Does Sony EQ
work on a Mac?
You set an equalizer curve in Sony's phone app, then connect the headphones to your Mac. Here's what you'll hear, and why.
Short answer
Yes. On Sony 1000X headphones with an equalizer, the preset and your custom curve are saved in the headphones, not in the phone app. When you connect them to a Mac, they keep playing with the same EQ, in every app, even though macOS has no Sony app.
- Carries over: the EQ preset and curve, Clear Bass, noise control, DSEE and the other headphone settings.
- Stays on the device: a Mac or phone equalizer app, and anything saved in an app, such as My Curves and scenes in Open Sound Connect.
- To change it from the Mac, use Open Sound Connect's Sound page (⌘2); the new curve then plays on your phone too.
Where Sony keeps your equalizer
The WH-1000XM2, XM3, XM4, XM5, XM6 and WH-1000XX have the equalizer built into the headphones' own sound processing. Sony's phone app, Sony | Sound Connect, doesn't process your music: it sends the preset or the band values to the headphones, and the headphones apply them to everything they play.
So the setting travels with the headphones. Set Bass Boost or a custom curve on your phone, connect to your MacBook, and Spotify, Music, YouTube and everything else on the Mac play with it. The MDR-1000X is the exception: it has no equalizer to carry over.
What carries over and what doesn't
| Setting | Saved in | On your Mac |
|---|---|---|
| EQ preset, custom curve and Clear Bass | The headphones | The same as on your phone |
| Noise canceling, ambient level, DSEE, Speak-to-Chat | The headphones | The same as on your phone |
| An equalizer in your Mac player or a Mac EQ app | Your Mac | Mac audio only, added on top of the headphones' EQ |
| My Curves and scenes in Open Sound Connect | Your Mac | Only on that Mac |
| Features that run in the phone app itself | Your phone | Not on the Mac |
The headphones hold one current setting. If you change the curve on the Mac, that's what you hear on the phone next time, and the other way round.
Change the EQ from your Mac
macOS has no screen for the headphones' settings, so without an app you keep whatever was set last on the phone. With Open Sound Connect:
- Connect the headphones to your Mac and open the app.
- Press ⌘2 for Sound. The Equalizer card shows the current preset and curve, read from the headphones.
- Click another preset, or move a slider; editing a fixed preset switches to Manual.
- Optional: choose Save Current under My Curves to keep the curve on this Mac.
You don't need to leave the app running afterwards: the headphones keep the setting. Values to start from are in the preset library and the equalizer feature page.
Don't stack two equalizers
Because the headphones' EQ already applies to your Mac, a second equalizer on the Mac changes the sound again on top of it. That's not wrong, but it makes it hard to tell which one is doing what. If you use the Sony equalizer, set the others flat or off: the Music app's equalizer (Window → Equalizer), the equalizer in your music player, or a system-wide app such as eqMac. Sony EQ vs eqMac explains when each approach makes sense.
Using a Mac and a phone at once
The WH-1000XM4, XM5, XM6 and XX can stay connected to two devices at the same time. One equalizer setting in the headphones serves both, so moving from music on the Mac to music on the phone doesn't change the sound. The XM2 and XM3 connect to one device for music at a time, but the curve still moves with them when you switch. Switch Sony headphones between Mac and iPhone covers the connection side.
When it doesn't seem to carry over
- A factory reset returns the headphones to their factory settings, including the equalizer.
- On the XM2 and XM3, DSEE HX works only with the equalizer off, so turning DSEE on in one app and choosing a curve in another can look like the setting didn't stick.
- On the XM6, the equalizer can be unavailable in some listening modes, such as Background Music.
- Another app on the Mac may be changing the sound: check your player's own equalizer first.
Common
questions
Does Open Sound Connect change my phone app's settings?
It changes the headphones, not your phone. Since the phone app works with the same headphone settings, the curve you set from the Mac is the one you'll hear on the phone.
Will my saved curves appear in Sony's phone app?
No. My Curves are saved on your Mac. Only the curve currently applied is stored in the headphones, so that one plays everywhere.
Do I need to install anything on the Mac for the EQ to work?
No. The headphones apply the equalizer themselves. You need an app such as Open Sound Connect only to change the setting from the Mac.
Where to next
- Equalizer and Clear BassSony's presets, your own band curve and Clear Bass, set in the headphones from your Mac.
- Sony EQ vs eqMacHeadphone EQ versus a system-wide Mac equalizer: where each runs, what it affects and when to use which.
- EQ preset librarySix starting curves with exact values for the five-band models and the ten-band WH-1000XM6.
Put your headphones
in the menu bar
macOS 15 or later · Apple silicon and Intel