How to Improve Audio Quality on Your iPhone

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Between listening to music, watching videos, and taking calls, audio quality plays an important role in how you use and enjoy your iPhone. So whether you’re streaming audio directly from the device’s speaker or through headphones, you’ll of course want the audio to be as clean as possible.

Fortunately, there are several ways to improve your iPhone audio experience, and your options go far beyond adjusting audio settings on AirPods. The Settings app (and individual app settings) offer a wide range of options for improving audio quality, from noise removal to equalizers and lossless audio.

Naturally, having the right hardware for the job is important to optimize audio quality; There’s only so much you can do with software to make an ultra-cheap speaker sound amazing. Again, even high-quality equipment can sound better by modifying certain options, so it’s wise to look at the issue from both sides of the coin.

Major streaming apps have settings that adjust the audio quality delivered to your device. For Apple Music, go to Settings > Applications > Musicthen touch Audio quality and choose your settings for mobile data, Wi-Fi and downloads. High quality is the best balance between data and sound; as we discuss below, Without loss Only worth it if you have high-quality wired headphones.

Spotify offers the same setting under your profile picture on Settings & Privacy > Media Quality. Free users can only choose from Weak, Normal And Highwhile Premium subscribers can also choose Very high Or Without loss. For Wi-Fi streaming, Very high is good in most cases.

After enabling high-quality streaming, take a look at your equalization (EQ) settings, which allow you to boost or cut certain frequencies. For Apple Music, you will find them under the same Settings > Applications > Music menu. Select equalizerthen choose from the list of music types based on what sounds best. Unfortunately, you can’t create a custom equalizer in Apple Music. Meanwhile, the Sound check The function normalizes the volume level across all tracks. People are divided on this; some say it reduces audio quality, while others appreciate not having to adjust the volume regularly. Try it on and off to see which you like best.

For Spotify, you’ll find these options by tapping your profile icon, choosing Settings and privacy and selecting Reading. Faucet Equalizer to enable it, then choose a preset or drag the dots for each frequency to fine-tune the sound to your liking. THE Volume normalization the cursor is at the bottom of this page; if you use it, don’t choose Strong for better quality.

THE Without loss The option mentioned above deserves special attention. As you have seen, Apple Music and Spotify Premium subscribers can enjoy lossless audio. This preserves all original audio data, producing crisp sound equivalent to CD quality. In both Quality previously visited menus, you can choose Without loss separately for Wi-Fi, mobile data and downloads according to your wishes. Note that this will use significantly more data and storage space than lossy options.

Unfortunately, having the best AirPods won’t help you here, as Bluetooth doesn’t support lossless mode. The AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 3, USB-C AirPods Pro 2, and Powerbeats Pro 2 can support lossless wireless when paired with the Apple Vision Pro, although this is a niche case. Bluetooth speakers also have this limitation.

To get the best sound, you’ll need one of the best DACs for Apple Music. A good DAC (digital to analog converter) will correctly convey the quality and texture of audio without loss. The FiiO KA11, for example, offers everything most people need at an affordable price. Apple Music also offers Lossless high resolutionwhich is studio quality sound that uses even more data. Unless you have high-end equipment, you probably don’t need to worry about this.

Your iPhone’s accessibility settings offer even more potential for audio optimization under Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual. Here you can switch Phone Noise Cancellation (only available on iPhone 12 and earlier), which removes traces of ambient noise. Use the Balance slider to adjust your audio if the sound is uneven on the right and left channels.

Then, while wearing supported Apple headphones, go to Headphone Hostingwhere you can adjust Frequencies (which boosts certain frequencies, similar to EQ settings) or Soft sounds to amplify quieter sounds (making subtle environmental sounds and phone call audio more playable). Play around with these settings while you wear your headphones to get a feel for what sounds best to your ear.

If you’re streaming audio from your phone’s speakers, other than fine-tuning your settings for your ears, you won’t need to do much more than keep your speakers uncapped. If you need additional help cleaning your speaker grills, you can use a specialized tool like cleaning putty or an air blower.