AirPods Max custom tuning

Submitted by ThUwUsi t3_zoeu1w in headphones

Has anyone played with the DSP tuning on AirPods Max? The standard frequency response is exceedingly bassy and leaves a lot to be desired in the high end so i thought i’d try to tuning options in settings. For those who don’t know there are a few different tunings you can set instead of the default, a balanced tone sound, one that amplifies the high range. I set it to the balanced tone setting and it beautifully lifted the high range to be much more prominent and tone down the bass.

The issue i have is that this seems to be at the cost of the resolution and instrument separation of the sound. In fact, everything sounds very muddy and the previously very resolved and good sounding low range sounds extremely 2 dimensional and cucked. Objectively, the balance sounds much much better but at the cost of every other part of the sound. Has anyone else had this problem??? Perhaps i’m just hearing things wrong.

Another note is that i’ve been away from home a lot so i haven’t had the opportunity to try it in wired mode (it makes more of a difference than you might expect) so perhaps i’m just suffering the sound of AAC codec over wireless. Would love to hear other people’s experiences.

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Comments

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blargh4 t1_j0mhxa4 wrote

Those settings heavily compress dynamic range. Not really usable for high fidelity.

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ThUwUsi OP t1_j0mi7sd wrote

that would explain all my problems lmao, do you know why this is? Just a limit of being able to change the tuning on the fly perhaps?

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blargh4 t1_j0mlj2i wrote

They are accessibility settings for the hearing impaired, so I guess being used as an EQ just wasnt the design goal.

There’s also some weird way to import an audiogram that apparently applies some EQ without crushing dynamic range, but I never figured out how to use it. If you feed it some random picture it will prompt you to manually input settings but I never worked out how to get useful results from it.

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mcjasonb t1_j0ndala wrote

I’ll never understand why Apple won’t just give us an EQ. Even if it’s just something basic.

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ThUwUsi OP t1_j0ndlmi wrote

we get those bullshit preset EQ settings but they’re pretty shit. and their locked down ecosystem means you can’t run a third party parametric EQ. i suppose lowest common denominator consumer will always be apple’s priority

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mcjasonb t1_j0ne3jg wrote

Yea, but why not give us a simple EQ. Or allow a third party app to have a system wide EQ.

I had the AirPods Max, but recently sold them. I do like the AirPods Pro 2 tuning without any EQ though.

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ThUwUsi OP t1_j0no0q7 wrote

i have the airpods pro 1 and i do agree the tuning is shockingly neutral. AirPods Pro might be probably the best purchase for anyone looking into airpods because they’re pretty affordable and make for some of the best true wireless earbuds. i really love mine

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mcjasonb t1_j0noa25 wrote

Well, the 2nd gen is even better than the 1st. I’d say a little bit more V-shaped than the 1st gen, but that’s a good thing.

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rcoranje t1_j0oxa70 wrote

Don’t mess around with the excellently tuned AirPods Max. Don’t do so with other properly made headphones. Same story with earpads.

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TheOneWhoReadsStuff t1_j0sxz9y wrote

Yo, for me the tuning is perfect. Maybe you got a defective pair? Everyone’s ears are different, however, so it’s a tough thing to discern sometimes.

Are you using them on Apple devices?

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ThUwUsi OP t1_j0syr2c wrote

nah the tuning is correct and i’m using it on apple devices but if you look at the frequency response it’s like a 30° line going into sub-bass and the highs really fall short.

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TheOneWhoReadsStuff t1_j0szjno wrote

How are you testing them? What other headphones do you use?

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ThUwUsi OP t1_j0szumq wrote

i just use them for casual listening my more referential headphones are 660s (which themselves have recessed highs and quite a bit of bass roll off.) Besides i think the other commenter basically just said the actual sound quality issues i have in balanced mode is an EQ problem, I’m using something to EQ that isn’t supposed to be used that way.

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Comprehensive-Ad-888 t1_j0u7ukj wrote

The AirPods Max also have AutoEQ you have to account for. They automatically EQ depending on the seal of the pads and same goes for AirPods Pro’s. The EQ turns off when you set the AirPods to “Off” in the ANC section

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