How to Adjust Your AirPods’ Audio Settings (And Why You Should)

AirPods are perfectly functional right out of the box, but you don’t have to settle for their default settings if you want to change certain aspects. What you can customize depends on the model you have, so we’ll clarify which models have the features we discuss in this article. For starters, if you’re wondering why your AirPods suddenly sound different, it might be because you accidentally changed “Listening Mode” without meaning to.

On AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro models, you can toggle between Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode, which lets ambient noise in, by pressing and holding the force sensor on the stem of your left or right earbud. If you pinch the stem of your AirPods on the front and back, you will feel a click. This is when the listening mode changes. This mode switching feature is enabled by default, but you can change it by going to the page Settings application on your iPhone, iPad or Mac computer, then in the section that says (name) AirPods Or AirPods Pro. Note that you must be using your AirPods or at least have their charging case open to be able to access this control center.

In the device settings menu, scroll down to Press and hold AirPodswhere you can customize the listening mode for each earphone. You can choose to stick with transparency and noise cancellation, but you can also select adaptive mode, which automatically changes the amount of external noise you hear based on your surroundings.

There is also the “Off” option, which completely disables advanced noise control features. If you choose more than two modes, your AirPods will switch between modes when you press and hold your earbud stem. Having a quick way to change listening modes can be very useful if you prefer not to take your iPhone out of your bag when you’re out, for example, and want to be able to hear your surroundings in public for safety reasons.

However, you don’t need to have listening mode controls on both AirPods. It’s also possible to set the long press action to call Siri instead. So you can program one AirPod to activate Siri and the other to switch between listening modes, if you want. In your AirPods Control Center, you can also enable Custom Volume, which will adjust the volume of what’s playing on your device based on your surroundings. See the Conversation Awareness option? If you turn it on, your AirPods can turn down the volume of your media and reduce background noise when you start talking to other people.

Enabling loud sound reduction will reduce the loud sounds you are exposed to. And if you’ve added the Adaptive option to your listening mode, you can also customize it to allow more or less noise through Control Center. There’s also an option to enable custom spatial audio, which renders audio in 3D and makes sounds seem like they’re coming from around you when you turn your head.

This is where you can also activate hearing assistance. You can use your AirPods as a hearing aid if you have mild to moderate hearing loss, as they can amplify voices and sounds around you. To be able to enable the feature, you will need to either add hearing test results or go through Apple’s built-in hearing test feature. The setup process will ask you to share some information about yourself, such as whether you currently have allergies or a sinus infection, and ask you to find a quiet location to ensure the test results are as accurate as possible.

Apple is launching Custom EQ with iOS 27 when it arrives this fall, which will give you access to a native EQ that lets you adjust low, mid, and high tones. You can try it now if you install the iOS 27 beta, but note that the beta software may contain bugs that the developer has not yet fixed. You can apply for Apple’s beta software program if you’re interested, but there are some things you can do right now to change the audio quality of your AirPods without installing iOS 27 beta.

To amplify softer sounds and adjust frequencies, you can enable earphone hosting on AirPods 2, 3, and 4, all AirPods Max models, and all AirPods Pro models. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing > Audio & visual > Audio > Headphone adaptation and activate it. You will now see the new Audio Tuning section and its three options: Balanced Tone, which provides a boost across a range of frequencies; Vocal Range, which optimizes vocal range and increases mid-range frequencies; and brightness, which increases high frequencies. Choose one and adjust the slider below the section to increase sounds slightly, moderately, or strongly.

Make sure you hit Read a sample below this section to listen to the audio while you make adjustments. At the bottom you can enable Media to apply changes you’ve made to music, movies, podcasts, audiobooks, Siri, voicemail, and Live Listen, which turns your iPhone or iPad into a microphone to help you hear conversations more clearly in noisy environments. If you activate PhoneCustom settings will apply to phone calls, FaceTime calls, and all third-party video calling apps.

In the Audio and Visual menu of Accessibilityyou can also activate Mono audio so that the left and right channels broadcast the same content. If you want to adjust the volume balance between the left and right channels to address any hearing concerns you may have, you can slide the Balance cursor left or right.

You can also customize the audio coming out of your AirPods from your streaming apps. For Apple Music, go to Settings > Applications > Music on your iPhone, then tap equalizer to choose one of several preset equalizer settings. You can also switch Sound check enabled to normalize the volume level of your audio. On a Mac, open the Music app, then go to Window > Equalizer. From there, you can choose a preset option or drag the sliders up or down to adjust the volume or a specific frequency.

For Spotify, go to Settings & Privacy > Reading on your phone. To change Equalizer turned on, then choose a preset or drag the dots on the equalizer to further customize your audio.