AirPods' three-band EQ may not be so bad

For fans of AirPods, one of the main things missing from the product for a whole decade was an equalizer. But when Apple revealed a 3-band equalizer yesterday, enthusiasts were let down. After all this time, this is the best Apple could come up with?

But as someone who’s covered the audio industry for over 15 years now, I’m here to tell you that there’s a chance it’s not so bad. While I’d love a full parametric equalizer, regular folk just aren’t going to have the patience to learn something like that — and Apple is loath to make people think too much when using their products. However, the 3-band EQ isn’t the worst idea I’ve heard of, and I believe — if done right — it might be better than some fear.

AirPods’ main issue is tuning

First things first: it’s important to realize that for most people, 2-3 tone controls are enough to meet their preferences. Should you have headphones that are tuned without too many colorations or extreme peaks and dips, most people can achieve the results they want with minimal adjustment. In a brief interview for another piece that got pushed off by Apple’s news, Dr. Sean Olive, former Senior Fellow at Harman Research, stated the following:

If a headphone is well designed and compliant to a well accepted target, then tonal adjustments can be done by ear using 2 or 3 filters. I would recommend adjusting the bass and treble using simple shelving filters.

So if you have a set of headphones that measure quite well, a 3-band EQ with controls for bass, mids, and treble is all good, right? While the AirPods Pro 2 has a decent tuning that’s closer to established standards, the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 3… don’t.

Though both are pretty solid when it comes to mids, the issue is the highs. On the AirPods Pro 3 in particular, sound above 5kHz is dramatically over-emphasized no matter which volume setting you use. But the pattern of emphasis isn’t uniform or smooth — there are pretty notable peaks. Peaks that could do with a serious whack with an equalizer.

On paper, it seems as though these two AirPods models’ biggest tuning weaknesses are going to need a more heavy hand in equalizing than other earbuds. But simple controls might be enough for most people.

Loudness-dependent EQ gives us a clue

But if you’re worried that this new EQ will be terrible for its inability to address the main shortcomings of the Apple AirPods Pro 3, take a breather. It’s possible it’ll be just fine, and Loudness-Dependent EQ (LDEQ) might give us a hint about how the 3-band EQ will work.

LDEQ is a feature Apple added to several of its AirPods products, meant to adjust the tuning to make the sound they reproduce appear to be tuned the same, no matter what volume setting you use. Because humans don’t hear every frequency linearly, the softer you listen, the more bass and treble you’ll need to hear your music with the same perceived pattern of emphasis. You know, much like bass and treble controls.

Should the treble control of the AirPods’ new 3-band EQ give users the ability to move everything from 5kHz on up like a shelf filter, the two most annoying peaks may be able to be brought down for treble-sensitive ears. Though there will be some trade-offs between 2 and 5kHz, a treble filter like this would greatly address the AirPods Pro 3’s biggest tuning issue. Similarly, a bass control that acted like a shelving filter under middle-C would have a similar effect for listeners who don’t want a near-15dB over-emphasis. Though there will still be some odd ranges of underemphasis between 2 and 4kHz, along with a severe dip at 10kHz, the response would be much improved with this adjustment alone.

Looking at the chart showing the effect of LDEQ, it seems as though the existing filters Apple applies to its AirPods have similar properties to what I’ve described, though there’s more to LDEQ than just a 3-band adjustment. If the new EQ functions similarly to what we see here, those of you who hate the AirPods Pro 3’s sound might have some means of rescuing them even if they’re not perfect.

Of course, I may be completely wrong in divining the future. This feature could suck out loud — but it also has more potential than some might give it credit for.