How to improve sound quality on Android

Main points

• Keep your headphones and speakers clean for better sound quality.
• Use the equalizer to adjust the bass, treble, and presets in the app.
• Access developer options to fine-tune settings like codecs and volume.

Maybe you’ve noticed that the audio quality on your Android device hasn’t been up to par lately, or you think there’s still something to be improved upon. Most of the time, sound shouldn’t actually be an issue, so it’s definitely something worth fixing.

If you find that your audio sounds muffled or quiet, there are a few ways to fix it, from physical cleaning to going into Developer Options. By the end of this, you should have some noticeable improvements to the sound quality of your Android device.

1 Clean headphones or speakers

Dust blocking the road can dampen the sound

If your audio doesn’t sound quite right, your first step should be to make sure your phone speakers, headphones, or external speakers aren’t clogged with dust or dirt. Many times, just a little cleaning can solve any problem.

You can clean your earbuds carefully using a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol, and you can clean your phone speakers the same way. To remove dust from the speakers, use a microfiber cloth.

2 Use equalizer

In your streaming app or headphone app

If you feel like the bass isn’t loud enough, or the treble is too high, you can adjust the equalizer settings on your music streaming service app, or sometimes even on your Bluetooth device if the device has an app with an equalizer. .

To change sound settings on Spotify, go to set up > Playback > Equalizer, you can choose from a variety of presets or manually adjust different frequencies.If you use Amazon Music, please enter Now Playingaccording to three dots icon Make settings and select Equalizer, where you can select a preset. Unfortunately for Tidal users, there is no equalizer option.

If you’re using Bluetooth headphones or earbuds that come with the app, the app may have an equalizer setting. You can search for it in the app or check the user manual for more specific information.

3 Get technical information in Developer Options

In developer options, the options are endless

Developer Options is a great tool in Android devices that allows you to make more advanced setting changes on your phone. It takes a few steps to get there, but it’s not too difficult.To enable developer options you have to go to set up > About mobile phonesthen repeatedly click your Build number Until developer options are enabled.

In the Developer Options, you’ll see some useful settings. One thing that helps with sound quality is the Bluetooth audio codec your phone is currently using with the Bluetooth device. Codec support will vary based on your phone model, operating system version, and connected audio devices. Different phones have slightly different support for different codecs.

If you own a Google Pixel of any kind, you might benefit from switching to AAC instead of SBC. If you are using Sony headphones, be sure to see if you are using LDAC as this will have the best bitrate for the codec available. Play around with your codec settings to see what sounds best for your device.

Another great tool in the Developer Options is to toggle HD Audio in the Developer Options to ensure you get high-quality audio. You can also adjust the Bluetooth audio sample rate, bit depth, or channel mode to see what works best for you.

Finally, if you feel the volume is too low, you can also disable absolute volume in the developer options. This prevents your device from automatically turning down the volume, so be careful when disabling it to avoid damaging your hearing.

4 Try the automatic equalizer and volume features

Automatic equalizer is a great feature that more and more headphones come with

Depending on the model and operating system version, your Android device may have an automatic equalizer feature and volume adjustment capabilities.For example, with a supported Pixel phone and Pixel Buds, you’ll find adaptive sound under “Sounds and Vibrations” in your phone settings, or in Connect devices > Pixel Buds settingsor in Pixel Buds app.

These features will use your microphone to evaluate the acoustics around you and the noise levels in your environment. It will use this information to automatically adjust the sound equalizer settings and volume accordingly. Different types of earbuds may also have similar features, so read the user manual to see if that’s possible.

5 Listen to better audio files

Try FLAC instead of MP3

If you only listen to low bitrate MP3s, you may be missing out on a lot of sound quality. If you listen to music using wired headphones or speakers, you can take advantage of lossless audio files like FLAC. These types of files have a greater dynamic range, which means you can hear a greater difference between quieter and louder sounds, as well as a lower noise floor, so you’ll get more of your track and Less noise compression usually obtained from lossy audio.

You can listen to lossless audio using streaming services like Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music Unlimited, Deezer, and Qobuz, or you can buy CD-quality audio in physical form or online on services like Bandcamp.