Headphone Sound Quality is Lacking

[Remington Steel]

Ok. First let me say I just purchased my 1st iPhone after fighting the urge for 6 years and defending my Android capabilities fearlessly. I will admit that I love this phone and all its capabilities, especially the new and improved camera quality. But one of the things that strikes me as odd coming from Apple is the lack of fully functional EQ for the music player/app. I had Poweramp for all my androids and it made my headphone listening experience that much more enjoyable being able to adjust the sound quality to my liking. I have JBL Everest 700 BT Headphones and even on the JBL app, I can't get the sound quality no where near what I had when using Poweramp. Does anyone know if there are any settings I am missing or apps that may make the sound quality better (thru headphones)? Thanks.

 

[Jeroen7]

Hi, welcome to the iMore forums.

Have you already found the EQ settings in the general settings/music?
It offers preset EQ settings,although I think you are more used to completely setting it up yourself.
I've never really used it, nor listen to a lot of music on my phone. but maybe this can help improve it a bit.

 

[Remington Steel]

Yes, I already know about those preset settings. They all don't really improve sound quality that much...or at least no where near to what I am used to.

 

[Just_Me_D]

The built-in EQ settings are basic. You will need to experiment with a few 3rd party equalizer apps from the App Store. I have a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M40x headphones and the sound quality, in my opinion and based on "my" tastes, are straight up awesome......Anyway, let us know which app you choose. Take care.

 

[metllicamilitia]

Ok. First let me say I just purchased my 1st iPhone after fighting the urge for 6 years and defending my Android capabilities fearlessly. I will admit that I love this phone and all its capabilities, especially the new and improved camera quality. But one of the things that strikes me as odd coming from Apple is the lack of fully functional EQ for the music player/app. I had Poweramp for all my androids and it made my headphone listening experience that much more enjoyable being able to adjust the sound quality to my liking. I have JBL Everest 700 BT Headphones and even on the JBL app, I can't get the sound quality no where near what I had when using Poweramp. Does anyone know if there are any settings I am missing or apps that may make the sound quality better (thru headphones)? Thanks.

No, there's really no way to make an iPhone sound good audio wise. Only the old classic iPod if you put Rockbox on it. Other than apps that pair with headphones, best app I've seen for EQ is Radsone. It made audio.....better. And when you use a standard equalizer through an app, I find it best to leave the iPhone's preset EQ setting to off. I agree really, Apple claims to be about music and audio while simultaneously shunning the hi-fi, all the way, file acceptance, file download type, equalizers, all the way around Apple proves they really don't actually care about audio.

 

[Jeroen7]

on the other hand, real audiophiles would use an external DAC

There are headphones that have a DAC build in where you can change the EQ settings with an app they provide.

 

[Remington Steel]

on the other hand, real audiophiles would use an external DAC

There are headphones that have a DAC build in where you can change the EQ settings with an app they provide.

Like I said, my JBLs have an app with a custom EQ. But can't get the sound and quality back to like it was with the Poweramp app on Android.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Like I said, my JBLs have an app with a custom EQ. But can't get the sound and quality back to like it was with the Poweramp app on Android.

Check out the following app via the App Store. Note: I have not used the app or know anything about it other than what is stated therein.

 

[Remington Steel]

Check out the following app via the App Store. Note: I have not used the app or know anything about it other than what is stated therein.

View attachment 114806

Thanks. I looked at that and downloaded. It only gives you basic "presets" like Apple Music and iTunes. Not a true customizable EQ. And the interface wouldn't access a lot of my songs saying they aren't "downloaded from the cloud", which they all are.....so IDK. I guess I will just live with what I have....smh

 

[Not Quite Right]

You know there are reasons that "Graphic Eq's" disappeared from home audio ... Audio equipment manufactures soon realized that people were using a tool meant for "flattening out" frequency response due to room acoustic properties as a tone control thus totally jacking up the sound beyond any recognition of what the artist, producer, or hardware engineer had in mind in making or the playback of the music in the first place ...
Once you spend a great deal of time listening to jacked up versions of music, it's hard to go back to listening to music that's being presented properly for now it "sounds" wrong ...