Spotify is one of the largest, most successful music streaming platforms in the world, with over 182 million people estimated to have signed up for its premium subscription. It boasts a huge selection of music, podcasts, and other content.
What is the best EQ for Spotify?
With a wide range of EQ settings to choose from, Spotify users can tailor the sound of their music to suit their preferences. If you’re looking for a brighter, clearer sound, the “Pop” setting is a good choice. Or, if you prefer a darker, bass-heavy sound, “Rock” will provide this.
In addition to these two presets, Spotify’s equalizer also offers a wide range of other settings that can be applied to the audio output.
Each setting customizes the prominence of specific frequency bands, causing the overall sound to be altered.
To find the best EQ settings for you, it’s important to determine the sound you’d like to achieve. You can then explore the options available in the Spotify EQ tool to figure out which settings work best.
In this guide, we’ll provide you with all of the information you need to use the Spotify EQ effectively.
Where is EQ on Spotify?
Spotify is a cross-platform app, meaning it can be used by both iPhone users and Android users. It’s also available on PC and Mac computers or laptops, in addition to apps on Smart TVs and other audio devices.
However, the Spotify EQ tool is only available on the Spotify iOS and Android apps.
If you’re using Spotify on another device, such as the desktop app, you will need to adjust the EQ settings using the onboard settings of the device of another piece of software.
Locating the EQ on Spotify is a slightly different process for iOS and Android users. We’ll begin by explaining how to access the Spotify equalizer on iOS devices, such as iPhones or iPads.
Spotify’s EQ is installed within the iOS app, which means the settings you choose will not be applied to any other audio that is played through the device.
The first thing you need to do is open the Spotify app, and tap on the home icon. Next, tap the settings menu, and then open Playback, which is located underneath Account, Data Saver, and Languages in the drop-down menu.
Then, tap the Equalizer, and turn it on by tapping the slider so that it turns green. You will then be presented with the EQ settings, with several presets including Hip-Hop, Jazz, Latin, and so on listed in the bottom half of the screen.
For Android users, the process of locating the Spotify EQ settings is equally as straightforward. You simply need to open the Spotify app and tap the home icon. Then, tap the Settings icon in the top right of the screen. Next, you need to scroll down to the Audio Quality section of the menu. Then, tap Equalizer, and this should open the EQ control panel.
Best Equalizer for Low Frequencies on Spotify
If you’re listening to music on Spotify through a loudspeaker, or over-ear headphones, you may want to increase the prominence of lower frequencies. This will make the kick drum, bass guitar, or electronic bassline stand out more in the mix.
To achieve this, you’ll need to boost the low-end frequency bands between 20Hz and 200Hz. From the Spotify, EQ presets, the “Rock” setting provides the most noticeable bass boost. However, if you want to boost the low-end more, you’ll need to manually adjust the EQ settings.
In the Spotify EQ settings, you can move the nine sliders which alter the level of certain frequency bands.
To increase the bass, you should focus on increasing the volume of the first three sliders positioned to the left, as these will alter the low-end frequencies.
It’s also a good idea to use reductive EQ, which is where you reduce the prominence of the other frequency bands to make the frequencies you want to boost stand out more.
To increase the level of the bass, you should reduce the volume of the treble and upper midrange slightly.
Best EQ for iPhone on Spotify
The Spotify EQ presets on iOS devices are more extensive than on Android. Also, you can adjust 6 different frequency bands on iOS devices, whereas Android devices are only able to adjust 5 frequencies.
With a total of 24 presets to choose from, you can shape the sound of your Spotify audio to suit the genre and styles that you enjoy listening to. It’s worth experimenting with the presets to find out which ones suit your taste and the device that you’re using to listen to audio through Spotify.
In the table below, you can find a breakdown of 7 popular Spotify EQ presets for iOS devices.
| Spotify EQ Preset | Result |
| Bass Booster | Increases low end |
| Bass Reducer | Decreases low end |
| Flat | Minimal adjustment |
| Hip-Hop | Boosts bass slightly, lowers highs |
| Pop | Reduces bass, increased upper mids |
| Rock | Increase in lower mids and highs |
| Treble Booster | Increases highs, reduce lows and mids |
Best EQ for Maximum Bass on Spotify
When you’re playing music through Spotify at a party or through a large speaker, the chances are you’ll want to maximize the bass. Increasing the low-end makes the music feel more powerful and is a great way to encourage people to dance.
If you’re an iOS user and would like to get maximum bass from Spotify, the best preset to use is “Bass Booster”.
As the name suggests, this setting will increase the volume of the lower frequencies, and slightly reduce the upper mids and trebles so that the bass stands out more in the mix.
Alternatively, if you’re an Android user, you can use the “Rock” preset to add some extra power to the bass. This setting also increases the lower-midrange frequencies slightly.
If these settings are not providing you with the level of bass boost that you were hoping for, you can manually adjust the settings and increase the low-end frequency bands, while taking some volume out of the higher frequencies.
Check out this YouTube video that shows how to use Spotify EQ.
Best EQ for Vocals on Spotify
In most genres of music, the vocals are the standout part that needs to be heard – unless, of course, the song is instrumental. The challenge with choosing an EQ setting on Spotify for boosting vocals is that singers have different voice tones, which cross over the various frequency bands.
This makes it harder to apply EQ setting to vocals than it does to boost the bass, for example. Bass frequencies always fall into the same bands, so it’s easy to know which bands need to be boosted to make the low-end more prominent.
On the iOS Spotify app, there is a specific preset called “Vocal Booster”, which targets the most common frequencies produced by the human voice.
This setting will successfully increase the prominence of vocals in most songs, but if the singer has a particularly low or high voice, you may need to adjust the settings manually.
You can start by increasing the upper midrange frequencies slightly, then listening to a song and seeing whether this has boosted the vocals enough for your liking. If it doesn’t sound right, go back and reduce some of the bass to see whether that makes the vocals stand out more.
Best EQ for Rap and Metal Music on Spotify
Rap and metal music are two genres that can benefit from EQ on Spotify. Firstly, rap music is generally quite bass-heavy, with 808 drums and sub-bass lines a common feature. In the iOS Spotify equalizer, there is a specific setting for “Hip-Hop” which will shape the sound nicely.
The hip-hop preset is also available in the Android Spotify app, and it has the same effect on the frequency output. Again, if you find that this preset doesn’t achieve the right sound, you can tweak the settings manually to make it more effective.
Metal music commonly has a prominent midrange, with crunchy guitars, cracking snare drums, and powerful vocals. Therefore, it’s a good idea to reduce the volume of some of the highest and lowest frequency bands in the Spotify EQ settings to highlight the prominent frequencies and make the sound more powerful.
Related Questions
Do Android devices have a built-in equalizer?
The vast majority of modern Android devices have an onboard equalizer that affects all of the audio played through the system. It is located in the sounds menu in the device’s settings.
Is Spotify music high quality?
Spotify plays music with different qualities depending on the device you’re using. On the desktop app, Spotify can play music at 160 kbps if you’re using a free membership, but this increases to 320 kbps on all devices when you subscribe to Spotify Premium.
What is normalize audio in Spotify?
Spotify Premium users gain access to the “Audio Normalization” feature, which allows them to quickly balance the volume of different songs through compression. This prevents sudden spikes in volume or songs that sound too quiet in a playlist.
