In short: Apple Music EQ doesn’t affect other apps like Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube. The equalizer settings only affect the audio output of the Apple Music app.
If you’ve been using Apple Music, you’ll know that the equalizer (EQ) gives you the ability to customize the audio output. However, does it affect other apps like Spotify and YouTube?
Does Apple Music have an equalizer?
Apple Music has an equalizer which you can change from the iPhone’s Settings app. However, Apple Music only allows you to choose from 22 EQ presets instead of full control.
This means that you can’t use the Apple Music equalizer to manually adjust the levels of bass and treble in music and podcasts. You can only choose one from 22 predetermined settings.
Where to find the EQ settings on an iOS device (iPhone or iPad)
On an iOS device, you can change the EQ for Apple Music from the Settings app.
To adjust the equalizer (EQ) on an iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app and choose Music. Under the AUDIO section, tap EQ. You’ll find 22 different EQ presets to choose from.
Apple Music doesn’t allow you to tweak its EQ settings. You can only choose one from the list of equalizer presets or choose “Off” to disable the equalizer altogether.
Where to find the EQ settings on an Android device
The Apple Music app on Android doesn’t have equalizer settings. Android users who want to customize the equalizer settings for Apple Music should use equalizer software.
Where to find the EQ settings on a Mac computer
Open the Music app from a Mac computer. Click Windows in the Apple Menu, then select Equalizer. The Equalizer settings window will appear on the screen.
Does iPhone EQ work with other apps?
The EQ settings on iPhones only work with the Apple Music app and don’t work with other music streaming apps like Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube.
Some music streaming apps, like Spotify for example, have their own built-in equalizer settings which you can tweak from inside the app. It works exclusively for its own app.
Does Apple Music EQ affect Spotify and YouTube?
The EQ settings on iOS devices (iPhone and iPad) only affect the sound output of the Apple Music app, which means that it won’t affect other third-party apps like Spotify and YouTube.
The Apple Music EQ on iOS devices also won’t affect the audio of your phone calls, podcasts, and audiobooks because the settings are meant for Apple Music only.
As long as the audio is coming through the Apple Music app, the EQ will do its work.
So, if you love a lot of treble, and choose to use the Treble Booster EQ preset for the Music app, any music you play through the Apple Music app will have raised treble and high mids.
For example, if you’re playing Apple Music through a Bluetooth speaker, the EQ preset you choose will adjust the sound coming through the app and ultimately, your speakers.
How to set up iOS EQ settings (optimal)
Talking from my own experience, here’s how I would set up my EQ settings on an iOS device. You can follow my recommendations or tweak things here and there for the best results.
First of all, the equalizer on iOS is not global. It only affects the audio output of Apple Music.
Personally, I would just turn it off because all it does is increase the decibels of certain frequencies. It’s just software, not a high-quality professional amplifier.
Second, the audio bitrate is a probable reason for low-quality audio.
If you use the Apple Music app, make sure you turn on High-Quality Streaming. If you use the Spotify app, set both streaming and download quality to the highest possible option.
Third, disable Sound Check in Apple Music and Audio Normalization in Spotify. It’s the reason why Apple Music often sounds different compared to other music streaming apps.
Both features look at the metadata of the song to determine the average volume, then raise or decrease the playback volume so you have a more consistent listening experience.
In simple terms, both features adjust the loudness between different songs to play at the same volume. This is because some songs are created louder than others.
Last but not least, there is no such thing as an app that can affect the global audio output, especially on an iOS device, which is sandboxed and very secure.
I hope you take these things into account. Doing these simple things will elevate the quality of the audio output of your music without having to mess with fancy software.
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