How-To make AirPods sound GOOD!

[Parowdy]

Consider this a public service announcement

Skip to DO THIS if you can’t be bothered with any prior explanation.

To me it seems there are two AirPod users: those who don’t like the sound too much but live with it and those who couldn’t care less.
Either way, AirPods sound kinda bad out of the box, and there is a very, VERY simple two-step fix to make them sound much, MUCH better.
I feel like people are missing out on a much better pair of headphones than they could have.

Disclaimer, I’m talking from experience here and that is limited to the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods, as in the very first generation. And since nobody uses those anymore and I‘m not too sure which features those supported they will not be of concern here.

Also, this doesn’t apply to AirPods used solely with Android devices, obviously.

Another disclaimer, sound preferences are subjective. To me, good means balanced. Yes, bass is fun, but not if it’s muddy and drowns out other details.
That’s why I will compare the sound to my Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohms, which are my go-to for crisp, balanced (although almost uneventful) sound.

My biggest gripe with AirPods is that the bass is the most prominent part of the sound stage without actually being good bass. It seemingly dampens the entire sound, everything sounds like, well, listening to Bluetooth in-ear headphones. No more.
I’ve personally used my Pro 2‘s with the following settings for almost half a year now and it’s been a blast, which is why I disagree with people saying AirPods sound bad outright.

DO THIS

First off, use „Spatialize Stereo“ and set it to „Fixed“.
This widens the sound stage dramatically compared to just the normal sound.
You can try switching it on and off with basically any sound and you should immediately notice a difference.
However, most people already know about this, rather prominently displayed, feature.

Secondly, and this is where preferences differ, you can set up Headphone Accommodations in Settings.
Got to Settings > Accessibility > Audio and Visual > Headphone Accommodations
Turn them on, select „Balanced Tone“ and drag the slider underneath to „Slight“
At the bottom, tick Apply With „Media“ if it isn’t automatically.

Either of these steps will change the sound dramatically, but I think both together are a great combo and are actually comparable to my DT 770 Pro Studio headphones! The sound stage is much wider, the sound just as clear and the bass almost as natural and punchy without being in the way of any other sound.
Yes, it might seem there is less bass for some time, but that’s not really the case as all sounds are more pronounced and not so damp as it was before.

I understand that this might sound weird and almost too different to how it was before. Like with any other significant change in sound, for example when switching to or getting a new pair of headphones, this is a matter of getting used to. But please trust me here, it’s worth it, at least try it.

A couple songs to try out these settings with, or at least the Headphone Accommodations (tune it off and on during listening)

- the beginning of „Pump It“ by the Black Eyes Peas. The voices are right there, not muffled and almost distant. Same with the guitars. The entire song is much, much more punchy and clear. The bass isn’t „just there“, the baseline is actually accurately represented.

- „Let me Know“ by Stupead. Toggling it on and off, the percussions in the beginning are much more audible and clear.

- „Different Pulses (Joris Delacroix Remix)“ by Asaf Avidan is the best song I can think of right now. It is so, so so clear, every sound can be distinguished and the bass doesn’t sound like it’s coming from a club next door. This is one of my go-to songs to test speakers and headphones. Give it a try. If you want to test the clarity, stereo separation and bass response of your system, this songs is great.

- „Path of the Warrior“ by Brian Tyler. The drums are clear and are properly, spatially, separated.

- „Just the Two of Us“ by Grover Washington, Jr. & Bill Withers (a song that always „suffered“ by inferior vocal production compared to everything else in the song) sounds basically the exact same as on my Beyerdynamics, even better because the trumpet solo doesn’t pierce through my ear drums.
Again, the percussions are clear as day. It’s actually a nice song to listen to this way and most just meh, bland and damp.

Something to recognize when using any other audio source:
They all sound differently.
The reason for why I have found these settings and praise them now is because I couldn’t for the life of me use my AirPods and Beyerdynamics the same day, let alone listen to the same content. Now I do, because I was able to change the AirPods sound to be more clear and balanced. However, using any other pair of headphones or speakers with a more „traditional“ V-line sound (more bass, less mids, slightly more highs) throws me off a little, now more so than ever because I can use my AirPods everywhere I couldn’t use my other over-ear headphones.
Balanced sound isn’t the industry standard and that’s something you’ll notice more if you go forward using these audio settings. Just to be warned.

Hope this helps someone enjoy their headphones more. Anyway, thanks for reading.

