Apple AirPods tend to have a well-rounded bass, especially the newer AirPods Pro. If you’re experiencing a low bass sound (or no bass at all), one of your audio settings is probably causing the problem. There are several solutions that can help you fix your issue.
To increase the bass sound on your Apple AirPods, open the ‘Settings’ app on your iPhone and navigate to ‘Accessibility’ > ‘Audio/Visual’, and adjust the balance slider by setting it to the center. Next, go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Music’ > ‘EQ’ and choose ‘Bass Booster’ EQ mode.
There are many more ways to assure a louder bass volume on your wireless Apple headphones. This article will explore six possible solutions to help you get the best audio experience on your AirPods. For optimal results, go over every fix and check your settings.
1. Turn On Bass Booster
The easiest solution for better bass sound is by turning on the ‘Bass Booster’ feature. Do this on your connected device (e.g. iPhone), and follow these simple steps:
- Open the ‘Settings‘ app on your iPhone (or another connected device);
- Scroll down to the ‘Music‘ section;
- Navigate to the ‘Playback‘ section by scrolling down once again;
- Go to the ‘EQ‘ setting and tap on it;
- Choose ‘Bass Booster‘ as your preferred EQ setting.
Please note that this will only change the bass volume for tracks that are played with the native Music app. If you’re using Spotify or any other music player, there won’t be a noticeable difference. For that, we’ll have to dive a bit deeper into optimizing your audio settings.
2. Adjust The Balance Slider
Another common method to adjust the audio settings on your Apple AirPods, is by adjusting the balance slider of the audio volume. This will impact the way in which you’ll experience the bass volume.
To change the balance slider feature successfully, follow the steps described below:
- Open the ‘Settings‘ app on your iPhone (or another connected device);
- Scroll down to ‘Accessibility‘ and tap on it;
- Go to ‘Audio/Visual‘ to find the balance slider;
- Adjust the slider to balance, the dot should be in the very center.
Together with the EQ setting ‘Bass Booster’ (see solution #1), adjusting the balance slider is the most important setting to change in the ‘Settings’ app. It will optimize the regular audio to sound as normal as possible, while simultaneously amplifying the bass on your AirPods. This can be further enhanced with a custom audio setup.
3. Turn Off Active Noise Cancellation
While this might feel like the wrong move, the bass volume will actually significantly improve from turning off the Active Noise Cancellation feature on your AirPods Pro. It’s one of those weird solutions that can feel very counter-intuitive.
That’s the reality of using AirPods — the bass will be much richer without Noise Cancellation. Even though this means you’ll hear more noise coming from your direct surroundings. In order to disable the Active Noise Cancellation feature, follow these steps:
- Open the ‘Control Center‘ of your iPhone (or another connected device);
- Touch and hold the volume slider until you see additional controls;
- In the bottom-left corner, tap the ‘Noise Control‘ icon;
- From ‘Noise Control’, ‘Transparency’, or ‘Off’, make sure to turn the feature ‘Off‘.
If you don’t wanna go through all that, there’s also a neat little button on your AirPods Pro that will do this for you with a simple press. The YouTube video below will explain to you how to quickly turn off the Noise Canceling feature on your wireless Apple device:
4. Use Custom Audio Setup
According to Apple, using a custom audio setup is a great way to adjust the audio levels for the bass on your AirPods. Since this method derives the audio settings from your personal music experience, the final result will generally sound a lot better.
To create a custom audio setup for your AirPods, follow these steps:
- Open the ‘Settings‘ app on your iPhone (or another connected device);
- Scroll down to ‘Accessibility‘ and tap on it;
- Go to ‘Audio/Visual‘ to find the balance slider;
- Find ‘Headphone Accommodations’ and tap on ‘Custom Audio Setup‘;
- Follow all the instructions you’re presented with, then choose ‘Use Custom Settings‘ to implement your choices.
Don’t worry too much about changing your settings to a custom configuration, these can be reverted very quickly. Other solutions that might improve the level of your bass are hardware-based and will involve some maintenance.
5. Thoroughly Clean Your AirPods
While it might seem obvious, fully cleaning the speakers and ear tips of your AirPods might improve the sound of your devices a lot. Too many users neglect the proper maintenance of their wireless earbuds, which should be done about once a month.
To clean your AirPods properly, use some of these dry cotton swabs and an isopropyl alcohol solution like this. Avoid using water at all costs, as it will damage the sound quality and potentially destroy the internal electronics.
For the cleaning part, remove the ear tips and carefully remove any visible filth and gunk. Dip the dry cotton swab in a few droplets of isopropyl alcohol. Carefully clean out the AirPods, especially the inside of the ear tips and the outside of the speakers.
6. Improve The Fit Of Your AirPods
If the bass of your music is low, changing the fit of your AirPods in your ears can make a world of difference. To make your AirPods fit into your ears better, it’s best to change the ear tips you’re currently using. This does require a small monetary investment.
For an optimal fit, this type of memory foam ear tips for AirPods seems to work the best. Not only do these tips fit your ears better, they will also be a lot more comfortable overall. Try out a few sizes and use them for a while, since they will form to the shape of your ears.
Having a better fit allows you to feel the low bass sounds a lot better. In combination with the other solutions provided in this overview, you’re sure to have the optimal music experience. If any of the solutions helped, make sure to share this article with your friends using the share buttons below!
