Headphone EQ

Apple AirPods 4 EQ settings for Mac

Last updated: September 15, 2026

Apple AirPods 4 has 4 published AutoEQ corrections, from 2 measurement rigs across 3 variants of the model, and this page carries every one of them. Below is the curve, the exact parametric filters behind it, and a one-click preset for EQBase. macOS has no system-wide equalizer of its own, so applying a correction to everything your Mac plays, rather than inside a single player, needs an app that sits on the system audio path.

Worth knowing: Apple sells two different AirPods 4, one with active noise cancelling and one without, and this page carries both plus a transparency reading, because they stop being the same headphone once the electronics are running. Both have the H2 chip, so iOS 27's own three-band Custom EQ does reach them, and because it is stored on the hardware it follows to a Mac. What is here is ten bands, or fully parametric in Expert mode, which is a different instrument from tilting lows, mids and highs. The two rigs disagree most about the bass, 4.9 dB apart at 31 Hz, which on an earbud that does not seal is really the question of how well it happened to sit.

Each measurement below carries four things: the correction curve, its parametric filters, the same filters as copy-paste text in AutoEQ's format (which Equalizer APO and Peace, REW and most desktop parametric equalizers import, and which EQBase's own Expert EQ reads and writes), and EQBase's ten-band fit of that correction. The ten-band figures are what the downloadable preset applies, so what you hear matches what is written here. AutoEQ publishes its own ten-band file on the same grid, fitted to the raw measurement rather than to these filters, so the two agree closely through the midrange and can differ at the extremes.

The correction, measurement by measurement

Preamp: -6.2 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 12.7 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 49 Hz Gain -13.2 dB Q 0.44
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 3573 Hz Gain 6.0 dB Q 1.40
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1318 Hz Gain -2.8 dB Q 1.16
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 5138 Hz Gain 3.2 dB Q 2.82
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -2.0 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 166 Hz Gain 1.2 dB Q 3.49
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 100 Hz Gain -0.7 dB Q 2.50
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 438 Hz Gain -0.8 dB Q 2.38
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 654 Hz Gain 0.6 dB Q 2.93

Preamp: -6.2 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 6.5 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 3779 Hz Gain 5.3 dB Q 1.30
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 71 Hz Gain -6.8 dB Q 0.82
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1675 Hz Gain -4.1 dB Q 1.93
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 31 Hz Gain 1.8 dB Q 2.57
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -7.0 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 9663 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 2.67
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 5577 Hz Gain 2.5 dB Q 4.13
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 240 Hz Gain -1.3 dB Q 3.05
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 171 Hz Gain 1.4 dB Q 3.44

Preamp: -6.4 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 11.4 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 4622 Hz Gain 6.0 dB Q 1.39
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 49 Hz Gain -11.7 dB Q 0.39
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1277 Hz Gain -2.6 dB Q 0.86
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 3036 Hz Gain 4.1 dB Q 2.43
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -1.9 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 354 Hz Gain -1.4 dB Q 1.50
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 176 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 2.04
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 618 Hz Gain 1.0 dB Q 2.35
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 106 Hz Gain -0.9 dB Q 2.47

Preamp: -6.3 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 6.5 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 1753 Hz Gain -5.4 dB Q 2.26
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 75 Hz Gain -5.7 dB Q 1.47
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 5120 Hz Gain 5.1 dB Q 3.84
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 2976 Hz Gain 2.6 dB Q 2.42
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -6.7 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 10000 Hz Gain -2.5 dB Q 1.67
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 450 Hz Gain 0.8 dB Q 1.03
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 5652 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 5.93
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 7457 Hz Gain 1.7 dB Q 5.95

What this correction changes

The largest boost is +6.5 dB at presence (4 kHz), and the largest cut is −1.9 dB at upper bass (125 Hz). Total swing across the ten bands is 8.4 dB. Averaged over its bands the treble is lifted by 1.5 dB, more than the other two, which is where most of the audible change lands.

The 4 published measurements on this page, from 2 rigs, do not agree with each other, and the size of the disagreement is worth knowing before picking one. They differ most at sub-bass (31 Hz), where the ten-band figures span 4.9 dB, and least at midrange (500 Hz), where they span 1.5 dB.

Applying this on a Mac

The Apple AirPods 4 sits in the ear without sealing it, so there is no seal to lose and no pad to wear out, and equally no way to hold low bass in. Every correction here asks for a large bass boost to make up for that, and how much of it reaches you depends on the shape of your own ear more than on the curve. If the bottom end still sounds thin afterwards, that is the form factor rather than the measurement.

Most of the measurements behind this page were made with the headphone in its normal listening mode, and active noise cancelling changes the response it is correcting. Switching ANC or transparency on and off is not a small tone change, so a correction that sounds right in one mode may not in another.

In EQBase the fastest route skips this page entirely: open the Headphones pane, search for your model, and apply the correction. The Apple AirPods 4 is in the built-in catalog along with 8,665 other models. The preset above exists for people who want to see the numbers first, or who want a specific measurement rather than the default one.

Either way the correction applies to every app at once, and the free tier carries it with no time limit. The Apple AirPods 4 preset above sets the ten-band curve, which is what the free tier applies, so nothing on this page is behind a purchase.

Common questions

Do these EQ settings work on any Mac app?

Yes, if the equalizer runs on system audio rather than inside one player. EQBase processes everything the Mac plays, so the same correction applies to Spotify, Safari, YouTube, games and calls. The Music app's own equalizer only affects Music.

Where do the Apple AirPods 4 numbers come from?

From 4 published AutoEQ measurements of the Apple AirPods 4, made by Rtings and Regan Cipher. Each one is a real frequency-response measurement compared against a target curve, and each produces its own set of filters. They are all on this page rather than averaged together, because a measurement belongs to the person who made it. The 3 variants (anc on, standard, transparency) are measured separately and corrected separately.

Why is the Apple AirPods 4 preamp negative?

The Apple AirPods 4 correction needs −6.2 dB of headroom on its default measurement, so the preset pulls the signal down by that much before the boosts are applied. Boosting a signal that is already near full scale would clip it, and the negative preamp is what buys the room. Skip it and loud passages distort. That is a large figure by the standards of this catalog, which is normal for a model whose correction lifts the bass a long way.

Can I use these filters in a different equalizer?

Yes. The filter table is a standard parametric list: type, frequency, gain and Q. Any parametric equalizer that accepts those four values per band will take them, on any platform. The one-click preset is only a shortcut for EQBase users.

Other headphones with published corrections

• Apple AirPods Pro EQ settings for Mac, 4 published measurements
• Apple EarPods EQ settings for Mac, 4 published measurements
• Apple AirPods (1st generation) EQ settings for Mac, 2 published measurements
• Beats Flex EQ settings for Mac, 1 published measurement
• Sony WH-1000XM4 EQ settings for Mac, 3 published measurements

Credits

Correction data from the AutoEQ project by Jaakko Pasanen, used under the MIT licence. The measurements themselves are the work of the people credited on each curve above. EQBase ships the same catalog in the app, with the same attribution.

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