Greetings from Mexico. 🇲🇽 New Subscriber

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Why was LATE NIGHT removed ? and what is the alternative to it ?

i was my EQ setting for ages all over, especially on Apple TV, where i listen to lots of stuff, guess what, late at night, and there was no too low to ear sounds or too loud to rattle up the neighbourhood blasting sounds from the tv ...

peaks and valleys smoothed, equalised. in one setting. Simplified as Apple used to do.

it was too much of a change in one instance: Late Night GONE, new Foaming tips, new sound processor curves.

I now need a whole minute just to squeeze the hell of the foam tips, just like i'me doing for years to my sleeping tips, before setting the APP3 on my ears.

and i had to literlly try ALL OF THE Sizes to finally settle on the BIGGER ones...
I was this close to return them and rool back to APP2 to myself...

Did you notice any changes after the 8A358 update? The sound is supposed to be much better now.

Iam absolutely dont get that we dont get controls for an easy eq

I'm an Apple fanboy, but not having a system EQ for over 2 decades is 🤮

On Spotify you can set up an EQ in the settings

The headphone Acomodations audiogram test with leaving just one frequency at zero was in no way a typical hearing loss audiogram test. So that was a poor test example. IMHO.

Sure, I understand u want a parametric eq. They are great. And yes it's maddening that Apple don't provide one.

But the APP2 audiogram hearing accommodations function work great for my hearing loss (and I am a 25+ year career audio engineer & audiophile)

(And you haven't proven there is compression involved in it either)

Perhaps hop over to Spotify Premium which is now lossless(ish)and use its graphic eq?

Or use a Room (mobile app) with Qobuz as that allows you to use your parametric eq setting you create on desktop.

These two might be the best solutions for eq fans unless you want to use a DAP and then you would want to use LDAC headphones for the best frequency responce (been there done that got the t-shirt)

You are an outlier with the the 'frown curve' you are questing for. Most folks want the 'smile curve'. I sincerely wish you luck finding your "frown".

Apple must release a dedicated AirPods app

The entire point of the AirPods/Pro/Max is that they use an adaptive equalizer that interprets the sound reaching your ears several times per second. The products core philosophy is “It just works.” I’d never recommend AirPods for an Audiophile.