 

[Parowdy]

Another honorable mention:

the entire song, but ESPECIALLY the beginning of „About Last Night“ by Charlz & Maths Time Joy is another dimension of experience with Headphone Accommodations turned on.

 

[Parowdy]

Not that anyone will ever pay attention to this thread, but I have an Apple Music playlist I’ll share here. It’s a list of different songs with very different sounds to test any audio system you have.

 

[Night Spring]

I'm using my AirPods Pro 2 as hearing aids, but the sound difference i get when using them for media playback sounds exactly what you experience using hearing accommodations. In fact, I suspect hearing accommodations and hearing aid mode are actually the same thing. If not exactly the same thing, one is a subset of the other. There's a huge overlap in what they do and how they are controlled.

 

[Parowdy]

I'm using my AirPods Pro 2 as hearing aids, but the sound difference i get when using them for media playback sounds exactly what you experience using hearing accommodations. In fact, I suspect hearing accommodations and hearing aid mode are actually the same thing. If not exactly the same thing, one is a subset of the other. There's a huge overlap in what they do and how they are controlled.

Interesting. Thanks for your insight I can’t get the hearing aid feature to work, apparently my (inaccurate) hearing test isn’t sufficient, so I can’t tell.

 

[okkibs]

Unfortunately you have fallen victim to your Beyerdynamics. These are relatively average sounding headphones that sound pretty decent for the money but they literally cost 100 bucks so there is only so much they can do. Even a simple pair of Sennheisers like the HD600 is much better. Headphone Accommodations bends the frequency curve and makes the Airpods Pro 2 sound worse. You are used to your Beyerdynamics so perhaps activating this feature makes the Airpods sound closer to what you are used to. I recommend you turn that off and use the Airpods in the default mode (with Spatial Audio activated if you prefer it) for at least a couple of days exclusively. After you have become used to how they sound you will find the Beyerdynamics are actually much worse.

The Airpods sound much better than their price tag would suggest and they do so out of the box with absolutely no adjustments needed. Apple is able to do that because on the one hand they use a solid driver and on the other they have microphones on the inside towards your ear canal. This means that they verify how they sound and automatically correct the sound relative to each other and depending on how they are seated (how well the eartips fit and seal).

This way the Airpods can do cheap in software on the fly what traditional headphones cannot do as the two sides need to come calibrated from the factory and obviously won't adjust anything later on, they sound how they sound. So when you get a single Airpod replaced for example, there is no need to match this Airpod to the existing one and calibrate it, this is all done quietly and automatically every time you place the Airpods in your ears.

I think you are confusing the bass of the Airpods with bass heavy headphones because your Beyerdynamics use cheap drivers that are simply very lacking in bass. The Airpods really are not heavy on the bass. If anything, they can go down to the lower limit of your hearing and make frequencies all the way down to around 35Hz easily audible. Not all music makes use of this low range but especially with electronic music you'll find that there is a lot going on in that range that changes the music in a significant way once it finally becomes audible. This is something that in-ear headphones can do more easily in general than over-the-ear headphones. It's easier to make miniature drivers with that ability. And it requires the seal of in-ear drivers that you don't have especially with open back headphones.

So if you do like a less bass-y sound it's fine to modify that but I found that any Headphone Accommodations setting messes with the frequency response too much and I certainly do not recommend using it. Their sound is very balanced out of the box to accomodate most users. They regularly go for around 170 bucks on sale, I got mine for 150 and even if they were regular wired in-ear headphones that had absolutely no noise cancelling or bluetooth they'd still be decent sounding for the money. As it stands these Airpods are about the most bang-for-the-buck product Apple currently has in their portfolio.

 

[Parowdy]

Unfortunately you have fallen victim to your Beyerdynamics. These are relatively average sounding headphones that sound pretty decent for the money but they literally cost 100 bucks so there is only so much they can do. Even a simple pair of Sennheisers like the HD600 is much better. Headphone Accommodations bends the frequency curve and makes the Airpods Pro 2 sound worse. You are used to your Beyerdynamics so perhaps activating this feature makes the Airpods sound closer to what you are used to. I recommend you turn that off and use the Airpods in the default mode (with Spatial Audio activated if you prefer it) for at least a couple of days exclusively. After you have become used to how they sound you will find the Beyerdynamics are actually much worse.

