Finding the right sound signature for a pair of earbuds isn’t perfect science. Depending on your ear shape, hearing capabilities, and personal preferences, you might prefer the sound of one pair of earbuds over another. If you buy a pair of earbuds off the shelf and neglect to make any customizations to their sound, you’re settling for the sound profile the manufacturer chose — not the one your ears like the best.
Luckily, there’s plenty you can do to tweak the sound of your new earbuds to get the results you want. I’ve tested tens of earbuds across all price points, and I always check these settings after the first listen. By making these three changes, all my earbuds sound better than they do out of the box.
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Change the Bluetooth audio codec
You might be able to beat the quality of SBC or AAC
Even if you have great-sounding headphones or a lossless audio playback source, there’s a limiting factor holding the entire experience back: Bluetooth. Due to the bitrate limitations of Bluetooth, music is often compressed as lossy audio codecs. While your earbuds might support high-quality Bluetooth audio codecs, your Android phone might be defaulting to lossy SBC or AAC instead. By tweaking your earbuds’ Bluetooth audio codec settings, you can get much better sound quality out of the buds you’ve already purchased.
These settings aren’t exactly easy to find. They’re hidden within Android’s Developer options menu. To access it, you’ll need to open the Settings app and tap the About phone tab on your Android phone. Then, tap the build number seven times to enable Developer options. From there, you can navigate to Settings → System → Developer options → Bluetooth Audio Codec to select the wireless audio codec of your choice.
These steps outline the process for enabling LDAC with a Google Pixel 10 Pro and the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds. The process is generally the same across Android phone brands and earbud models, but may vary based on codec availability.
Ideally, you should select LDAC or LHDC, which offer high-resolution quality. Specifically, the LDAC codec enables a 990kbps maximum bitrate. To ensure you’re getting the highest possible bitrate, tap Bluetooth Audio LDAC Codec: Playback Quality and select Optimized for Audio Quality (990kbps/909kbps). This overrides LDAC’s default adaptive bitrate mode and ensures you always get the best audio quality from your LDAC-enabled earbuds.
Follow similar steps to activate other hi-res audio codecs, like LHDC or aptX Adaptive, on supported devices and earbuds. It’ll make an immediate difference in audio quality compared to using standard SBC or AAC.
Set a custom EQ
We all have different audio preferences, so set your own
The best way to personalize your earbuds’ sound is to set an EQ. This is an equalizer, which adjusts the strengths of audio frequencies to create a different sound signature than the one your earbuds ship with straight out of the box. For example, you could minimize the bass reproduction to focus on the mids and highs, or vice versa. Some smartphones or earbuds include their own equalizers, but a better solution for finding the right EQ for your earbuds is the free Wavelet app.
It offers over 5,000 EQ presets made for the most popular earbud models on the market, taking the heavy lifting off your shoulders. The app uses AutoEQ integration to offer these EQ presets, and they alter your earbuds’ frequency response curve to match the Harman Curve. In a nutshell, the Harman Curve is the ideal frequency response graph most people prefer, as determined by years of double-blind listening tests. What you need to know is that letting Wavelet apply the AutoEQ preset for your earbuds will instantly make them sound better, and it’s rooted in science.
If you know a bit about equalizers already, you can avoid AutoEQ presets entirely and use Wavelet’s eight-band EQ to find the right sound for your earbuds. Either way, you’ll end up with a sound signature that better matches your preferences than before.
OS
Android
Price model
Free (with in-app purchases)
Wavelet is a handy audio app for Android that uses Auto EQ technology to adjust your headphone’s sound signature to match the Harman Curve, improving sound quality instantly.
Pick a spatial audio mode
The sound effect may be worse than stereo
Credit: Brady Snyder / MakeUseOf
If you’ve taken the time to use lossless audio, pick a hi-res Bluetooth audio codec, and set a custom EQ mode, a spatial audio setting shouldn’t ruin the fun. Spatial audio formats like Dolby Atmos use object-based masters to make sounds feel like they’re coming from all around you.
However, this comes at a cost. The version of Dolby Atmos you hear on streaming services is lossy, and it’s using the Dolby Digital Plus codec. So, using Dolby Atmos or spatial audio may break the hi-res audio chain you’ve painstakingly connected. It’s also worth noting that some users find spatial audio to sound worse, with less detail and separation compared to regular stereo.
Try listening to music with spatial audio or Dolby Atmos on and off using your earbuds. Then, pick the setting that sounds best to you. I typically use Dolby Atmos with wireless earbuds and headphones with ANC, but stick to stereo with wired headphones and IEMs for critical listening sessions.
Changing the settings of your music sources is just as important
Your wireless earbuds are the final link in the audio playback chain. While setting an EQ, picking a Bluetooth audio codec, or selecting a spatial audio mode can all impact earbud sound quality, there’s more work to be done.
Check your audio sources, too. If your streaming service supports lossless audio, be sure it is enabled. Consider finding a pair of earbuds and a smartphone that both support matching hi-res Bluetooth audio codecs, like LHDC or LDAC. The Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds are a great example — they support the LDAC Bluetooth audio codec on a slew of Android phones.
Microphones
8 (4 per earbud)
IP rating
IPX4
Supported codecs
SBC, AAC, LDAC, LC3
Color
Platinum Silver, Black
Chip
Sony QN3e
Bluetooth
Yes, LE Audio supported
The Sony WF-1000XM6 are truly-wireless earbuds with redesigned audio drivers and a new QN3e processor for impressive sound quality. They feature a complete redesign that shrunk down the buds and changed their shape, improving comfort. Sony’s LDAC codec is onboard as a hi-res Bluetooth audio streamer, and various ANC modes are supported.
