Headphone EQ

Apple AirPods Pro EQ settings for Mac

Last updated: August 6, 2026

Apple AirPods Pro has 4 published AutoEQ corrections, from 4 measurement rigs, 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.

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.

Preamp: -6.0 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 2.6 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 514 Hz Gain -4.4 dB Q 0.68
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 8903 Hz Gain 6.0 dB Q 1.66
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 183 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 0.77
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 4613 Hz Gain 3.4 dB Q 2.46
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 1517 Hz Gain -1.0 dB Q 2.33
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 929 Hz Gain 1.2 dB Q 2.75
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 44 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 2.16
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 618 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 2.86

Preamp: -3.2 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 3.2 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 436 Hz Gain -2.6 dB Q 0.90
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 4595 Hz Gain 2.6 dB Q 2.54
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 918 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 2.14
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 142 Hz Gain 0.7 dB Q 1.41
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -7.0 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 48 Hz Gain -0.4 dB Q 1.62
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 2445 Hz Gain 0.8 dB Q 2.39
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 1548 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 3.19
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 5376 Hz Gain 0.8 dB Q 6.00

Preamp: -3.2 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 2.2 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 283 Hz Gain -2.8 dB Q 0.47
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 817 Hz Gain 3.9 dB Q 1.10
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 4026 Hz Gain 3.8 dB Q 1.41
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 2305 Hz Gain -4.0 dB Q 1.77
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -3.4 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 9142 Hz Gain 2.9 dB Q 1.73
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 53 Hz Gain -0.7 dB Q 1.74
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 6081 Hz Gain -1.9 dB Q 6.00
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 167 Hz Gain 1.3 dB Q 6.00

Preamp: -5.8 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 0.4 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 570 Hz Gain -1.8 dB Q 0.71
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 3630 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 1.29
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 5833 Hz Gain -3.9 dB Q 4.63
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 7285 Hz Gain 1.7 dB Q 4.27
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain 5.8 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 9507 Hz Gain -4.8 dB Q 4.27
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 54 Hz Gain -0.6 dB Q 1.84
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 1919 Hz Gain 0.7 dB Q 3.63
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 1936 Hz Gain -0.4 dB Q 4.16

What this correction changes

The largest boost is +5.2 dB at treble (8 kHz), and the largest cut is −4.0 dB at midrange (500 Hz). Total swing across the ten bands is 9.2 dB. Averaged over its bands the treble is lifted by 2.3 dB, more than the other two, which is where most of the audible change lands.

The 4 published measurements on this page, from 4 rigs, do not agree with each other, and the size of the disagreement is worth knowing before picking one. They differ most at top octave (16 kHz), where the ten-band figures span 10.7 dB, and least at presence (4 kHz), where they span 1.6 dB. A spread that wide usually means the rigs disagree about the seal or the coupler rather than about the headphone, so prefer the measurement whose conditions match how you actually wear them.

Applying this on a Mac

The Apple AirPods Pro is an in-ear monitor, and its bass depends far more on the seal than on anything in this correction. A tip that does not seal loses the low bass outright, and no amount of boost puts it back. If the bottom end still sounds missing after applying this, change tips and re-seat them before deciding the curve is wrong.

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 Pro 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 Pro 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 Pro numbers come from?

From 4 published AutoEQ measurements of the Apple AirPods Pro, made by crinacle, Rtings, Super Review and HypetheSonics. 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.

Why is the Apple AirPods Pro preamp negative?

The Apple AirPods Pro correction needs −6.0 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 Max EQ settings for Mac, 3 published measurements
• Apple AirPods Pro 2 EQ settings for Mac, 3 published measurements
• Sony WF-1000XM5 EQ settings for Mac, 5 published measurements
• Beats Studio3 Wireless 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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