The Airpods sound much better than their price tag would suggest and they do so out of the box with absolutely no adjustments needed. Apple is able to do that because on the one hand they use a solid driver and on the other they have microphones on the inside towards your ear canal. This means that they verify how they sound and automatically correct the sound relative to each other and depending on how they are seated (how well the eartips fit and seal).

This way the Airpods can do cheap in software on the fly what traditional headphones cannot do as the two sides need to come calibrated from the factory and obviously won't adjust anything later on, they sound how they sound. So when you get a single Airpod replaced for example, there is no need to match this Airpod to the existing one and calibrate it, this is all done quietly and automatically every time you place the Airpods in your ears.

I think you are confusing the bass of the Airpods with bass heavy headphones because your Beyerdynamics use cheap drivers that are simply very lacking in bass. The Airpods really are not heavy on the bass. If anything, they can go down to the lower limit of your hearing and make frequencies all the way down to around 35Hz easily audible. Not all music makes use of this low range but especially with electronic music you'll find that there is a lot going on in that range that changes the music in a significant way once it finally becomes audible. This is something that in-ear headphones can do more easily in general than over-the-ear headphones. It's easier to make miniature drivers with that ability. And it requires the seal of in-ear drivers that you don't have especially with open back headphones.

So if you do like a less bass-y sound it's fine to modify that but I found that any Headphone Accommodations setting messes with the frequency response too much and I certainly do not recommend using it. Their sound is very balanced out of the box to accomodate most users. They regularly go for around 170 bucks on sale, I got mine for 150 and even if they were regular wired in-ear headphones that had absolutely no noise cancelling or bluetooth they'd still be decent sounding for the money. As it stands these Airpods are about the most bang-for-the-buck product Apple currently has in their portfolio.

I’ve actually used them in default mode for weeks and even stopped using my Beyerdynamics so I can grow accustomed to their sound, but I couldn’t with the obvious lack of detail and instrument separation. I in return suggest you try that setting again after not having used the AirPods for some time to listen to a song from the playlist you don’t know, and then turn HA back off again. A song that demonstrates what I mean with „damp“ and „muddy“ the most must be Tupacs „Point the Finga“. It’s a notoriously sloppily produced/mastered song, but with HA on the voices are actually very clear and each imperfection in the sound audible.
I agree that the 770‘s are a budget pair of reference headphones with its own drawbacks, like piercing highs and not as much bass as I would sometimes like in some songs. But still, they are much better compared to the default sound of AirPods, they are at least remotely life like and accurate, which isn’t true at all for any AirPods, even Max. The price isn’t really an argument here, the 770‘s have been in production since 1985, it’s an old formula at a reduced price for apparent market domination, in Germany they can be found seemingly in every second to third studio.
It’s true that AirPods aren’t that bassy and yes maybe my comparison wasn’t accurate. 770‘s have bass that’s always present but never more dominant than any other sound that plays, the 80 ohms version is often described as bass heavy but I can’t agree. It’s present, it’s clear, but it isn’t anything more than that. With AirPods, once there is a baseline, the entire track looses clarity. Even EarPods had more bass and were clearer than AirPods Pro.
I assume you might not like the sound because it’s very different to you, because it was for me the first couple of days, too. And when switching between on and off yes there is a noticeable difference in overall volume, just turn the volume down for HA. Ever since using that setting I can hear details that were completely lost using the default settings, things I could hear no problem with the 770‘s.
I don’t know how much you are into music, but I’ve heard multiple people that can either be classified as audiophiles or are in music production say the same thing I did. AirPods are too muddy. They are convenient and Spatilize Audio gives them the separation and room they desperately need and obviously can get without any obvious drawbacks in clarity, but that’s it.
You’re the first person I’ve heard that says they think the sound is actually underrated AND that they sound better than DT770‘s which I both find to be almost amusing statements, but that’s just personal preference. I got the 770‘s for music production and critical listening, which are two areas the AirPods can’t hold a candle to them. Yes, flat sound has become my personal preference, because I don’t need any particular sound to be dominant without any reason other than fun or the „flavor“ of the headphones to be in the way of experiencing a song as close to how it was intended to be listened to as possible. Classical music for example sounds bad with AirPods on default settings.
I can not speak for the HD600‘s nor other open back headphones from experience. I understand that the soundstage is much wider and that bass rolloff is something to keep in mind, which is why they are in a different class than closed back reference headphones.

In conclusion, preferences differ, if you’re happy with the standard sound of AirPods than that’s great and I don’t want to argue that your taste is worse than mine, it seems we just value different things listening to music.